— ASBK to join V8s this month
International Entertainment Group (IEG) recently confirmed the ASBK, which in this latest release they are now calling the Australasian Road Racing Championships, will run alongside the V8 Supercars at Phillip Island on November 22-24.
Encompassing Superbikes, Prostock and BEARS Formula 1 and 2, the two race series will be broadcast live on Channel 7 as part of the V8 Supercars telecast.
While the 1000cc machines will race together, points will calculated by class to determine overall winners for the three categories.
Leading Australian Superbike team NextGen Motorsports will field two BMW S1000RR motorcycles for Australian Superbike Championship runner-up Glenn Allerton and Australian Prostock Championship runner-up Ben Nicolson.
With tyre degradation at the resurfaced Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit a hot topic following last month’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, Allerton said they would test at the track ahead of the event.
“I am looking forward to getting back out on track at Phillip Island,” Allerton said. “It is exciting to be racing alongside the V8 Supercars again it will definitely be one of best crowds we race in front of this year.
“We are going to Phillip Island a few days before hand to do some tyre testing with Pirelli, ideally we want to be able to use the softest tyre possible.
“Pirelli are fully aware of the abrasive track surface and of the potential issues. We raced on a hard compound tyre at Moto GP and at the last round of the QBE Australian Superbike Championship so we hope this will give us the chance to try a few softer options.
“It is good to get one more race meeting in before the end of the year and I think it will be a great show for the V8 Supercar fans,” Allerton continued
The Australasian Road Racing Championships will take to the track on Friday 22 November for Practice at 12.20pm and Qualifying at 4.10pm. Saturday’s action will include Superpole at 11.45am and Race 1 (12-laps) at 2.30pm with the final race to be held on Sunday 24 November at 2.50pm.
