Image: Russell Colvin.

Words: Russell Colvin

Victorian rider Jed Metcher has officially announced that he will make his Superbike racing return at the grand finale of this year’s Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) presented by Motul Pirelli, set to be hosted by the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in two week’s time.

Metcher, who is the manager and ambassador for Race Center, will saddle up aboard a 2016 Yamaha YZF-R1, which will be headed by Darren Sciberras, who guided Metcher to a 14th place finish at the opening round of the FIM World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island when he rode as a wildcard rider.

“It’s fantastic to be able to get back out on the grid and go racing again in the Australian Superbike Championship,” Metcher told CycleOnline.com.au. “The Superbike grid this year has been unreal, in terms of the level of competition and it’s a credit to all the riders, teams and of course Motorcycling Australia who have got the ASBK series back on track and turned it into a really strong championship.”

The last time Metcher raced in ASBK was in 2014 at the final round at Phillip Island, when he and his Race Center team were testing for the upcoming wildcard ride the following year. That round saw Metcher finish second overall, scoring a 2-1 result.

At the end of yesterday’s ride day at the ‘Island’, the 27-year-old expressed that it was really good to get back on the bike, especially at the fast and flowing 4.445km seaside circuit.

Metcher explained that after a difficult lead up with a few issues in regards to the bike, that they were content with the first day of testing, as they moved forward with the planned electronic adjustments.

“The team and I will be looking forward to doing a heap more laps tomorrow. We unfortunately didn’t get a lot of laps in today, so tomorrow will be very important to get us ready for the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship.”

Practice for sixth and final round of the Australian Superbike Championship will commence on Friday, 6 October, with qualifying set for Saturday with a two-race schedule in place for Sunday.