Yamaha's four-strong ASC team

Newcomer Robbie Budgen will join incumbents Kevin Curtain, Rick Olson and Cru Halliday in the all-conquering Yamaha Racing Team for 2014.

The quartet will contest the six-round Australasian Superbike Championship (ASC), which begins at Wakefield Park (NSW) from March 14-16 before concluding at Sydney Motorsport Park (NSW) form November 21-23. They will all ride in the Superbike class on the YZF-R1.

Bugden takes the seat vacated by 2013 champion Broc Parkes, who is MotoGP bound in 2014. Bugden finished third in the 2013 Australian Superbike Championship on a Suzuki, and also claimed three New Zealand superbike titles for the brand in what has been a long association.

“We have an exciting line up for the upcoming season and I look forward to another great year of racing,” said team owner John Redding. “The balance of youth and experience in the team is right and also the relationships the riders have with the team is strong.

“Robbie is new to the team, but he has raced Yamaha previously and being based in Queensland, where the race team is housed, will mean he can quickly form a bond with the crew and come out firing at the first round.

“The 2013 season will be hard to top as the team won every major class at the ASC but we will again be working hard in 2014. With all riders in the Superbike class, we can focus all our time and development into the Yamaha R1 and hopefully produce a season as rewarding as 2013.

2014 ASC calendar
Rd 1 – March 14-16 – Wakefield Park, NSW
Rd 2 – May 16-18 - Mallala Raceway, SA
Rd 3 – June 27-29 - Queensland Raceway, Qld
Rd 4 – August 1-3 - Winton Raceway, Vic
Rd 5 – September 12-14 - Wakefield Park Raceway, NSW
Rd 6 – November 21`-23 - Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW

For more information on the ASC, visit http://www.formula-xtreme.com.au/xtremema.nsf/1-FrontNewsPage.