Motourage

With less than two weeks remaining until the 2010 Valvoline King of Nepean [PDF], Evolution Sports Group – owners and operators of the ASBK’s KTM Superbike and Valvoline Superbike Team – have announced the offer of a Superbike test to one of six Dirt Track racers selected at the 2010 Valvoline King of Nepean.

Evolution Sports Group representative Brett Lloyd said, “As part of ESG’s ongoing strategy to develop young Australian motorcycle racing talent and grow the true professionalism of motorcycle sport in Australia, our development officers will be present at The Valvoline King of Nepean in search of six racers from the senior categories. The selected racers will be invited to attend an evaluation interview with Evolution Sports Group Management after which only one racer will be offered the opportunity to test one of our Superbikes, later in 2010. We are in search of the Superbike champions of the future, and see the Valvoline King of Nepean Dirt Track event as the ideal starting point.”

Christine Tickner, Motorcycling NSW President, welcomed the announcement in saying, “Motorcycle racing in Australia has suffered in the past few years from the lack of avenues for young talent to progress to the pinnacle of our sport. Dirt track in particular is a proven training ground for Road Race champions, and I’m very excited by the prospect of Evolution Sports Group giving a young rider this opportunity.”

Greg Epis, Evolution Sports Group Director, added, “In years gone by there was a direct career path between Dirt Track and Road Race, many of Australia’s international and domestic Road Race stars came from the dirt track scene, Wayne Gardner, Peter Goddard, Troy Corser, Casey Stoner, the Stauffer brothers and most recently Josh Waters to name but a few. Evolution Sports Group are looking to re-establish the link between Dirt Track and Road Race. The selection process will be based not on race performance alone, but on a wide range of criteria, personal and spoken presentation and off track attitude will be of high importance” added .

The 2010 Valvoline King of Nepean is scheduled for the 17th and 18th of July at Nepean Raceway, west of Sydney.
For event and entry information please see the Competitor Information page at www.motorcycling.com.au.
For further information please contact brett@evolutionsportsgroup.com.au.

Bryan Staring crosses the line at Queensland

Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing’s Bryan Staring has rocketed from third to first in the race for Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship honors with a clean sweep at Queensland Raceway, host of round three. This morning’s race win was a career first for the 23-year-old from the Gold Coast, but he wasn’t content to stop at one, comfortably winning the second 16-lap battle and the round in the process. Staring’s stellar starts were a key contributor; he was away well from second place on the grid and once in the lead looked unstoppable. The results cap off a weekend in which rider and team went from strength to strength.

“It’s been such an unreal weekend, we kept progressing with what we knew and the bike just kept getting better,” said Staring. “I said yesterday that Wayne (Maxwell) had a clean sweep in the first round, Josh (Waters) in the second and felt it might have been my weekend to have a go too. The team deserves this victory as much as me, they put together an awesome bike in the CBR1000RR.This is my local round now so it’s good to share this with my family and friends.”

Staring collects 50 points for the round and dislodges Demolition Plus GAS Honda’s Wayne Maxwell from the top spot after the Victorian endured a frustrating day. Maxwell finished third in both races, unable to convert yesterday’s blistering qualifying pace into a result today. A despondent Maxwell said there was lots of work to be done before the series returned to the circuit in Ipswich for its next point-scoring round.

“We’ve got a lot of work in front of us, today was a constant struggle,” he said. “We were gifted a few places in that second race when a few of the other bikes dropped out, that was the only positive to come from today. Josh (Waters) and Bryan (Staring) raced hard today and are making this a really tough battle, congratulations to both. We’ll go away and regroup. The team is strong and I have to thank them for all their efforts today.”

Though consistent, Waters’ two second-place finishes weren’t enough to hold on to second place in the title race, and the defending champion said the team would most likely revert to the setup which brought them success at Hidden Valley in April.

“We made a few changes to the bike for the second race which helped, but no one was going to beat Bryan (Staring) today,” said Waters. “The bike was great and the team worked as hard as ever but it just wasn’t our day. We come back here in August and we’ll have a much better idea of where to start with setup from the outset. I’m looking forward to improving on today’s result and most importantly, staying in the hunt for the title.”

Two eventful races changed the complexion of the 2010 championship for a number of leading riders. Problems plagued Ducati Motologic Racing’s Jamie Stauffer, with the two-time winner exiting both races early and taking zero points for the round. The outcome is a slide from fourth to eighth on the standings.

Suzuki riders put in a solid performance across the board, claiming positions 4 through 6 for the round. Brisbane-based rider Team Mack Trucks Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden excelled at his home event, and makes good inroads on his 2010 campaign after missing the opening round. Team Suzuki’s Shawn Giles finished fifth followed by Racers Edge Performance Suzuki rider Scott Charlton.

Valvoline Superbike Team rider and 2008 champion Glenn Allerton launched an attack on the leaders in race two before a mishap put him out of the running and made the final few laps a salvage operation for points.

Gold Coast rider Daniel Stauffer put in his best performance of the season on the new factory Aprilia RSV4, finishing seventh for the round.
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