In this edition of Fast Thoughts, CycleOnline.com.au catches up with Kyle Buckley after recently confirming his return to Kawasaki BCperformance for the remainder of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).

Image: Russell Colvin,

Sitting out half of the current ASBK season…

It obviously wasn’t really my choice – I really wanted to be in the championship for the whole season, but I just wasn’t able to make it work after leaving BCperformance last year. It left me in a tricky situation, but it’s pretty cool to be back, so we’ll see what we can do.

Reuniting with Kawasaki BCperformance…

It’s really cool to be back with BCperformance and I think it’s a really good opportunity for me. The only drama is I haven’t really ridden much this year – I just did the test at Winton, and that was a bit of an eye-opener for me with trying to get back up to speed. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m doing everything possible to make sure I’m in the best shape possible.

Image: Russell Colvin.

Riding the Kawasaki ZX-10RR at the Winton test…

The bike felt really good from what I can remember – the faster I’m going, there aren’t many problems coming up – it just feels really good. I think the team has put in a lot of hard work over the last six months, and they’ve really developed the bike well – it’s well ahead of where it was. It’s pretty cool for me to jump on a bike that I feel is definitely better. Obviously Bryan’s results show they’ve got it sorted. The new bike has a fair bit in it compared to the standard one – it’s cool.

Expectations for Winton’s ASBK…

If I was in my best shape possible, I think I could probably run close to the top five, but if I can finish inside the top 10 this weekend, I’ll be pretty happy with that. Considering everything over the last 12 months, inside the top 10 would be realistic for me, but the top five is what I’m aiming for.

Making a full-time return in 2020…

You know what my thoughts are – of course I bloody want to! It just depends on sponsorship and what the team’s plans are – at this stage I’m not sure [what they are], but I’d love to be back full-time.