Two weeks into the 2017 season and already there’s beginning to be quite a bit of movement in terms of news here locally and abroad. The big one, of course, is last night’s announcement that Josh Brookes will be racing Phillip Island’s World Superbike round aboard the very Yamaha that he captured the 2015 British Superbike title on.

Brookes has been really proactive in the latest announcements in his career, personally contacting the key media members that apply to him in Australia and overseas, supplying the information and then putting an embargo until certain times. It’s the way things should be and, as a result, he’s maximised his exposure.

Hopefully Brookes can quickly settle back into the R1 in the lead-up to the race weekend and he should have plenty of time to get reacquainted. Chances are we will see him on track at the Australian Superbike test and then also in the official WorldSBK test just days out from the race weekend.

Source: Supplied.

Also contesting the Phillip Island weekend as a wildcard will be Anthony West, who for the second year in a row will be part of the World Supersport pack. He starred with a podium last year and should be right in the mix this season, but it is a shame he’s not secured a place on the grid fulltime.

Like Brookes, despite his time in Europe that spans almost two decades, West has a burning desire to make his mark and earn that elusive competitive seat, but it’s perhaps harder than ever. Just scroll back through our news-feed and see the story we did on Josh Hook late this week. Anyway, Aussie fans will be spoiled with some top riders at home and we can’t wait!

Here in Australia, several ASBK teams took part in a private test at Wakefield Park on Thursday (at a ride day) and Friday (hired), but rain spoiled proceedings for the most part on day two. It was the first time Bryan Staring has been back on track with Crankt Protein Honda Racing however, joining reigning champ Troy Herfoss on the current title-winning CBR1000RR SP.

Source: Supplied.

Between now and Phillip Island’s opening round alongside the WorldSBKs, there will be a lot of activity taking place at the Victorian venue, including the official ASBK test on 30 January, which happens to be the same day that MotoGP testing begins in Malaysia!

As long as the off-season seems, it’s all coming back around and we’re really excited to cover it all once again. The 2017 livery of Vale Rossi and Maverick Vinales broke cover on Thursday, Jorge Lorenzo’s first appearance at Ducati came on Friday and it’s all happening.

Anyway, that’s it from me for this week, thanks for stopping by as usual! Make sure you check out all of CycleOnline.com.au’s social networking channels and be sure to Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for even more behind the scenes insights. Just search CycleOnline.