Motorcycling Australia (MA) has officially announced the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) calendar, which sees the championship go from a six round to a seven round series that is already shaping up to be a cracker of a year.
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The ASBK series will once again ignite into action on February 23-26 at Victoria’s Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, which will see the championship run in conjunction with the opening round of the Yamaha Finance round of the 2017 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.
Three weeks after Phillip Island the show will make the 827km trek north to Goulburn’s Wakefield Park where you local race fans will be able to watch the reigning Australian Superbike Champion, Troy Herfoss aboard the Crankt Protein Team Honda Racing CBR1000RR SP machine and Goulburn’s next best thing on two wheels, Tom Toparis which will mark his third outing in the Supersport category with the Cube Racing team.
After Wakefield Park it will be a quick dash down the Hume Highway to Winton Motor Raceway, which will play host to the third round on the last weekend of April.
Round four in June is still yet to be confirmed but is more than likely will take place at Western Australia’s Barbagallo Raceway. Motorcycle racing is currently adjourned at the 2.411km circuit due to an incident at the Kings of Wanneroo in early November.
The restrictions at Barbagallo are not as a result of the recent crash, rather it is a result following the recommendation of the recent review on the circuit which was actioned well before the incident.
Motorcycling Australia Operations and Event Director Martin Port told the Goulburn Post that MA are looking at a number of options at this point of time to determine what the best solution is for the championship at this stage.
“There is hope that things may rectify themselves in terms of the ASBK championship heading to Barbagallo Raceway,” said Port.
“It’s been a great event for our championship, the support of the local club and the volume of fans who attend.
“As much as we hope that Barbagallo is still a possibility finding a resolution can take time, so we are well into the process of working on a plan ‘B’. Till there is clarity around this space, it’s either at Barbagallo Raceway or another venue.”
Round five will see the series head back to Queensland’s Morgan Park Raceway, which is due to be resurfaced in December.
Two weeks after Morgan Park the series will embark on the penultimate round at Sydney Motorsport Park, before coming to an end back at the seaside circuit at Phillip Island on the first weekend of October.
Just like in the years gone past, Russell Colvin intends to be on the ground, covering each championship round as it unfolds throughout the year for the Goulburn Post and others.
2017 Australian Superbike Championship calendar:
- Round 1: 23-26 February – Phillip Island, VIC (WorldSBK)
- Round 2: 17-19 March – Wakefield Park, NSW
- Round 3: 28-30 April – Winton, VIC
- Round 4: June – TBC
- Round 5: 25-27 August – Morgan Park, QLD
- Round 6: 8-10 September – Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW
- Round 7: 6-8 October – Phillip Island, VIC