Words: Alex Gobert/Jeremy Hammer

It’s the second edition of Cycleview on CycleOnline.com.au and this week we’ve once again been chipping away at content to begin the new year. Locally we’ve seen increased action begin to take place as riders and teams prepare for the upcoming Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).

Yamaha Racing Team’s new Superbike recruit Cru Halliday, who has just returned from the US in a short holiday to bring in the new year, spent a day at Morgan Park as he reacclimatises to the factory-supported YZF-R1M, while teammate Daniel Falzon rode his personal R1 at The Bend.

Former champion Bryan Staring made the trip across from Western Australia to shakedown the new Kawasaki BCperformance ZX-10RR with updated Dunlop tyres also on the agenda at Wakefield Park, as did team newcomer Lachlan Epis. This year will be a really good chance to see what Epis can do with new equipment and a top-level team behind him nationally.

Suzuki returnee Wayne Maxwell has been logging a number of laps at Phillip Island aboard a GSX-R1000 owned by privateer Nathan Spiteri and, although it’s not the Team Suzuki Ecstar entry he will race aboard this year, the bike has been prepared by Phil Tainton Racing nonetheless. Expect him to hit the ground running from round one next month.

Image: Foremost Media.

If you want a chance to ride with – and receive tuition from – the likes of Maxwell, his teammate Josh Waters and Shawn Giles at the Island, register for Suzuki’s Sportsbike Track Day event to be hosted on 1 February. It’s a great opportunity and one that we’re certain will be a blast, just weeks out from the ASBK and Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) opener in Victoria.

Speaking of Waters, after sporting the number one last year, he will revert back to his customary 21 for this season, which in turn means that triple world champion Troy Bayliss has had to find a new number. It’s been confirmed this week that he’ll go a couple of decades back in time to use the number 32.

Bayliss’ son Oli was revealed to be stepping up to Supersport aboard an R6 over the break, now that the class allows 15-year-olds to compete. He’s spent his share of time in the 300s, so that will be a great storyline to watch unfold and we’re eager to see who else will be in the 600s when the season opens.

One rider who appears to be returning to the fold for this season is former international Aiden Wagner, who has been turning laps on-board a Yamaha and has indicated he’s contesting the ASBK this year. We will follow up more on this, however there’s no denying his capabilities when the package comes together – we’re looking forward to seeing him back.

There’s lots to be excited about and there’s a bunch more track time scheduled between now and the official test at Phillip Island to be held on 2-3 February. From that point it will be all eyes on round one just a few short weeks later. That’s all from me for this week, here’s Jeremy…

It’s been a relatively slow start to the year in the road bike world, but with a host of pre-season testing on the horizon, there’s soon going to be plenty to talk about.

As the WorldSBK heads to Phillip Island the end of February, an official two-day test has been slotted in the week prior. It’s the only official two-day test prior to racing in 2019, and it’s going to be an important one with so many changes amongst the field.

Image: Supplied.

It’s certainly going to be interesting to see if and who can take it to Jonathan Rea and the powerhouse Kawasaki Racing Team. Rea has obviously been unstoppable as he collected four consecutive world championships, but with Ducati debuting the Panigale V4 R to be piloted by Chaz Davies and former MotoGP ace Alvaro Bautista, to series could witness a real shake up!

Other interesting points to keep an eye at the Phillip Island test will be the newly-formed Moriwaki-Althea Honda Racing Team with Leon Camier and Ryuichi Kiyonari behind the bars, and then there’s also BMW’s Shaun Muir Racing entry of Tom Sykes and Markus Reiterberger.

Along with WorldSBK, MotoGP will be kicking into overdrive throughout the next couple of months. The first official test is pencilled in for 6 February at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, followed by a final pre-season test at Qatar on 23 February – just a couple of weeks before the season-opener there on 10 March!

It’s going to be exciting to see the likes of Jorge Lorenzo (Honda HRC), Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing), and teams Tech3 Red Bull KTM and Petronas Yamaha don their official colours for the first time.

That’s all for this week folks, we’ll catch you next Wednesday!