Image: Marc Jones (Foremost Media).

A host of youthful Australians have been selected as wildcard entrants for the second round of the prestigious 2018 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia, which is set to run in conjunction with the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) on 19-22 April.

Broc Pearson, Tom Toparis and Scott Nicholson have secured seats in the Supersport 600 category, while Zac Levy and Locky Taylor have been chosen to contest the Asia Production 250 and Underbone 150 classes respectively.

All five riders will be taking on double duties throughout the weekend, contesting their regular championship classes in the ASBK, marking the third round of the domestic series.

Current Australian Supersport leader Toparis, who has accepted a number of wilcards in international racing, spoke of the opportunity, revealing it will enable him to gain valuable track time on the all-new Tailem Bend circuit.

“It’s great news to be selected as an ARRC wildcard and another great opportunity,” said Toparis. “We’ve obviously competed in WorldSSP and Moto3 in the past and have made the most of those appearances. This will also offer another chance to learn the track and put in additional laps.

“I can’t wait to race with several of the best riders Asia has to offer. The bikes will be very similar to what we race in ASBK, albeit with different tyres. Luckily, I have already taken part in the official ASBK Test, so I will have some understanding of the track. Hopefully we can fly the flag for Australia next week.”