Sydney's Eastern Creek Raceway will play stage to the 2002 FX Tri-State this weekend.

In excess of 200 entries have been received with fields in each of the seven separate race categories nearing their maximum.

New features for 2002 include the introduction of a free to air television package and the provision of a Superscreen at each of the events.

Network TEN, will air an exclusive 60-minute package of Formula Xtreme action from each of the six events held on the Eastern seaboard. The stand-alone programs will go to air on Sunday afternoons at 12:30pm a week or two after each event. 

The addition of the Superscreen at each event is aimed at providing the spectating public with a greater view of the action.

Three times Formula Xtreme Champion, Kevin Curtain will be out to reclaim his crown.  Kevin returns to the domestic racing scene after a successful season competing in the Supersport World Championship.  Curtain raced World SuperSport at Valencia last weekend but is eager to kick off his FX campaign this weekend.

"I'd like to think that I could do well this weekend, but there are plenty of young guys out there that are going to be on the pace as well," said Curtain. "Aside from that I'm not one to make predictions as to how well I'll go on a weekend."

"I've tested the new 2002 model R1 a fair bit this year and it feels a lot better than the one I last rode in 2000," added Curtain. "It steers better, has more power and feels a lot smaller, more like the R6 rather than a bigger bike than that. So from that I think that they will be a good package not only for this weekend, but for the year ahead."

His main opposition will come from Radar's Yamaha team-mate and defending champion, Brisbane's Robbie Baird. Both will have their hands full as they will also be fending off the challenges from their 19-year-old team-mate, Shepparton's Craig Coxhell.

"It's great to have Kev back, but I think this weekend is going to be tough all round," said Baird. "At this stage we haven't raced for a few months and I just want to get out there and ride against these guys and get the season started."

Coxhell had this to say, "Last year I wanted to win every race I went in, but spent too much time crashing.  This year however I think that consistency will be the key. There will be a lot of guys out there who have the ability to win races, so I'll be looking at a top three finish at most races and pick up whichever wins I can. I want to get through the year with a strong scorecard and one that shows that I can finish a lot of races well up on the leader-board."

New South Wales teenager Josh Brookes will be aboard the new 954cc Fireblade which tuner Garry House is putting the finishing touches to today.  Josh is yet to ride the bike so the Honda camp will be very busy during Friday and Saturday's practice sessions to try to get the new bike set up to a point where Josh can feel comfortable pushing it to the limit.

Young Shepparton rider Nick Henderson did quite well recently on his first competitive outing on the 2001 CBR 929 Fireblade and may put in a surprise showing at Eastern Creek.  As may more experienced campaigner Steven Fisher who will be piloting another CBR 929, Fisher will also ride a Hornet in the Nakedbike class.

Ballarat's Liam Magee (Suzuki GSX-R1000) made a big impact at the SAASC season opener last month and will be looking to continue that form.  However some improvements will be needed to the engine if he hopes to be competitive under the FX rules which allow much more engine modifications than in SAASC.

2000 World Endurance Champion Warwick Nowland will front on a GSX-R 1000 and experienced World GP campaigner Mark Willis also hopes to make the grid.  Both riders have not enjoyed a whole lot of time on their new mounts and will have to work hard on set-up during practice.

Willis is still not completely sure if he will be competing this weekend but has his fingers crossed.  A few suggested sponsorship deals have fallen through at this late stage and if Mark can't secure the finances that will enable him to compete at the front of the field, he will withdraw from the event.  Let's hope he gets the budget he needs as no matter how fast he is if the team package is not up to the task he will have no chance of running with Radar's boys.

The Bio-Magnetics Therapy Yamaha team comprising brothers Jamie and Daniel Stauffer will make a big hit in the paddock with their high class presentation and mega transporter.  The machines are sure to be fast in FX spec' with engines tuned by Kev' Marshall, the man behind Robbie Baird's Formula Xtreme winning 2001 Yamaha R1.  In somewhat of a coup for the Bio-Magnetics squad Marshall will be working nearly full time with the team to help fine tune and develop the new bikes which they tested at Darlington Park earlier this week.

Kawasaki Australia will be represented by the new Shock Treatment Team with Marty Atlee piloting the revamped ZX-9R.

Multiple New Zealand Open champion Tony Rees will be making the trip across the Tasman, bringing with him the R1 that carried him to victory earlier this year in his home (NZ) championship.

The Formula Xtreme fields will be joined by six other categories this year. FX Pro-Twins, the Exel sponsored Aprilia Challenge, Buell sponsored Nakedbike and combined Streetfighter, Formula Oz, Supersport and the new Formula X Unlimited which is especially tailored to give the C & D graders their own high level competition.

• Schedule
  Friday March 15 Practice for all classes
  Saturday March 16 Practice and qualifying with the opening races commencing after 1:00pm
  Sunday March 17 Warm up and racing from 10:00am
   
• Admission - $25 gets you access to the general admission spectator area plus the pit area to watch and get close to your favourite riders. This admission is valid for both Saturday and Sunday and allows spectators into the grandstand to watch all the racing live on the giant Superscreen. Children under the age of 15 are FREE and pensioner concessions are $15.
   
• 2002 Yamaha Xtreme Tri State - Calendar
  Event 1 Mar 17 Eastern Creek (NSW)
  Event 2 April 14 Winton (Vic)
  Event 3 May 19 Eastern Creek (NSW)
  Event 4 June 30 Queensland Raceway (Q'ld)
  Event 5 Aug 18 Oran Park (NSW)
  Event 6 Sept 29 Eastern Creek (NSW)