2021 Australian Superbike Championship
While the factory teams in the Australian Superbike Championship generally tend to be the focus for most attention, the category is also the home of some dedicated privateers. Matt Walters from Cessnock is a long running staple of the series along with the likes of Jed Metcher, Arthur Sissis, Luke Jhonston, Yanni Shaw, Mark Chiodo and Michael Edwards. Ex international star Anthony West has also now joined the series as a privateer after serving out a suspension from the sport and adds a little more star power to the ASBK grid.
The upcoming Hidden Valley ASBK round will also mark the return of two riders that have recently been missing from the ASBK grid after recovering from crashes early in the year: Daniel Falzon and Corey Turner.
Falzon’s talents are well-documented; the South Australian achieved a round victory as a privateer at Phillip Island in 2017 and enjoyed much success with the entirely family affair that is JD Racing; after riding for YRT in the 2018 and ’19 seasons, Falzon returned to his family based team for the 2020 season before the pandemic hit.
Although Falzon is kept busy away from the track with his full-time occupation as a paramedic, the 27-year-old was still intending to compete in most rounds of the 2021 Championship, COVID restrictions permitting, but his plans were dealt a severe blow when he crashed in testing prior to the Wakefield Park round.
“I had a fall, which caused significant damage to the bike and meant I wasn’t able to race at Wakefield Park, which was a shame. However, we’ve been able to repair the bike and since then, I’ve been able to do some testing at Tailem Bend and Mallala. In some ways, it takes a lot of the pressure off for Hidden Valley, because there’s no championship pressure to worry about. I can just focus on enjoying the weekend and doing my best.”
Falzon said he is feeling a lot more comfortable on the bike after surgery at the completion of the 2019 season. He also said his paramedic job has given him a new level of appreciation for the volunteer medical teams at motorsport events.
“Throughout 2019, I was suffering quite badly with some arm pump, but I had surgery to rectify those issues and it’s feeling much better. I’ve always had an enormous amount of respect for the doctors and nurses at Racesafe, I hold them in very high regard, but now even more so.”
While the 2021 season signifies Turner’s reappearance on a superbike, the Gold Coaster has certainly not been a stranger to the ASBK paddock in recent seasons, competing in the Australian Sidecar Championship, which he won in 2019 with his brother, Danyon Turner, as passenger.
“2019 was our first year racing sidecars, it was a tight battle all year but we ended up winning the championship. The plan for this year was to compete in the whole Superbike Championship. We bought a brand-new Yamaha R1 in July last year, and we spent the Christmas period building it into a race bike. Unfortunately, I crashed it at Morgan Park in testing and it was almost totally written off – there were only a few components we were able to salvage.
“As a small privateer team, when you have a crash like that, it’s a huge setback. But we were determined not to give up, and my sister-in-law started a GoFundMe page to raise some funds to fix the bike. The generosity and support from the local motorcycling community, as well as my sponsors especially Brewed on Cuthbert has just been unbelievable and we’ve been able to get the bike rebuilt in time for Hidden Valley.”
“Because I haven’t raced Superbikes lately, it’s hard to get a gauge on where everyone else is at, so I just want to put my best foot forward and be competitive.”
They might not have the resources of the larger teams at their disposal, but both Falzon and Turner have the potential to put a few noses out of joint at Hidden Valley this weekend.
ASBK Hidden Valley Schedule
Friday, 18 June
10:25am – Practice 1 (40 min) FOX Sports
2:20pm – Practice 2 (30 min) FOX Sports
Saturday, 19 June
10:15am – Qualifying 1 (20 min) FOX Sports
10:40am – Qualifying 2 (15 min) FOX Sports
2:05pm – Race 1 (16 laps) FOX Sports/Channel 7
Sunday, 20 June
10:50am – Race 2 (16 laps) FOX Sports
2:05pm – Race 3 (16 laps) FOX Sports/Channel 7
2021 ASBK Championship Calendar (Updated)
Round 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC February 18-21 CancelledRound 2 Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, VIC March 12-14Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW April 16-18- Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, NT – Supercars 2+4 (Superbikes only) June 18-20
- Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, QLD August 20-22
- Round 6 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend, SA September 23-26
- Round 7 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn, NSW October 15 – 17 *
- Round 8 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC November 5-7 *
Alpinestars Superbike Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Total |
| 1 | Wayne MAXWELL | 91 |
| 2 | Troy HERFOSS | 81 |
| 3 | Mike JONES | 74 |
| 4 | Cru HALLIDAY | 65 |
| 5 | Glenn ALLERTON | 64 |
| 6 | Bryan STARING | 54 |
| 7 | Jed METCHER | 47 |
| 8 | Arthur SISSIS | 46 |
| 9 | Oli BAYLISS | 45 |
| 10 | Matt WALTERS | 42 |
| 11 | Lachlan EPIS | 36 |
| 12 | Josh WATERS | 27 |
| 13 | Anthony WEST | 24 |
| 14 | Michael EDWARDS | 22 |
| 15 | Mark CHIODO | 22 |
| 16 | Yannis SHAW | 21 |
| 17 | Nathan SPITERI | 20 |
| 18 | Luke JHONSTON | 17 |
| 19 | Aiden WAGNER | 15 |
| 20 | Aaron MORRIS | 14 |
| 21 | Philip CZAJ | 10 |
| 22 | Hamish McMURRAY | 4 |
| 23 | Sash SAVIN | 3 |
Darwin ASBK Entry List
- #1 Wayne Maxwell – Ducati
- #2 Mark Chido – Yamaha
- #3 Jed Metcher – Yamaha
- #12 Matt Walters – Kawasaki
- #13 Anthony West – Yamaha
- #14 Glenn Allerton – BMW
- #16 Luke Jhonston – Yamaha
- #17 Troy Herfoss – Honda
- #21 Josh Waters – Kawasaki
- #25 Daniel Falzon – Yamaha
- #28 Aiden Wagner – Yamaha
- #32 Oli Bayliss – Ducati
- #37 Michael Edwards – Yamaha
- #46 Mike Jones – Ducati
- #51 Corey Turner – Yamaha
- #61 Arthur Sissis – Yamaha
- #65 Cru Halliday – Yamaha
- #67 Bryan Staring – Kawasaki
- #83 Lachlan Epis – BMW
- #92 Jack Davis – BMW
- #333 Yanni Shaw – Suzuki
Source: MCNews.com.au