MOTORSPORTS TV SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP The quality of competition in the Motorsports TV Supersport Championship is often just as good as the top level Superbike category. Often affectionately described in the paddock as “600s”, Supersport bikes can in fact have an engine capacity of up to 750cc for two-cylinder motors. In the interests of maintaining costs at a manageable level, the bikes are mostly productionspec and modifications are limited. They also run on treaded production tyres.
Toparis, who was expected to step up to the Superbike class in 2021 has recently undergone significant arm surgery which will see him miss the season while Stauffer and Pearson will return to Supersport and will be among the title favourites, along with Tom Edwards and Nic Liminton, who are also race winners in the category.
Supersport has become well established as a feeder category for Superbikes, with many riders using the category as a stepping stone to the pinnacle of Australian motorcycle racing.
Another one to watch will be Ted Collins; after winning the 2017 Supersport title and progressing to Superbikes, Collins is set for a return to the Supersport category in 2021.
Additionally, it has been a launching pad for riders to create overseas opportunities in both the WorldSBK and BSB. After his dominant championship victory in 2019, Tom Toparis was set to compete in the 2020 European and World Supersport Championships before his international campaign was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Toparis returned to Australia in time to claim back-to-back Supersport titles, but faced tough opposition from his close friend and on-track rival Oli Bayliss, as well as Max Stauffer and Broc Pearson, who each snared race victories.
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The likes of Jack Passfield and Tom Bramich should also be among the Supersport front-runners, while a couple of young guns with impressive pedigree in the Supersport 300 and YMF R3 Cup, John Lytras and Luke Power, will step up to Supersport this season.
