ASBK 2015, it's back !

[Kermit]

ASBK 2015 plans announced

Motorcycling Australia (MA) is pleased to announce plans for the 2015 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).

The pinnacle event of Australian Road Racing is undergoing some pivotal changes for 2015. The Australian Championship has a strong history of producing competitive riders and exciting competition in Australia’s domestic Road Racing scene and this past success will be the foundation MA will build on for future years.

The ASBK Championship will be centrally managed by MA and incorporate 4-5 Rounds in multiple states across the country. MA plans to include South Australia in 2016 with options in Tasmania and Northern Territory also being considered beyond 2015.

MA will co-promote each round with a club in each of the states that the Championship will visit.

Racesafe will continue to provide World Class medical care at the ASBK, ensuring the level of competitor safety and care at the event continues to be the very best available.

The 2015 ASBK will kick-off at the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island 20-22 February for limited classes.

Classes and rules will be confirmed in the coming weeks in addition to announcements with further championship details.



http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=05b2881ba56be689a04d41b58&id=3319c05844&e=966c513211

[shippy__]

"incorporate four to five rounds in multiple states across the country. " doesn't sound long, drawn out and expensive at all......



4 round season yewwwwwww

[Kermit]

"incorporate four to five rounds in multiple states across the country. " doesn't sound long, drawn out and expensive at all......


As opposed to ?

[Marshy]

Fucken ayyyyy :thumb:

Sounds about right to me! 5 rounds of a National championship, all in different states, will do nicely.

[Baddie]

I don’t know how it’s a good thing?.

All I see now is extra cost for the rider and are you really going to travel to Tassie for three to four races?....so who will really be Aussie superbike Champ????

I think right now Terry has taken the status away from ASBK , with big name riders and Tv rights etc.

[Marshy]

Yep, I'm more than happy to travel to Tas!! ASBK this year at QR and the Island had HEAPS of track time and races, so long as you cross-entered EVO (same as Formula Oz). I was worn out after all the riding!!

Bring it oooooonnnnnnn :rockon:

[Kris]

I don’t know how it’s a good thing?.

All I see now is extra cost for the rider and are you really going to travel to Tassie for three to four races?....so who will really be Aussie superbike Champ????

I think right now Terry has taken the status away from ASBK , with big name riders and Tv rights etc.

Its a National series mate, and yes, the serious people will do Tassie. You cant expect a national series to be run like a club series - all in one state.

IF it turns out to be a decent thing, Ill be going to Tassie for sure.

Racing aint cheap

[Linden]

I don’t know how it’s a good thing?.

All I see now is extra cost for the rider and are you really going to travel to Tassie for three to four races?....so who will really be Aussie superbike Champ????

I think right now Terry has taken the status away from ASBK , with big name riders and Tv rights etc.

Don't know ... in 20 years time it'll be nice telling the grandkids I was 2x National BEARS F5 champion ... they don't need to know that it was for attendance :)

+ BEARS go to Darwin for 4 races (though I make sure I cross enter so get 8) though that's a special meeting Monday to Thursday track days ($100 entry FOR ALL 4 DAYS) Friday Practice and Sat Sun Racing for around $250 BUT if you are not from the NT you get a $200 rebate ... that $150 for 7 days on the track ... some of us showed but some mornings did a session B4 11am and then went tourist

[chubb]

Well MA starting to take reigns. Might shape up to be a great series

[Mstevo]

Well MA starting to take reigns. Might shape up to be a great series

It will all hinge on the rules and which way the manufactures want to go

[chubb]

If they keep it in line with their current rules it looks like it's less restrictive than TON's series. For 600s anyway. Didn't look at 1000s. More in line with the rest of the world.

[Marshy]

So the calendar has been released. http://www.ma.org.au/index.php?id=12&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=13942&tx_ttnews[backPid]=6&cHash=f680e1f19b

There are a couple of issues as I see it.... and I've sent an email to MA (so far without reply).



Firstly, why no NSW round?? As (I'm told) NSW has the highest number of road racers of any State, it seems daft that we are one again in a situation where NSW has no round of the national championship.
If dates are an issue, presumably you could do a deal with St George, who seem to regularly secure two weekends a year at the Creek. I'm assuming St George would be the club to affiliate with for a NSW round anyway.

Secondly, the WA round poses some logistical issues. While I applaud it being a true national championship, it would probably be easier to have a NZ round than Perth.... or maybe on the moon!! ;) Are you proposing providing bike transport, a la Darwin?
Given that we have NO local round, TWO trips to the southern tip of Aus, and one trip to Tasmania, adding a two-week drive to WA and back just isn't gonna work. And then, if we are going to miss the points from a whole round, there's no motivation to do the series. My riders are now wanting to look at the FX calendar before committing to ASBK, and we don't want that!!!

Thoughts??

[Kris]

Can't get QR or EC because the tracks dont want a bar of ASBK any more is what I'm told. St George runs a highly popular series, I can't see them giving up that to be affiliated with a series which has failed in every regard.

[chubb]

Think if anything I'll do the local rounds of FX

[Metal-Man]

Think if anything I'll do the local rounds of FX

+1

[chubb]

Funny how FX manages to secure three rounds at SMP while MA can't.

http://www.cycleonline.com.au/2014/10/16/2015-australasian-superbike-championship-calendar-announced/

[chubb]

Wonder what TON has in mind too..

Also next season we will see the inclusion of a new standalone C- and D-grade big-bore category under the Formula Xtreme namesake, featuring multiple races each day albeit at selected rounds – potentially five or six. Further details to follow.

[senator8]

ASC Calender looks good

[Baddie]

How's ABSK going to keep up with ASC.

http://www.formula-xtreme.com.au/NewsDetails?newsid=4715

[Negrogrande]

depending on my pace at St george I might give FX a bash

[Marshy]

I'm very disappointed in MA for not sorting their shit out. It's not rocket surgery. They should've swung their weight around with ARDC. This political crap is just bullshit.

That said, unless something impressive happens with ASBK in the next few months, I'm thinking that SSR will be running in FX next year.

[chubb]

I really want to know what this big bore class is for C&D graders only..

i would be keen to run the 600 in there if permitted.. thinking big bore = 1000cc

[Saturnalian]

I really want to know what this big bore class is for C&D graders only..

i would be keen to run the 600 in there if permitted.. thinking big bore = 1000cc

Do you think you'll be a C or D grader next year ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Little Mick]

Do you think you'll be a C or D grader next year ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

937

[chubb]

Hah in reality I will only be a C grader in TON series. Have you seen the pace of so called "D" graders in FX?? Brayden Elliott is C with MNSW but D in FX. Running 1.02s on his 600.

We all know the grading system is stuffed.

[chubb]

Just asked TON about this C&D grade big bore class.

Only open to 1000cc bikes. Can't run a 600 in there. It's DISCRIMINATION I tells ya!!

Looks like gonna run the 600 in FOz. Fun..


I wonder why the preference to run 1000cc instead of 600cc.

[Marshy]

We all know the grading system is stuffed.

Even more so in FX, because TON doesn't actually have a grading system. Then again, neither does MNSW really, although at least they actually re-grade people each year, even if it is subjective and random.


I wonder why the preference to run 1000cc instead of 600cc.

Also seeing as F.OZ is massively skewed to 1000s too. It has always been thus.

[chubb]

Why would you run two FOz class with 1000cc. Why not split FOz into 1000 and 600 and run a seperate C&D within the class.

It would entice club riders to step up and for those 600 and 1000cc bikes that don't comply FOz will be the step to move to

[Saturnalian]

Why would you run two FOz class with 1000cc. Why not split FOz into 1000 and 600 and run a seperate C&D within the class.

It would entice club riders to step up and for those 600 and 1000cc bikes that don't comply FOz will be the step to move to

+1 to that

[Mr.Ed]

It's like trying to understand women I tell youse

[Little Mick]

Probably to do with how many 600s show up to f oz... but then you look at club level and they are everywhere

[chubb]

Probably to do with how many 600s show up to f oz... but then you look at club level and they are everywhere

but he did use to run SS class within FOz... no idea why he dropped it..

[Marshy]

but he did use to run SS class within FOz... no idea why he dropped it..

Lack of numbers. The deal used to be a 10 bike minimum to run SS in FOz. But the numbers kept dropping. Including me and everyone I was riding with, who slowly dropped out of the class. The last time I raced a 600 in Oz, there were two of us (out of a field of 40-odd bikes).

There were two main reasons I stopped racing a 600 in FOz:

1. Extreme danger. A guy on an R1 had a massive crash going into turn 1 when he misjudged the speed difference between my 600 on corner entry and his 1000. He narrowly avoided skittling me - just brushed my outside leg - but ended up over the tyre wall all the way over to the left of the start of the old drag strip. Hospital, broken bones etc. Scared me, and put that rider out of racing (I think) permanently. The speed difference between a 1000 and a 600 at the end of the straight is 30-50kms per hour. At those speeds, you are covering 75 metres PER SECOND!! That's nearly the length of a football field per second. Think about that for a second..... ("ONE-football field length-TWO-football field length-THREE-football field length"). It's very easy to slightly misjudge closing speeds and have a massive accident. There's a reason (besides parity) that 600s and 1000s don't normally share the track.

2. It just sucks balls big-time to spend the whole lap lining up and passing a 1000cc bike with a slower rider, only to have them barrel straight past you again down the straight!! I tell ya, lap after lap, race after race of the same slower guys on 1000s doing the same damn thing and stuffing up your overall lap times and finishing position gets really, really old. I mean, really old. I used to get soooo frustrated I was really really angry at the end of a race meeting, which meant it wasn't fun, and there's no point in spending a fortune on something that isn't fun.

So why not just race FX600, I hear you ask? Because the rules are stoopid! Most 600cc track bikes set up by punters before thinking of racing aren't eligible for FX (although they are for ASBK and every other race meet in Australia); eg NO: aftermarket rear shocks, titanium exhausts, quickshifters, quick throttles. And the control tyre was so bad it was incredibly dangerous. There was a serious controversy in Dunlop issuing competitors with different compound front tyres on the day of the race, but not actually telling anyone (except YRT, who had been testing on the new front tyre for weeks), resulting in a huge number of accidents in turn 8. Also, a set of tyres would last roughly 5 laps, so you needed the full $2k worth of tyres for a weekend (and more), because they were so rubbish. I think that has been largely resolved in the last year or two, and the new control tyres are much better. But it was a problem for quite a few years with the early GPAs.

[Marshy]

On a side note, and in the interests of full disclosure, I've just entered (on a 1000 ;)) for the November round of FX.

[chubb]

Lack of numbers. The deal used to be a 10 bike minimum to run SS in FOz. But the numbers kept dropping. Including me and everyone I was riding with, who slowly dropped out of the class. The last time I raced a 600 in Oz, there were two of us (out of a field of 40-odd bikes).

There were two main reasons I stopped racing a 600 in FOz:

1. Extreme danger. A guy on an R1 had a massive crash going into turn 1 when he misjudged the speed difference between my 600 on corner entry and his 1000. He narrowly avoided skittling me - just brushed my outside leg - but ended up over the tyre wall all the way over to the left of the start of the old drag strip. Hospital, broken bones etc. Scared me, and put that rider out of racing (I think) permanently. The speed difference between a 1000 and a 600 at the end of the straight is 30-50kms per hour. At those speeds, you are covering 75 metres PER SECOND!! That's nearly the length of a football field per second. Think about that for a second..... ("ONE-football field length-TWO-football field length-THREE-football field length"). It's very easy to slightly misjudge closing speeds and have a massive accident. There's a reason (besides parity) that 600s and 1000s don't normally share the track.

2. It just sucks balls big-time to spend the whole lap lining up and passing a 1000cc bike with a slower rider, only to have them barrel straight past you again down the straight!! I tell ya, lap after lap, race after race of the same slower guys on 1000s doing the same damn thing and stuffing up your overall lap times and finishing position gets really, really old. I mean, really old. I used to get soooo frustrated I was really really angry at the end of a race meeting, which meant it wasn't fun, and there's no point in spending a fortune on something that isn't fun.

So why not just race FX600, I hear you ask? Because the rules are stoopid! Most 600cc track bikes set up by punters before thinking of racing aren't eligible for FX (although they are for ASBK and every other race meet in Australia); eg NO: aftermarket rear shocks, titanium exhausts, quickshifters, quick throttles. And the control tyre was so bad it was incredibly dangerous. There was a serious controversy in Dunlop issuing competitors with different compound front tyres on the day of the race, but not actually telling anyone (except YRT, who had been testing on the new front tyre for weeks), resulting in a huge number of accidents in turn 8. Also, a set of tyres would last roughly 5 laps, so you needed the full $2k worth of tyres for a weekend (and more), because they were so rubbish. I think that has been largely resolved in the last year or two, and the new control tyres are much better. But it was a problem for quite a few years with the early GPAs.

Yeah I hear you.. Well depending on what we are doing or rather where we are going (location wise).. I plan to spend one more year on the 600 then move to a 1000. Either Kawasaki or the Honda.

Itching to jump but I think one more year on the 600 will do me good as I still have lots to learn on the smaller bike!

On a side note.. What the bloody hell is wrong with the SS rules set out by MA that you have to create your own FX600 rules.
Just makes it harder for riders that want to do both series (if money was unlimited.) it just forces riders to pick one series. And why we don't just have one premier series is still mind boggling.

[Marshy]

it just forces riders to pick one series.

Enuff said