Image: Russell Colvin.

Words: Russell Colvin

Mat Mladin Racing’s Max Croker has indicated he will graduate to the premier class of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) for the 2019 series.

The 20-year-old, who currently sits fourth in the Supersport championship standings, believes the Superbike class is where he wants to be after experiencing his first taste aboard the Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Morgan Park Raceway in Queensland this week.

“Racing in the Superbike class is our goal and that is where we want to be,” Croker explained to CycleOnline.com.au. “We have decided we are going to make the step up to the premier category in 2019. We have come a long way in the Australian Supersport Championship, and we believe jumping up to the Superbike class is the right way to go.

“We have Mat Mladin behind us and that is someone who you would want behind you when making the move up, that’s for sure. Today was all about getting the feel of the bike and the overall power.

“On top of that, I was getting a feel to how the suspension was working on a track like Morgan Park Raceway. We’ll see how we go – entering a Superbike round could be on the cards, however at this stage our main focus is the Supersport championship.”

Croker has picked up two overall podium finishes in his 2018 campaign as the series heads to Morgan Park next week for the fifth round of the championship.