Image: Keith Muir.

The return of ever-popular Queenslander Robbie Bugden to the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli grid is sure to add extra spark to season 2017.

Coming off of double championships in the Australasian series, Bugden’s Kawasaki BCperformance squad has entered the ASBK and already in testing and practice he has proven competitive.

Today in opening practice at Phillip Island, Bugden set the fifth-fastest lap-time of the session, 0.874s from Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team) at the top of the charts and he’s adamant the championship is within reach upon return.

“It’s worked out fairly good for us, because last year it was a new bike and I was new to the team coming off of a break, so not being in the ASBK probably wasn’t a bad thing,” Bugden told CycleOnline.com.au. “There was less pressure throughout the year and we built as the year went on.

“Now, we’re in a pretty good position coming into the ASBK and the series is the strongest it’s been in a long time. We’re not the red-hot favourites, but I think we’re going to be real threats for the championship. If we can just keep working hard, keep turning up for each-other, come the end of the year we might be in with a shot.”

With the ASBK boasting an all-star domestic line-up that’s been hailed as one of the strongest in history, Bugden is enjoying the challenge of being back up against some old adversaries in the sport’s premier class.

“I’ve raced a lot of these guys for a long time and it’s great we’re all back together,” he added. “I’ll back myself every time against those guys and I’m going to give it all I can. There’s no reason why we can’t win races, because we’ve got the bike – the ZX-10 wins races all around the world – and also the team. I feel like I’m riding the best I ever have, so it’s really exciting for everyone involved – it’s going to be a cracking year.”