500 Kilometre FX-Superbike $100,000 Winner Takes All Endurance Race Announced
Everyone knows that motorcycle endurance racing is a lottery at the best of times; often the highest profile teams don’t even make it to half distance. History shows in endurance racing any team can and often does win with a bit of luck on their side. With that in mind Australian Road & Track Rider Promotions have decided the time is right for our first ever FX-Superbike Endurance Race and to make it even more interesting we have given it Australia’s richest prize in motor racing being the winner takes all $100,000 prize.
When will this event take place? One month after the final round of the very successful Australian FX-Superbike Championship Sprint Series. Where? Sydney Motorsport Park will host the inaugural $100,000 winner takes all 500 kilometre FX-Superbike 500 Endurance Championship Race which will take place on Saturday the 16th November 2013.
The big race will be limited to 50 entries, there will be a Le Mans start and only the big capacity FX-Superbike class machines will be eligible. The race will have a further twist in the tail, being, it will be run on a Saturday afternoon into the evening making it also Australia’s only day/night endurance race. The planned scheduled start time is 3:30 pm and the race finish time will be around 7:30 pm. The race will end in the twilight period just before dusk, so all bikes competing will be fitted with head and tail lights as is already allowed in the FX-Superbike class rules.
Managing Director of ARTRP Terry O’Neill, the promoters of the FX-Superbike 500 Endurance Championship race and AFX-SBK sprint series commented that ‘Australian motorcycle racing has a very proud history of having its own big name icon motorcycle race meetings like the Bathurst Bike Races that were run Easter weekends for many decades. Unfortunately Australian bike race fans have been without their own icon race meeting for a generation since the demise of Bathurst and the Oran Park, Amaroo Park 6 Hour. We believe this end of season 500 kilometre $100,000 winner takes all endurance race for FX-Superbikes will once again give Australian race fans and competitors alike something positive and exciting to look forward to on the domestic race calendar.’
O’Neill went on to say ‘Everyone is time poor now compared to a generation ago so major sporting events need to be redesigned so they fit in with people’s limited and available social time. The new format is designed with just that in mind, it gives spectators an opportunity to go and watch live top notch road racing on a Saturday evening in early summer for around 4 hours and at SMP they can sit in a comfortable chair opposite the pit area in the covered grandstand while watching all the pit stop action live and all the on track racing on the giant Super screen that will face the grandstand.’
The big race, just like the AFX-SBK Championship Sprint Series will receive extensive television coverage on both free to air and Pay TV making the FX-500 race just like the sprint series very attractive to competitors and sponsors alike.
While there will be a mountain of technical and event information to be released over coming weeks and months there are a number of important details that can be released at this time. Our primary goal has been in keeping the new race as affordable as possible, yet still making it challenging and exciting, also by limiting it to FX-Superbikes it makes it as close as possible to level playing field for all competitors who wish to enter.
The FX-Superbike 500 will top off the 2013 Australian FX-Superbike Championship and is our way of saying thank you to the competitors who race on a regular basis in the AFX-SBK sprint series.
To be eligible to enter the 500 kilometre race domestic competitors will need to have competed in at least three rounds of the Australian FX-Superbike Championship Sprint Series in any class and or be a returning ex-pat racer or an international competitor wanting to team up with a local FX-Superbike racer. Teams will be limited to two competitors per bike and like with the V8 Bathurst Race team mates who both compete in the FX-Superbike class won’t be able to team up on the same bike.
As previously mentioned all bikes will need a head light and tail light and in keeping with the production based nature of the class and previous great Australian motorcycle endurance races it will be for homologated DOT approved treaded road tyres with the correct speed rating or higher.
