Image: Keith Muir.

The Australasian Superbike Championship will be rebranded as the Swann Super Series for 2017, with the series calendar cut in half as part of a major revamp.

While the series will remain six rounds in total, they will be paired in double-header events over three weekends of competition – two in Sydney and one in Queensland.

“In the off-season we did quite a bit of research and found repeatedly that many competitors are no longer financially or work time-wise able to do six long weekends of driving all around the country to race at a national level,” series manager Terry O’Neill said.

“So it was decided the best thing to do was run a series that reflects what most competitors can afford at present and the best model we found was to go back to the original successful Swann Series concept from the 70s and 80s.

“Three major events that, by its very nature, looks after the competitors’ racing budget while not compromising their jobs or businesses because it reduces the amount of time away.”

Source: Supplied.

O’Neill said that the expansive television and online exposure will remain: “The revamp will not compromise the excellent TV and electronic media exposure that the competitors in each class along with their personal sponsors have come to expect.”

Each round of the 2017 season will be operated over a three-day schedule – Friday being a non-mandatory practice day with each class receiving five sessions.

Saturday will be the first round of each weekend, including qualifying and a progressive grid, before Sunday marks the second round of the weekend. Its race one grid will be determined by Saturday’s initial qualifying session and will also be progressive.

It appears, as a result of the restructure, that the Australian FX-Superbike Championship – previously usually held on Saturdays at O’Neill’s events – won’t continue for the upcoming season.

2017 Swann Super Series calendar:
Rds 1-2 – 7-9 April – Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW
Rds 3-4 – 14-16 July – Queensland Raceway, QLD
Rds 5-6 – 3-5 November – Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW