ASBK at breaking point?
Motorcycling Australia board minutes erroneously placed on its official website don't paint a rosy picture for the national Superbike titleIs it crunch time for the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK)? That’s the obvious question being asked following the erroneous release of Motorcycling Australia’s February board minutes, which paint a gloomy future for the nation’s premier road racing championship.
In the minutes – which have since been removed from MA’s website because they “do not provide the necessary level of context and could potentially be wrongly interpreted” – the MA board declares that it was unable to commit funds to the ASBK at this stage, while MA’s CEO David White declared that “industry representatives are stating that if IEG (the ASBK promoter) is not successful, there will be no option but to move over to Formula Xtreme”.
Formula Xtreme is the rival championship run by Formula Xtreme Promotions, which is sanctioned by another governing body outside the MA umbrella.
Formula Xtreme Promotions once ran ASBK in conjunction with MA before the Yarrive Konsky-led IEG was awarded a five-year contract in 2008 to take over the reins.
The February MA board meeting was held prior to the opening round of this year’s ASBK title at Phillip Island, and the second hitout has also been held at Symmons Plains – albeit with a wafer thin grid in the premier class.
In the minutes, it was also reported that MA was making representations to the (now ex) NSW Minister for Sport about ASBK’s inability to lock in a round at Eastern Creek – while at the same time making overtures to try and prevent Formula Xtreme going to Queensland Raceway.
In a statement released by MA yesterday afternoon, following the removal of the February board minutes from its website, White said that “The minutes contain minimal notation of issues discussed at board level, and are completed for internal use to formulate reports for general dissemination – this is normal operating procedure.”
He continued: “These minutes, though final, were not for general distribution and should not have been made publically available as they do not provide the necessary level of context and could potentially be wrongly interpreted – they have since been removed from the website.
“MA is currently investigating how this occurred, and will undertake a review of its internal processes and procedures immediately to ensure formal structures are adhered to.
“I would like to personally apologise to all parties affected, assuring them that the issue is of the upmost importance and MA is currently dealing with the situation.”
At the board meeting, a letter was circulated from Konsky, the contents of which remain unknown, which White provided a verbal overview of – as well as a synopsis of his meetings with Tony Hinton and Perry Morrison, the general mangers of Honda and Suzuki Australia respectively.
Honda and Suzuki are the only distributor-backed teams racing in this year's Superbike title.
Tags
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
