Australian Superbike Championship

The Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) is a national motorcycle racing championship in Australia, organised by Motorcycling Australia.

Australian Superbike Championship
ASBK current Logo
CategorySuperbike racing
CountryAustralia
Inaugural season1980
Riders' championMike Jones
Official websiteAustralian Superbike Championship
Current season

History

The story of the Australian Superbike Championship begins in 1980, at a time in motorcycle sport where the premiere road racing series globally, was the 500ccGP Championship. The issue with 500s at that time, was that manufacturer teams were investing large amounts of funding to develop their machines and riders to a level of sophistication that was far removed from what was commercially available to the public. This resulted in a very expensive racing program, especially for privateers.

The need for a road race series that offered ease of entry for national riders and that was open to all makes of production motorcycles that required little modification and development from standard road going trim was evident. Enter the Australian Superbike Series. Australia's flagship road race in 1980 through to 1986 was called the ‘Australian Superbike Series’, that featured large capacity production motorcycles which at the time, were some of the most competitive in the world ‘out of the box’. Winning bikes were mostly Japanese manufactured inline four cylinder powered machines readily available for public purchase in Australia. The motorcycle manufacturers idiom of the day being “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday”, a reference to motorcycle sales figures on the back of a particular marque's race win.

For two years spanning 1987- 1988, political and economic influences saw the renaming of the Series to ‘The Australian Endurance Championship’. Again, the Endurance Championship was the premier road racing competition in the country, which in 1989 once again morphed, into what was called, the ‘Australian Superbike Championship’ run under the Australian Road Race Championship banner.

Over the years the Championship has been run by Motorcycling Australia (MA) in conjunction with private promoters and clubs. And it proved to be a successful formula with success at its peak in the 1990s to early 2000s, however further economic challenges hit the series hard. With struggling competitor numbers, spectators and media exposure, MA opted to step in as the primary promoter, rekindling the championship as the Australian Superbike Championship or ‘ASBK’.

Over the following years, the ASBK has seen unprecedented growth and an increased talent pool, with the Championship forming the perfect springboard for riders and teams to avail themselves of opportunities abroad and on international podiums.

The ASBK is structured in a progressive format that caters for a variety of motorcycle classes, riders, and abilities. Starting with the Australian GP Juniors Cup that is based purely on a single make 150cc production bike for riders aged between 12 and under 16 years old right through to the Australian Superbike category featuring some of the largest capacity motorcycles currently available on the domestic market. The MA Championship has laid the foundations for riders to not only showcase their talents, but to provide opportunities for the continuing development of their race craft and a clearly defined pathway for progression from junior programs through to the elite Superbike class.

Champions

Src:[1]

gollark: To be truly marxist, you should have communism where literally everyone is given 100 guns by the state.
gollark: Didn't Marx say something about not taking away guns from the proletariat?
gollark: They seem to have decided that now knives are EXTREME DANGER™ and are overregulating them, despite them being waaaay more useful as general-use tools than guns.
gollark: I mean, knives would be very UK.
gollark: Um.

References
  1. Rewind: A decade of Australian Superbike Champions, cycleonline, 22 July 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2019
Season Champion Bike
Australian Superbike Series
1980 Andrew Johnson Kawasaki Z1000 Mk.II
1981 Rob Phillis Suzuki GSX1100
1982 Rob Phillis Suzuki GSX1100
1983 Rob Phillis Suzuki GSX1100
1984 Rob Phillis Suzuki GSX1100
1985 Rob Phillis Suzuki GSX1100
1986 Malcolm Campbell Honda VFR750
Australian Endurance Championship
1987 Tony Armstrong Suzuki GSX-R750
1988 Rob Phillis Kawasaki GPX750R
Australian Superbike Championship
1989 Malcolm Campbell Honda RC30
1990 Malcolm Campbell Honda RC30
1991 Aaron Slight Kawasaki ZXR750R
1992 Mat Mladin Kawasaki ZXR750R
1993 Troy Corser Honda RC30
1994 Anthony Gobert Honda RC45
1995 Kirk McCarthy Honda RC45
1996 Peter Goddard Suzuki GSX-R750
1997 Martin Craggill Kawasaki ZX-7RR
1998 Martin Craggill Kawasaki ZX-7RR
1999 Steve Martin Ducati 996RS
2000 Shawn Giles Suzuki GSX-R750
2001 Shawn Giles Suzuki GSX-R1000
2002 Shawn Giles Suzuki GSX-R1000
2003 Craig Coxhell Suzuki GSX-R1000
2004 Adam Fergusson Honda CBR1000RR
2005 Josh Brookes Honda CBR1000RR
2006 Jamie Stauffer Yamaha YZF-R1
2007 Jamie Stauffer Yamaha YZF-R1
2008 Glenn Allerton Honda CBR1000RR
2009 Josh Waters Suzuki GSX-R1000
2010 Bryan Staring Honda CBR1000RR
2011 Glenn Allerton BMW S1000RR
2012 Josh Waters Suzuki GSX-R1000
2013 Wayne Maxwell Suzuki GSX-R1000
2014 Glenn Allerton BMW S1000RR
2015 Mike Jones Kawasaki ZX-10R
2016 Troy Herfoss Honda CBR1000RR SP
2017 Josh Waters Suzuki GSX-R1000R
2018 Troy Herfoss Honda CBR1000RR SP
2019 Mike Jones Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition
2020 Wayne Maxwell Ducati V4R
Current (2019)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.