The ASBK round at Morgan Park Raceway is always a fan favourite, with great racing witnessed by large crowds of passionate superbike fans year after year. The regional Queensland raceway location sees fans from across Australia flood into the town of Warwick and the Southern Downs region, to capture Australia’s fastest two-wheeled Superbike racers on the tight and twisty 2.967 km circuit.

The return to Morgan Park Raceway for ASBK in 2023 has been made possible thanks to the dedication and support of the Southern Downs Regional Council and track operators – Warwick District Sporting Car Club (WDSCC).

Peter Doyle, CEO, Motorcycling Australia (MA): “We are very pleased to be heading back to Morgan Park Raceway in 2023. It’s a circuit that has supported the ASBK Championship for many years and always creates a great event for riders, teams and the ASBK fans. Our thanks go to Warwick District Sporting Car Club and Southern Downs Regional Council for getting behind the ASBK Championship, with committing to perform the important upgrades and repairs to the circuit. This will ensure a great ASBK Championship round and a good experience on-track for riders. This will translate into amazing racing seen by the fans who are trackside and also at home watching from across the country and around the world.”

The commitment of WDSCC will see upgrades to the racing surface and circuit facilities prior to the ASBK visit in July. These upgrades include resurfacing of the circuit from Turn 7.5 – 10, new track kerbs, track repairs and updated line marking to improve the rider experience. Whilst further works around the pit and paddock will improve the facilities of the riders & teams. 

Steve Gander, President, Warwick District Sporting Car Club (WDSCC): “The Warwick District Sporting Car Club is excited to welcome back the ASBK Championship to Morgan Park Raceway in 2023. The ASBK event is one of the biggest attractions for the Southern Downs region and we wish to continue that relationship for many years to come.  The Car Club is committed to delivering further improvements to the track and facilities over the next several years which will benefit all of our competitors, crews and spectators alike. We are currently performing the necessary works prior to the ASBK event in July and are also in the final stages of developing a Master Plan for our facility. As a club that is full of motorsport enthusiasts, we understand the importance of providing a venue that is challenging for competitors and exciting for spectators without compromising safety. We want everyone to be aware of what Morgan Park Raceway has to offer and the hosting of the ASBK Championship is a perfect opportunity to do so.”

Cr Vic Pennisi, Mayor, Southern Downs Regional Council (SRDC): ‘’We are thrilled to again welcome back the Australian Superbike Championship to the Southern Downs Region. Our region is a great location for major events, and we look forward to welcoming the teams, riders and fans in July for what is sure to be an excellent event at Morgan Park Raceway. We hope visitors will enjoy the best the region has to offer, and to also spend some extra time exploring the large range of activities, attractions, and hospitality throughout the region. Major events in the Southern Downs Regional Council area are important to the economy of the region and the SDRC are pleased to support the ASBK Championship and the Warwick District Sporting Car Club.’’

Today’s announcement creates the final piece of the 2023 ASBK Championship calendar which is shaping up to be the biggest season of ASBK in many years. Each and every round will be a standout event, starting with the Official ASBK Test on 1 -2 February.

2023 ASBK Calendar 

• Official ASBK Test Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW February 1-2
• Round – 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 24-26
• Round – 2 Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW, March 24-25
• Round – 3 Queensland Raceway, QLD April 28-30
• Round – 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT June 16-18
• Round – 5 Morgan Park, QLD July 14-16
• Round – 6 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC October 27-29
• Round – 7 The Bend Motorsport Park, SA December 1 – 3

The post 2023 ASBK Calendar Completed As Morgan Park Is Confirmed appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....

Every round that Mike Jones pulls further ahead, it’s one less round to catch him, and as the available points pool starts to run out, we’re at this specific point of the season: the title is now his to lose.  Thanks to a handy 40-point lead over main rival Wayne Maxwell and coming into a round at a circuit he likes- Morgan Park – the overwhelming feeling is that this is where he will really seal the deal.

Grab your tickets for this weekend here…

While Maxwell will be fast and up the front at the Island for round six and a likely repeat winner at The Bend in November, it might be for now and just end up a nice way to actually-for-real finish his career.  But we never stop saying “it’s a funny old game” and acknowledge that pressure can do weird things to a racer, so we’ll come into Morgan Park with open hearts and minds. 

Leadership of the Championship aside, there’s plenty happening elsewhere and while Jones might have a 40-point lead, there’s just 31 points from second to sixth. There are also three riders in equal fourth on 136 points and two riders in equal 5th for the stats mad amongst us. 

While it’s not full silly season for rides in 2023 just yet, a number of riders will really want to improve their position in the championship and with everything rather close, a solid weekend could see a particularly crazy game of snakes and ladders taking place.

Alpinestars Superbikes – The Numbers

• Jones banked 70 from a possible 76 points and extended his lead by 17.
• With six races left in the three remaining rounds, Jones doesn’t need to win a single race to be crowned 2022 Champion. Three seconds and three thirds are enough, no matter what else happens.
• For Maxwell to win: Would need to win every race and take every pole with Jones needing to place third or worse at least four times.
• For Staring to claim the Championship: If Staring could manage pole plus the double win every round, Jones would need to finish fourth three times and third three times – Staring would win by 1 point.
• The 136 club of Herfoss, Halliday and Waters…. Okay so it’s theoretically possible. But a lot needs to go right for any one of the 136 club to win the championship.

Michelin Supersport
It’s been a few months between races for the Supersport 600 fraternity and some might need a quick look at the points before they roll out of pit lane this Friday to remind themselves; this is close! 

Early season form from Tom Bramich, Tom Drane, Olly Simpson and Tarbon Walker was somewhat collectively brought undone with DNS/DNFs at Wakefield, and *looks at remaining rounds* lads, there’s no time for that sort of thing. 

Championship leader John Lytras has slowly but surely risen to the top after an ordinary round one (21 points). From there, his points hauls have risen to 46 at round two and a near-perfect 50 points at round three. He now leads the Championship by 17 points. 

Always mindful that in 2022, we’ve had a number of leaders fall off or fall away in Supersport, so Morgan Park will be a very good test of whether Lytras is ready to run away with things or offer up some sort of hope to the likes of second placed Ty Lynch who is perhaps the only rider within genuine striking distance. 

Like those outside the top few spots in Superbike, there is a log jam in Supersport as well with just 11 points separating third placed Scott Nicholson (82) and eight placed Tom Bramich (71). So while the battle at the top is warm, the battle for the remaining spots is white-hot. 

Dunlop Supersport 300 
Cameron Dunker arrived at Wakefield thereabouts in the overall points situation (third), 12 points adrift of then leader Henry Snell, but left the Goulburn region a seemingly impossible 25 points in the lead in a perfect display of 300 racing, bagging the maximum 76 points on offer. 

With Snell unable to put his Yamaha anywhere near the front, he slipped to fourth overall, Jacobs stayed put in second and Glenn Nelson stepped up one spot into third overall. Taiyo Akso showed plenty of newfound pace at Wakefield and was second overall for the weekend, but from fifth in the championship race, it’s a big task to bridge the 58-point deficit to Dunker. 

And so on to Morgan Park. Like their Supersport 600 brethren, it’s been a while between bouts for the always entertaining 300 class and Morgan Park is a perfect arena for their particular brand of hand-to-hand combat racing. 

Until Dunker really stepped up at Wakefield, there’s been no rider able to impress themselves upon the Championship. He now finds himself in the unenviable position of not only Championship leader, but no doubt “the-guy-to-follow” in every practice and qualifying session this weekend.  

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup 
While there’s a lot of form carry over from the Supersport 300 Championship, Glenn Nelson and Liam Waters were able to take wins at Wakefield Park on a weekend when Cameron Dunker won three races and snagged the extra point for pole in Dunlop Supersport 300. 

That said, Dunker took the overall R3 Cup honours at Wakefield and cut series leader Glenn Nelson’s overall lead to just 10 points. With a sizeable gap back to third placed Hayden Nelson, the series looks likely to come down to a Glenn Nelson/Dunker battle. 

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
After the most exciting announcement of the year- that the OJC crew will be a support category at the MotoGP event- it would be easy to gloss over the importance of the overall situation and this event. 

Harrison Watts and Hudson Thompson have been in an arm wrestle all season and after receiving equal points at Wakefield after three races, they are looking more like Siamese twins than fierce rivals.  Round one winner Cameron Rende is still well in the hunt, and this round will again be very close as the OJC riders shape up for the back half of season 2022. 

Live Broadcast Information:

• SBS: Sunday 7 August 1pm-4pm
• ASBK Livestream: Sunday 7 August 9:55AM – 12:40PM & 4PM – 4:30PM

The post ASBK Descends Upon Morgan Park This Weekend! appeared first on Racing, Riding, Motorcycle Reviews, Race bikes, Tech Tips, Rider Training....