Australian Superbikes 2006 recap and 2007 preview

[NinjaMaster]

Good thread Clint, it's great to have a perspective on some of the series we don't hear so much about

Thanks Pat. Your thread on the British series gave me the inspiration and I really want to see the Aus series return to it's rightful place as one of the leading national series.

Hmmm - the coverage via SBS has more filler than actual racing. Be nice if they actually showed a complete race sometimes, rather than just the overtaking manoeuvres and crashes.

That is sadly true but it is better than nothing. I'm also hoping that the new deal involves a more comprehensive coverage than ASC has had for the past number of years. They will also be shown on Foxtel which will hopefully be fairly in depth.


Also of note, Robbie Bugden is competing in the New Zealand Superbike Championship this Summer as Suzuki teammate to reigning champ Andrew Stroud and started the season off with 2 wins in the first round.

[tha_jackal]

from mcnews.com.au:-

"Suzuki Australia is delighted to announce the re-signing of Superbike rider, Robbie Bugden for the 2007 Australian Superbike Championship.

Wrapping up an impressive third place in the 2006 Australian Superbike Championship in his first year with a factory team, Bugden has secured a fully-supported satellite ride with Suzuki, remaining onboard the GSX-R1000 Superbike for the 2007 series.

Currently in scorching form, Bugden is leading the 2007 New Zealand Superbike Championship aboard the Suzuki GSX-R1000, taking five wins from six races and going under the lap record at every event.

"I'm really happy to be back on board with Suzuki for 2007... I had a very strong finish to the 2006 season with Team Yoshimura Suzuki and I think we can build on that momentum heading into this season," Robbie Bugden said.

"Already this year, I've been pushing myself to new levels in the New Zealand championship and the GSX-R1000 is proving that it's definitely THE bike to be on.

"I have to thank Suzuki New Zealand for the invitation to race in the NZ Superbike series... it's been a great experience and all the support they have given me so far has been absolutely fantastic.

"Suzuki is such a dominant force in New Zealand road racing, with GSX-R1000's filling the top three spots in the Superbike championship... I'm just glad that I'm the guy at the top of the points right now."

With the New Zealand Superbike Series as pre-season preparation for the Australian competition, Bugden will start the new season in great shape for Suzuki and is looking to continue his winning ways back on home soil.

Suzuki will field its strongest ever rider line-up in the Australian Superbike class, with three-time champion, Shawn Giles, the 2003 champion, Craig Coxhell and Bugden all piloting Team Yoshimura Suzuki prepared GSX-R1000 race machines.

The 2007 Australian Superbike Championship commences on 16 - 18 February at Sydney's Eastern Creek Raceway."

amazing what wins do for ya.. good to see!!

[NinjaMaster]

That is certainly good news for Robbie Bugden. By my calculations, that gives us 3 competitive Zooks, hopefully 3 competitive Kwaks, 4 fast Hondas and 2 quick Yamahas. Looks very exciting to me!

Also, Adam Fergusson's new team has changed last minute from their expected Michelin tyres to Dunlop tyres, the same as the Yamaha and Suzuki teams.

[Mach24]

Pos Name Class Machine Q1 Q2 BEST
1 Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) Yamaha R1 1:31.968 1:31.773 1:31.773
2 Russell HOLLAND (NSW) Honda CBR 1:32.782 1:34.507 1:32.782
3 Bryan STARING (WA) Honda CBR 1:33.923 1:32.798 1:32.798
4 Shawn GILES (NSW) Suzuki GSXR 1:33.275 1:32.824 1:32.824
5 Shannon ETHERIDGE (NSW) P Yamaha R1 1:33.306 1:32.928 1:32.928
6 Craig COXHELL (VIC) Suzuki GSXR 1:34.552 1:32.984 1:32.984
7 Shogo MORIWAKI (VIC) Honda CBR 1:33.934 1:33.120 1:33.120
8 Adam FERGUSSON (VIC) Honda CBR 1:33.190 1:33.278 1:33.190
9 Daniel STAUFFER (NSW) Yamaha R1 1:33.228 1:33.342 1:33.228
10 Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) Kawasaki ZX10R 1:33.238 1:33.660 1:33.238
11 Michael FRASER (NSW) BP Suzuki GSXR 1:35.184 1:33.276 1:33.276
12 Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) Kawasaki ZX10R 1:33.317 1:33.325 1:33.317
13 Scott CHARLTON (VIC) P Yamaha R1 1:33.496 1:33.500 1:33.496
14 Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) P Honda CBR 1:33.724 1:34.110 1:33.724
15 Robert BUGDEN (QLD) Suzuki GSXR 1:33.822 1:33.984 1:33.822
16 Ashley ROE (VIC) P Honda CBR 1:33.838 1:34.311 1:33.838
17 Cole ODENDAAL (QLD) P Suzuki GSXR 1:37.391 1:36.282 1:36.282
18 James SPENCE (NSW) BP Yamaha R1 1:36.652 1:36.652
19 Steve MANNING (NSW) BP Honda CBR 1:37.054 1:36.777 1:36.777
20 Brenden GUROWSKI (QLD) P Honda CBR 1:36.931 1:36.873 1:36.873
21 Anthony GOBERT (VIC) P Kawasaki ZX10R 1:38.935 1:37.500 1:37.500
22 Brent SIDWELL (QLD) BP Honda CBR 1:38.618 1:37.536 1:37.536
23 Mark HIGGINS (VIC) BP Honda CBR 1:38.755 1:38.010 1:38.010
24 Denis CHARLETT (SA) P Kawasaki ZX10R 1:40.021 1:39.669 1:39.669
25 Matt BATTISTA (WA) BP Yamaha R1 1:40.567 1:41.226 1:40.567

Well it looks like Jamie is back on top in 07'.

2 thru 16 looks pretty tight.

Notice Anthony Gobert in 21st.

[NinjaMaster]

Ya beat me to it Mach! The race (for second) looks like being a cracker. Jamie Stauffer already has the superbike and supersport all wrapped up. He is a second faster than anyone in each category.
2 to 16 is only covered by 1.1seconds! and some riders came in very disgruntled apparently because the final q session was red flagged with 5 mins to go and a few blokes missed their flyers.
Gobert is apparently struggling with the bikes handling. It is a brand new team and this is the first time out so it is a shakedown test and race in one! Gonna be tough for him but his times have been steadily tumbling so hopefully he can get in the points by the end of the weekend.

[Mach24]

Seems the red flag at the end of Q2 was for Jamie and his brother Dan both binning their R1's at the same time at different points on the circuit. Jamie did not even bother to put a lap in in Q2 of Supersport and remained 1 second clear.

From the pics I have seen of Goey's pit garage it looks pretty much like a privateer outfit (a bit like my garage used to look), another tough years for the man that could have been king.


Shannon Etheridge the surprise in 5th on a private R1 with some go fast bit.

[Mach24]

Pos Name Class Machine Q1 Q2 Best
1 Jamie STAUFFER (NSW) Yamaha R1 1:22.605 1:22.394 1:22.394
2 Russell HOLLAND (NSW) Honda CBR RR 1:22.569 1:23.550 1:22.569
3 Shawn GILES (NSW) Suzuki GSXR 1:23.397 1:22.726 1:22.726
4 Daniel STAUFFER (NSW) Yamaha R1 1:22.860 1:22.742 1:22.742
5 Bryan STARING (WA) Honda CBR RR 1:23.092 1:22.909 1:22.909
6 Wayne MAXWELL (VIC) Kawasaki ZX10R 1:23.710 1:23.222 1:23.222
7 Shannon JOHNSON (VIC) Kawasaki ZX10R 1:24.369 1:23.259 1:23.259
8 Craig COXHELL (VIC) Suzuki GSXR 1:24.175 1:23.587 1:23.587
9 Adam FERGUSSON (VIC) Honda CBR RR 1:24.238 1:23.618 1:23.618
10 Glenn ALLERTON (NSW) P Honda CBR RR 1:23.731 1:23.664 1:23.664
11 Scott CHARLTON (VIC) P Yamaha R1 1:23.825 1:23.833 1:23.825
12 Robert BUGDEN (QLD) Suzuki GSXR 1:24.040 1:23.872 1:23.872
13 Anthony GOBERT (VIC) P Kawasaki ZX10R 1:24.157 1:24.931 1:24.157
14 Ashley ROE (VIC) P Honda CBR RR 1:24.928 1:25.806 1:24.928
15 Michael FRASER (NSW) BP Suzuki GSXR 1:25.932 1:25.311 1:25.311
16 Shannon ETHERIDGE (NSW) P Yamaha R1 1:25.920 1:25.920
17 Brenden GUROWSKI (QLD) P Honda CBR RR 1:26.473 1:27.281 1:26.473
18 Matt BATTISTA (WA) P Yamaha R1 1:27.589 1:26.791 1:26.791
19 Mark HIGGINS (VIC) BP Honda CBR RR 1:28.176 1:27.445 1:27.445
20 Cole ODENDAAL (QLD) P Suzuki GSXR 1:28.010 1:28.760 1:28.010
21 Steve MANNING (NSW) BP Honda CBR RR 1:29.460 1:28.220 1:28.220
22 Brent SIDWELL (QLD) BP Honda CBR RR 1:28.548 1:28.265 1:28.265
23 Dennis CHARLETT (SA) P Kawasaki ZX10R 1:29.519 1:28.940 1:28.940

[Mach24]

Jamie Stauffer well on his way toward another victory for Yamaha? As I write this it must be near 25 degrees at 1030pm with rain forecast tomorrow. With the rain will come some spice in round 2 of the OZ Supers. This weekend sees the first of the double header rounds at Winton in central Victoria. A short but challenging track which is sure to create tight racing.

I hope there is a good crowd gathered to see what is proving to be a tough and exciting series.

I will report back on Monday when I get back from rural Winton.

[NinjaMaster]

We had some bad news over here today. I got this report in my email.

DVS Honda star rider Adam ‘Krusty’ Fergusson is in a stable condition in the Launceston General Hospital after a very nasty crash during testing at Symmons Plains,Tasmania yesterday. The 2004 dual Australian Champion suffered multiple fractures across his body and lost consciousness for a short time after the crash and is out for the remainder of the season. He is scheduled to have his first surgery this afternoon to plate both legs. Further surgeries are expected.

More details will be released as they are confirmed.

The entire team at DVS Honda wish him a full and speedy recovery and would like to thank the track staff and in particular the other teams and riders for their support and assistance at the trackside.

Terrible luck for Krusty, really hope for a quick recovery for him.

[ChrisS]

I'm a member in a fan forum of his where he regularly posts, his wife posted this using his account

Hey All, It's Nikki (Krusty's wife), Just thought I'd let you know that Adams out of surgery and he's doing fine, he has had both his legs plated, he has broken/smashed his Tibia in one leg and his Fibula in the other. His hip has been put back in place and his collarbone should heal on its own.
Not to sure when he will be released from hospital although he is hoping to be home by mid next week.
Anyway, he has asked for me to keep you all updated so once I know more I will let you know.
Take Care, Nikki

other members that know him personally said he is thinking about retiring, 2 big crashes with a year, he thinks is time to get out.