The ASBK series has
come a long way in
recent years?
We all know where the
championship was. We
used 2016 to build a stable
championship with solid rules,
good infrastructure and an
easy-to-follow program.
Last year we started to work
heavily towards creating
entertainment and a bit of a
show. We were tr y ing to reach
out to a broader audience, hence
the investment in free-to-air
TV. It has been successful in
that way, and we are competing
against many other sports and
activities.
We want to engage w ith
fans, and as the championship
grows in that sense, it’s better
for the competitors and more
valuable for the sponsors. In
2015 we had 250k viewers on TV
and by 2017 it had jumped to
three million viewers.
The official factory teams are
all back on board now and that
lifts the standard and the show.
We’re also excited to partner
with the Asian Road Racing
Championship at Tailem Bend
- and all this is done with a full-
time staff of four people.
If there’s any criticism
it’s the live fan
experience – price,
facilities, etc. Is that a
fair comment?
Yes – that’s the third phase of
the rebuild. The first thing is
making sure we have a solid
championship from a rules and
competitor perspective.
The second phase now
is to reach out to a broader
audience and show them
the championship is worth
watching. Once we’ve reached
that, we have to look at how we
start getting them through the
gate. We are looking at things
like introducing big screens so
fans can see all the action right
around the circuit.
We also want to engage the
industry so there are more stalls
and stands. We have our trade
alley, but we also want to attract
local industry, who will only
be interested when the crowd
comes – so it’s a bit of a chicken-
and-egg type scenario.
We’re seeing crowd numbers
grow, but admittedly not as
fast as we would like. If we
can introduce things like big
screens, that will help, but it’s a
massive investment.Thesecondthingthatwill
help this year is hav ing Troy
Bayliss back on the bike. There
is a lot of interest in seeing how
this pans out. There is a little bit
of pressure on Troy to see how
he stacks up against the younger
riders. I think all eyes will be on
that first round!What’s the plan around
the controversial
cancellation of the
Sydney round?
Our preference is to be at Sydney
Motorsport Park. We want to see
the Sydney round happen and
last year was very positive. It’s got
everything we need, a tier-one
venue with great facilities and
track. It is a little challenging
for spectators, which is why
we think big screens will be
beneficial, but at this point of
the ASBK rebuilding phase, it
isn’t commercially viable. Their
pricing model simply made it too
expensive to host a round,
at least in 2018.
But we’re not closing the door
at all. Right now, at this point
in time with the championship
growing, we have other areas
where we thought that money
could be better spent.And the 300 class...
when we last spoke,
you mentioned MA
might look at how the
FIM structure the class
with the increasing
introduction of new
models?
Yes, that’s right...and this year,
when we analysed the results
and competitiveness of the
Kawasaki Ninja 300, the Yamaha
YZF-R3 and the KTM RC390, we
found the number of best laps,
top speeds and race wins was
very well balanced out across
the board.
The biggest change for 2018 is
there will be no under- or over-
300 class, it’s just one event.
Other rules haven’t changed, it
just means at some tracks some
bikes work better than others,
but the challenge with keeping
parity in the class is that there
is not a specific capacity across
manufacturer.
We’ve got to look ahead and
see how we get the Ninja 400 in,
or the Honda CBR500, we will
look at how it works with the FIM
class and see how weights and
rev limits work to ensure that
every bike in Supersport 300 has
a chance to win a race.“The biggest change for 2018 is there
will be no under- or over-300 class”
Martin Port
sport
Grid talk INTERVIEW MATT O’CONNELLMotorcycling Australia’s operations director on the past, present andfuture of ASBKBK