Buckley lands first SHARK Helmets 'Rookie of the Year Award'

Kyle Buckley (Kawasaki BCperformance, ZX-10R) scored the most points of the rookies at Round Two Wakefield Park Raceway for the Australian Superbike Championship, earning him ‘Rookie of the Round’ in the Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance Superbike Championship class, winning a pair of IXON Racing Gloves as part of the SHARK Helmets Rookie of the Year Award thanks to Ficeda Accessories.

After being crowned the fastest rookie of the highly anticipated Round Two at Wakefield Park Raceway, Buckley was presented with IXON Racing Gloves provided by Ficeda Accessories.

Kyle Buckley – ASBK Round 2 Wakefield Park – Image: Andrew Gosling

Of 23 riders in class, Buckley finished 15th in Race One but came home strong in Race Two to finish in 8th position. As a newcomer to the hotly contested Yamaha Motorcycle Insurance Superbike (YMI) category, Buckley hopes to make an impact and become the SHARK Helmets Rookie of the Year.

The Queensland based rider of the Kawasaki BCperformance team has so far impressed with the transition to the Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Buckley shared his thoughts on being named the fastest rookie around Wakefield Park Raceway, “In 2017, It’s pretty easy going with the team, they’ve worked very hard and they’ve got a lot of experience with Superbikes. Kelvin Reilly (Kawasaki BCperformance Team Manager) and Robert Bugden (Kawasaki BCperformance, ZX-10R) have helped me out a lot. I hope we can keep it up for the rest of the year. Obviously we want to win but the goal is to beat the other rookies. If I can be in the top five by the end of the year, that would be a great achievement personally.”

So far, the YMI Superbike Rookies class of 2017 includes: Kyle Buckley, Callum Spriggs (Desmosport Ducati, 1299 Panigale), Aiden Coote (Consent2Go, Kawasaki ZX-10R), Troy Guenther (Saint Unbreakable, BMW S1000RR), Mitch Levy (ATR, Yamaha YZF-R1), Jack Baker (Crazy Dogs Kawasaki, ZX-10R) and Corey Turner (Corey Turner Racing, Yamaha YZF-R1) who will all battle it out for the remainder of the year for the SHARK Helmets Rookie of the Year Award title.

At the conclusion of the Championship, the rookie rider topping the points chart will be generously presented with a crafted trophy and a SHARK Helmet.

Rookie of the Round: Points Table for Round Two

10 Kyle BUCKLEY (QLD) – 19
13 Callum SPRIGGS (QLD) – 16
14 Aiden COOTE (VIC) – 16
16 Troy GUENTHER (QLD) – 15
17 Mitch LEVY (NSW) – 12
15 Jack BAKER (QLD) – 12
18 Corey TURNER (QLD) – 8

Ficeda Accessories have been a leading distributor in Australia since the late 1980s of rider safety apparel and accessories such as SHARK Helmets and IXON leathers, the official helmet and leathers sponsors of the ASBK. Ficeda Accessories continues to be a proud supporter of motorcycle competition in Australia across multiple disciplines from Off-Road to Road Race.