Image: Foremost Media.

Longtime international Broc Parkes is set to make a racing comeback in the 2022 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) with the 727 Moto team and will enter the second half of the season open-minded having spent limited time on a bike in the last nine months.

Parkes has achieved a wealth of success internationally in the likes of the Endurance World Championship (EWC), WorldSSP and Asian Road Racing Superbike Championship (ARRC), having not competed in a domestic championship in Australia for several years.

After winning the 2013 Australian FX Superbike Championship he moved to MotoGP with Paul Bird Motorsport to compete on a CRT machine, and was set for a 2021 ASBK return with Yamaha Racing Team after spending years competing in a range of international championships. However, he announced a step back from racing commitments prior to last season commencing.

Testing recently with 727 Moto reignited the fire for Parkes to go racing, and while he was expected to contest select rounds in Australia in 2022 as a third superbike entry for the team, the recent announcement of Broc Pearson parting ways with the team left the squat with a second seat to fill.

“I had been testing for Travis [Schmitz] last year and this was the first time this year,” explained Parkes. “I was looking at maybe doing Phillip Island, MotoGP and WorldSBK (support classes), basically as a third rider to help the team.

“Unfortunately for Broc [Pearson], I don’t know what is happening but he has left the team, then Travis had just asked me – he would like to run two bikes – if I would do the remainder of the season. I tested with him about two weeks ago, and I am just trying to help the team, they are a bit lost at the moment.”

It was previously announced the 727 Moto team would not attend the upcoming Hidden Valley round of ASBK, instead restructuring and shifting its focus to season end. It is understood Parkes’ first competitive outing with the outfit will be at the fifth round of the championship at Morgan Park, QLD on 5-7 August. His most recent test was at Queensland Raceway.

“I went to the test with the chance to help their riders and basically was trying to get a base package for them, so they can go to the track and do more laps rather than trying to change too many things,” he added.

“That’s basically where all of this has come from, Travis rang me and asked me if I was interested in doing the remainder of the season because Broc had already decided to leave the team. I don’t really read into it too much.

“I didn’t ride a bike for nine months, not even a dirtbike before I went and tested the bike again. Hopefully, I can get a bit of time in on it before we start, the bike needs some work to get on the pace with the front guys.

“As far as the pace, I need to do a few more tests to know where I am at. When we were in Queensland, all of the guys tested there Tuesday, we did a track day Wednesday and we were about… within a second from what the top guys were doing. It’s hard to say, I don’t know at this time.”