Image: Supplied.

The Bend’s final round of the 2024 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) will be bolstered by the inclusion of the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Asia-Pacific Championship.

Introduced to foster emerging talent in the region – drawing 21 riders from across six nations including Ryan Larkin from Australia and Haydn Fordyce from New Zealand – it’s an intensive training, mentoring and development program.

The championship, which utilises identical race-prepped Yamaha YZF-R3s, will be held over six rounds in 2024 across circuits in Thailand, Japan and Australia. Further rounds will be held in May, July, August and September before the finale in South Australia from November 8-10.

“The Australian Superbike Championship and Motorcycling Australia is delighted to be hosting the final round of the 2024 R3 bLU cRU Asia-Pacific Championship at the world-class The Bend circuit in South Australia,” said Peter Doyle, Motorcycling Australia CEO.

“We already know the Yamaha R3 championship racing will be fiercely competitive as the emerging stars of the Asia-Pacific region race hard and push their machines to the limit, and we look forward to including these international competitors into the final round of our ASBK championship.”

Round one was held at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand on April 5-7, with the top-five in both races separated by just half a second. Australian Supersport 300 regular Larkin’s 2-4 scorecard in round one has him sitting equal second in the standings, behind Japan’s Kakeru Okunuki.

MA also recently revealed that the ASBK’s Supersport category has received ‘FIM Oceania Circuit Racing Championship’ status, which will be based on points accrued over the final three rounds at Phillip Island, One Raceway and The Bend.