Beau Beaton and the Racers Edge Performance Suzuki team will be strong in ASBK 2013.

Racers Edge Performance Suzuki have shown they will be a force in the 2013 QBE Australian Superbike Championship after an impressive first round held in conjunction with round one of the World SBK at Phillip Island over the weekend of 22–24 February.

Beau Beaton got the year off to a blazing start, qualifying the Racers Edge Performance Suzuki on the front row of the grid, and Mitch Levy qualifying 11th in the massive 34-bike Supersport field set the tone for the weekend.

Beaton claimed 11th in Saturday’s opening leg after battling for the podium early on, running off the circuit and then climbing his way back up through the order in impressive fashion.

A high-speed Turn One crash in the morning warm-up on Sunday didn’t deter Beaton, however a mechanical glitch with the warning light on his GSX-R1000 forced him out of race two early on.

“There are so many positives to take from this meeting,” said an upbeat Beaton. “We had no testing prior to this round so to be so fast, so soon, was a bit of a surprise really. I’ve never raced Chas [Hern] before but that first race was great fun with him, Linden [Magee] and Ben [Henry].

“And it all felt pretty safe too, which is good because I don’t think it will be the last time this year. The Pirelli tyres were great and after how fast we went on them with no testing it has given me a real confidence boost for the remainder of the season – podiums are a realistic goal for us now.”

In the Supersport class Levy did his fastest ever laps of the Phillip Island circuit to qualify 11th. He then further improved his time in Race one to finish an impressive 10th after running as high as ninth mid-race.

After a great start in race two, Mitch completed lap one in eighth position. Lapping quicker than he ever has before, Mitch finished seventh and recorded a fastest lap some 1.4 seconds quicker than his qualifying time.

“I’ve lapped faster this weekend than I ever have before thanks to these new Pirellis,” Levy said. “I am a bit disappointed with myself though, in race one I got caught up with some slower riders and had to work had to get through, that slowed me up for the whole race.

“In race two I got a good start but I wasn’t fast enough in the first few laps, but I think I showed in the second half of the race the real pace I can run at on the Racers Edge Suzuki, in fact my fastest lap was faster than the fastest lap of the guy that won.

“All I need to do is get away with the leaders. The new Pirellis were brilliant and they were lasting well enough for me to do my fastest lap in race two on lap nine of 10.

Team manager Greg Maher was excited by the potential shown by both riders and the Pirelli tyres.

“We had a great weekend this weekend. I am really happy with how both Beau and Mitch rode considering we had not tested on the Pirelli tyres,” he said. “We found the tyres to be great, they have a good window of operation and were very flexible.

“Beau rode well in the first race considering the amount of time he had on the tyres, and that he hadn’t ridden the bike since the GP last year. With a little bit of testing he may not have been involved in such a tight battle as he was in race one.

“Mitch also rode really well, especially in the second race and he continues to grow in confidence. I must also thank Warwick Nowland for having a few words with Mitch over the weekend. I hope to be able to do some testing before the next round and if we do we’ll be aiming at the podium in both classes.”

The Racers Edge Performance Suzuki Team would like to thank its long time sponsors, as without them it is impossible to go racing; Suzuki, Vern Graham Suzuki, Phil Tainton Racing, Link International, Motul, RK Chains, Performance Friction Brakes and Quick Lap Performance.