The story of the Australian Superbike Championship begins in 1980, at a time in motorcycle sport where the premier circuit racing series globally was the 500ccGP Championship. The issue with 500s at that time was that manufacturer teams were investing large amounts of funding to develop their machines and riders to a level of sophistication that was far removed from what was commercially available to the public. This resulted in a very expensive racing program, especially for privateers.

The need for a circuit racing series that offered ease of entry for national riders and that was open to all makes of production motorcycles that required little modification and development from standard road going trim was evident. Enter the Australian Superbike Series.

Australia’s flagship road race in 1980 through to 1986 was called the ‘Australian Superbike Series’, which featured large capacity production motorcycles which, at the time, were some of the most competitive in the world ‘out of the box’. Winning bikes were mostly Japanese-manufactured inline four-cylinder machines readily available for public purchase in Australia. The motorcycle manufacturers’ idiom of the day was ‘Race on Sunday, sell on Monday’ in reference to motorcycle sales figures on the back of race wins.

In 1987, the Australian Superbike Series morphed into ‘The Australian Endurance Championship’. It was the premier circuit racing competition in the country for two years before the ‘Australian Superbike Championship’ was inaugurated in 1989.

Over the years the championship has been run by Motorcycling Australia (MA) in conjunction with private promoters and clubs. It proved to be a successful formula with success at its peak in the 1990s to early 2000s, however further economic challenges hit the series hard. With struggling competitor numbers, spectators and media exposure, MA opted to step in as the primary promotor, rekindling the championship with the  ‘ASBK’ moniker.

Over the years, the ASBK has seen unprecedented growth and an increased talent pool, with the championship providing the perfect springboard for riders and teams to avail themselves of international opportunities.

The ASBK is structured in a progressive format that caters for a variety of motorcycle classes, riders, and abilities, starting with the Oceania Junior Cup academy for riders 11-U16 years right through to the blue-chip Superbike category.