Image: Foremost Media.

Increased involvement from Troy Bayliss Events (TBE) as majority promoter of Australian Supercross Championship rounds in 2019 is a sure sign that the series is gaining strength on a domestic level.

TBE has solidified its commitment to the sport by expanding its presence to three rounds in the upcoming championship after entering the series as a promoter for the first time last year.

TBE, co-owned by triple Superbike world champion Troy Bayliss, took Australian supercross back into a full-size stadium last year at Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium, while it also hosted the Adelaide stop of the tour at Gillman Speedway.

Mark Peterson, who makes up the other half of TBE’s ownership, is confident that the company is making positive moves within supercross, despite undertaking significant financial risk and advancing in rapid steps two years into the immense project.

“There’s a huge amount of risk associated with running a supercross event and even the cost to run a supercross event at somewhere like Coolum, for example, it’s a big feat,” Peterson explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “When you go to venues like entertainment centres and stadiums, there’s a lot of money on the line.

“We invest heavily in the sport and we made that decision when we first decided to get into it. We wanted to make sure the product we’re delivering for everyone is really enjoyable for the fans and also the racers, teams and sponsors.

“We’re heavily invested and I think we’re heading in the right direction – we’re not doing things in small steps, we’re doing things in big steps and we’re doing it very smartly. We want to make sure we’re around for a long time.”

With the AUS-X Open, promoted by series rights-holder AUS SX Holdings, shifting to Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, TBE relinquished the Victorian round in favour of taking on New South Wales and retaining South Australia, while the departure of long-time Queensland promoter, Bannan Promotions, prompted TBE to add Brisbane to its roster.

TBE will take the Australian Supercross Championship to Brisbane Entertainment Centre for the season-opener on 12 October, followed by Gillman Speedway in Adelaide on 19 October and then WIN Stadium in Wollongong on 9 November, which will run alongside the TBE-operated Australian Motorcycle Festival.

“Our first round was Geelong last year and it was great to take the series to GMHBA Stadium – it was a really solid event,” Peterson added. “It was great to take supercross back to a stadium in Australia as well. The crowd loved it, we loved it, Geelong loved it and GMHBA Stadium were really great to work with. We had an agreement in place with AME that if they went to Marvel Stadium – which they were looking to do – we would then take up New South Wales.

“Once it was confirmed that they were going to Marvel Stadium in 2019, we obviously picked up New South Wales and teamed up with WIN Stadium and Wollongong City Council. That stadium is perfect, the location is incredible and every seat is within arm’s distance of the racing and we’ve also announced that the Australian Motorcycle Festival is next door.

“Adelaide – some people actually question why we’re at Gillman Speedway – but they actually have so much dirt on site, which makes it really feasible. The comments we got last year, especially from the riders, were that it was the best track of the year and we know we can produce that again this year.

“We knew we had those two events and, I think just prior to Christmas, we were notified the previous Queensland promoter wasn’t continuing into 2019. We were the first option to take up Queensland, which we did. We looked at a few different venues – the last couple being Brisbane Entertainment Centre or potentially Coolum.

“But we looked at the weather and thought the Sydney event has gone from a tight indoor to Marvel, so let’s take up Brisbane Entertainment Centre – we know we have no rain issues, we can put on one hell of a show and the atmosphere you can create in those tight venues is incredible. We’re really happy with the venues we’ve got.”

AUS SX Holdings, which is run is association with AME Management, will host rounds four and five with the S-X Open Auckland in New Zealand and the AUS-X Open Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.