The Australian Superbike Championship’s 2020 YMI Supersport 300 Champion; Harry Khouri, is still celebrating his victory, but has already hit the ground running in preparation for his tilt at a World Supersport 300 title later this year. It is a big step into the international racing scene for Harry.

Khouri raced well for the very short 2020 season.

Khouri dominated Round 1 in 2020 winning the first three races at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit with relative ease, and at the Grand Finale, Rounds 2 and 3 at Wakefield Park Raceway, scored a race victory, 2nd, 5th, and two 4th placings to take out the Championship.

Khouri was always the one to beat at the Grand Finale. Not only had he won the first round with ease but had also travelled to Germany earlier in the year to compete in the IDM Supersport 300 class, where he again showed his skill scoring podium finishes. This was while many of the ASBK riders were forced into COVID-19 lockdown.

While most ASBK riders were in lock down, Khouri was racing in Germany.

Whilst Khouri is a quietly spoken 16-year-old from Richmond, NSW, he was fierce on the track in 2020. However, this Championship win did not come easy for him as Khouri admitted he struggled in the final few races because of the severe winds and nerves.

“I was chasing Carter Thompson and I nearly crashed and that’s when I started thinking I just need to finish each race,” he said.

Harry tried to not let the nerves get to him during the ASBK grand finale.

“I was quite nervous on Sunday as it was windy as well and with all that stuff in my head, I was making mistakes. So, I just had to calm down as I didn’t want to crash.

“Winning the Championship was something I had hoped for. I’ve been in the 300 class in Australia for a couple of years and I was always up the front, but never there at the end of the season. So, it is really cool to win the ASBK Championship, especially after such a strange year.”

Multiple podiums in the IDM championship showed that he was ready for World Supersport 300

Khouri puts his championship win down to the tough competition ASBK has provided him over the years.

“There are so many guys in ASBK that can win the Championship and the racing is tough, as you can go from first to 10th really quickly… ASBK has definitely given me a little more edge this year. In Australia, from my experience, there is a lot more passing and divebombing. Whereas in the IDM, riders work together.”

The competition will be heating up this year in all categories due to a short season in 2020.

Khouri’s success in Germany and dominance in the ASBK secured him a WorldSSP 300 ride for 2021 signing with RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki. He now hopes to create a career path into World Superbikes or MotoGP. Khouri will leave next month for team testing in Europe.

“I have goals and I want to be in the points in the top 15 of WorldSSP 300 and be battling with the guys up front… I want to go to World Supersport next year or the year after….. MotoGP is my ultimate goal, but World Superbikes is also a really good championship.”

Harry says his end goal is to end up racing in MotoGP.

The first round of the 2021 ASBK Championship kicks off at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on February 19-21, with the Australian All Wheels Race Fest, featuring Superbikes, Supersport, Supersport 300, R3 Cup, Oceania Junior Cup as well as the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships. Tickets are available HERE

GS Adv
 

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