Wakefield Park Team Suzuki Shawn Giles Damian Cudlin Track Safety

Only a couple of years ago Damian Cudlin was told his career was over. A heavy fall at Sydney’s Eastern Creek circuit left him with a broken back. Sydney doctors told him that he was at serious risk of never walking again. The saga that followed that diagnosis took the Cudlin family on a wild ride of emotion. Meanwhile the Australian racing fraternity got right behind them to support the Cudlins in every way they could, from hundreds of messages of support passed to the family through this site, to a personalised letter from Mick Doohan wishing the teenager all the best.

Sydney surgeons insisted that Damian undergo surgery for rods to be placed either side of his spine to fix it in position. They advised the Cudlin family that this was the correct way to go in order to give Damian the safest chance of retaining the full use of his legs. In an extremely lucky twist of fate the family chose to get a second opinion away from the Sydney hospital. Damian was then seen by a Queensland surgeon who specialises in the treatment of Australia’s leading disabled athletes. His recommendation was starkly different to that made by the Sydney doctors. Damian underwent no surgery and was instead placed in a sturdy fixed back brace for a number of months before going through an extensive period of rehabilitation. Less than six months later Cudlin had his first ride back on a bike.

2002 saw Damian head overseas where he has stayed until recently. Over the past two seasons he has competed in various rounds of the World Endurance Championship, British Championships, German Supersport Championship and most recently had a ride in the final round of the European Superstock Championship where he rode a Ducati for the first time.

To the delight of his Australian fans Damian is returning home to compete on Australian soil in 2004. When we broke the news on mcnews.com.au that 2003 Australian Superbike Champion Craig Coxhell was heading overseas to compete in the British Superbike Championship, the fingers of many Australian motorcycle racers frantically dialled the number of Australian Team Suzuki boss Phil Tainton. The most sought after seat in Australian Superbike was up for grabs. With much talent on offer Suzuki chose Damian to fill that seat.

Damian had his first hit out on the Team Suzuki GSX-R1000 when the PTR run team visited Wakefield Park today in order to get a handle on the new addition to the 2004 calendar.

Cudlin couldn't contain his excitement when speaking to us about riding the Australian Superbike Championship winning machines. "I went really well today and managed to blow a few cobwebs out as I hadn't ridden since Magny Cours."

And about the bike, "It is the fastest thing I have ever ridden and once you get in a straight line you just have to hold on as it is an absolute missile, it is even quite a bit quicker than the Phase One World Endurance Suzuki GSX-R1000 that I rode earlier this year."

But the tight confines of Wakefield hardly allowed Damian to unleash the full power of the GSX-R1000, he only needed to use three cogs of the available six; second, third and fourth are the only gears needed to lap Wakefield on the Superbike.

Three-time Australian Superbike Champion Shawn Giles also rode at the test which saw the factory riders having to negotiate their way through a fair amount of general ride day traffic, this meant the racers had to hold back a little for safety reasons. And with three car sessions to each bike session, seat time was at a premium. Nonetheless, both riders got down to the 61 second bracket, under the lap record set by Josh Brookes at the modified circuit back in 2002.

There was also a slightly more serious side to the test. A lot of Australia’s top riders have expressed concerns about racing at Wakefield due to safety reasons. Thankfully some of the concerns have turned out to be not quite as serious as some riders had suggested, but there are still a few areas where things need to be addressed.

Shawn Giles is one of Australia’s most experienced racers so we more than think he is qualified to comment on the situation. “It is definitely not as bad as we thought as there has been some work at the circuit in recent years, a fair amount of the track is now wider than before.

“Unfortunately it is still a fairly one-line circuit which will make passing a bit of a do or die affair, but if everyone keeps a cool head hopefully everything will turn out okay.

“The main area of concern for me is the kink on the front straight, the wall near there could present a problem. The wall at the kink is not really that close, but with the speed we will be going it could become a problem. In previous years we have all raced in far more dangerous conditions, and I would rate this track, as it is now, safer than Oran Park for competition at this level.

"However they will have to do conduct a proper safety audit and see whether there could be a need for a sand trap or other measures at that point of the circuit.

“Phil (Tainton) has all the data logging from the bikes which he will be able to analyse and present to Motorcycling Australia to see if and where the problems could present themselves, hopefully what measures need to be taken can be sorted out from there.

“I was surprised at how bumpy the track was though, it is even bumpier than Queensland Raceway, which is saying something.

"But all in all I have come away today a little less concerned than I expected to be, which is a good thing.”

All up it is looking as though 2004 could be a bumper year for Australian Superbike with eight factory bikes expected on the grid, all with talented pilots onboard.

A healthy supporting class of privateer teams will also keep the factory boys honest with names like McCarthy, Bugden, George, Charlton, Tozer, Henderson, Holland, Butler, Taylor, Maxwell (Alistair and Wayne) and many more.

The factory line-ups will include Daniel Stauffer and Shannon Johnson at Yamaha, Josh Brookes and Adam Fergusson at Honda along with Robbie Baird and Jamie Stauffer on the all new Kawasaki who will go head to head with Cudlin and Giles on the GSX-R1000.

However a pay issue is causing concern for all the Superbike riders as rumours suggest the organisers are planning to halve the available prize money that had been up for grabs in previous years. This does seem a little odd considering the raised profile that the series should enjoy in 2004. The riders are planning to address this issue with organisers in the near future.

Another concern is the actual make up of the series with the full class line up for each round yet to be decided. This has left many of the supporting classes unable to plan for next season. They simply don't know how many rounds their respective classes will be scheduled for. One would hope that this situation will be resolved as soon as possible so everyone knows where they stand.