Up and coming Australian Superbike star, Daniel Falzon, will join the Yamaha Racing Team for the 2018 season on board the factory supported Yamaha YZF-R1M to contest the ASBK championship.
Falzon will be the fresh face alongside the experienced Wayne Maxwell, who will retain his spot in the team, to give YRT a good balance of youth and energy with experience and knowledge as the team heads into the 2018 season.
23 year old Falzon has just come off a breakthrough season in 2017 that saw him claim a round victory at Phillip Island at the start of the year and remain in championship contention throughout the series before ultimately claiming fourth overall in the championship on board a privateer Yamaha R1M.
Daniel Falzon
But now with the full support of the YRT outfit, Falzon is looking to take the next step in his career and the 2018 ASBK championship is within his sight.
“It is a huge honour to represent YRT and to get a ride on a major manufacturer based team has long been a goal of mine since I started racing competitively,” Falzon says with enthusiasm. “My family and I have made some huge sacrifices to get to this point but I understand that now is when the hard work really begins and I’m excited for the coming year.
The 2013 Australian Supersport (600cc) Champion has long been a Yamaha racer and again the step up program Yamaha Australia implemented has again proven itself to progress riders through the ranks of racing.
“One of the reasons I have been a loyal Yamaha rider is that I could see a pathway to this team and that loyalty has now been rewarded. The product is awesome, the Yamaha Racing Team have a great crew of people and now its my job to represent them as best I can on and off the track and it’s a challenge I’m really looking forward to,” Falzon ends.
Wayne Maxwell will partner Falzon in an exciting blend of youth and experience for 2018. The series champion in 2013 and runner up in 2017, is determined to get to the top of the tree in 2018 and believes he and the team has what it takes to make it happen.
“At the end of the 2017, myself and the team had a pretty honest meeting about where things are and together we worked on a plan to make the changes required to improve. I think we all came away feeling positive about the new direction and also understand that if we keep doing the same thing, we will often get the same result.
“John, Kevin and the entire crew are desperate to win another ASBK championship and that’s the people I want to be around as we all have a common goal and will continue to go above and beyond to make it happen.
“I couldn’t be happier returning to YRT and believe the 2018 season will be my best yet,” Maxwell states.
With over 20 years’ experience at the helm of YRT, John Redding, enters the 2018 season with more enthusiasm than ever and feels his team is in great shape as the opening round fast approaches.
“With Wayne, we know we have an experienced racer, who gets the job done and will be there at the end right in the title hunt. Combine that with the raw speed and enthusiasm of Daniel who at 23 years of age is entering his prime years of racing and I think we are well placed for a great season,” Redding explains.
“Our development of the Yamaha R1M has been good and we have shown that we are on the pace at every circuit on the ASBK calendar.
“It’s a new season and we enter it with new motivation, a fresh attitude but a steely determination to secure the championship for Yamaha,” Redding ends.
For more information on the ASBK. www.asbk.com.au
To follow the Yamaha Racing team on Facebook. www.facebook.com/yamaharacingteam
The 2018 YMF Australian Superbike Championship gets underway at Phillip Island on February 23.
