Glenn Allerton reflects on P.I. success and looks to season ahead

Glenn Allerton

Trev: Glenn Allerton, last minute entry, but you’ve left Phillip Island with a good swag of points, it’s a pretty good result all up, isn’t it?

Glenn Allerton: “Yeah, it is awesome. We probably overachieved for the preparation and Shane (Kinderis, Team Manager) is already on an aeroplane to France, he left yesterday (Saturday of round one), so we put it together last minute and the idea was just to get points.

“But you know what it’s like when you get there you want to do the best you can, and when you get close to the front you want to win. We weren’t fast enough to challenge Josh on the Ducati, but I think we were fast enough to give the other guys a good run. And we managed to do that in every race this weekend, so hopefully I can get some more direction this week.

“I’ve got some meetings with the ride that I was supposed to be on this year, so hopefully I can get a bit more clarity on what the time frame is, and whether I actually ride that motorbike, or whether we try and do something with the BMW.

“I’m not sure at the moment, that’s option B. But I still think we could put together a good package, it just won’t have the same structure around me.

“I’d try to get Shane back whenever we could, just for a little technical guidance, but filling that void might be a little bit difficult, so we’ll just weigh up my options during the week and see what we can do. The points were the goal and we did that, so really happy and to expect more than what we got is probably unrealistic, so we did well.”

Trev: Obviously it’s the privately funded Ducati deal you were rumoured to be with this year?

Allerton: “Yeah, I was meant to be on a Ducati, the problem is really the supply of the bike, and they really aren’t due to be landing here until April, and that just puts us too far back. First two rounds are before that.

“So… being a racer I don’t want to miss out on any riding, and we’re already sat out all year to this point, and this weekend is the first time I’ve ridden in 2023 on a superbike, so I’ve got to be honest, the first time I opened the gas going out of pit lane, I said to the boys, ‘holy shit this thing is fast.’ It then took me two sessions just to get my head around how fast it was. You know. So, don’t like to admit it but it‘s true. So yeah I need some more time, and then if we do go the Ducati route, we need to get competitive on that too. So a lot of work ahead.”

(We understand the Ducati deal is now looking increasingly unlikely, and Allerton is now likely to continue on the BMW for season 2023 in what will largely be a self managed enterprise)

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Trev: So take us through a little bit, race by race, so obviously we’re speaking now just after the third and final race here at Phillip Island, you had a pretty much race long tussle with old sparring partner, Herf throughout that one.

Allerton: “At the start of the race that was tight, we had to carry the front tyre then, we started with an old front and new rear.

“At the start I tried to go with Josh, but he was too fast, I was pushing the front and had a couple of big moments, and then a couple of the guys came past me, because I just wanted to try and stay on.

“Once the group went away and the rear tyre was worn, it stopped pushing the front and I found myself in a battle with Herfoss and Bryan, and then Bryan ran wide and then it just came down to who could out race each other.

“My plan was to lead because I know that he’s going to try and lunge down the inside, so I shallowed off all the corners, on the corner at MG at the last lap, making it so that if he came down the inside of me, he was going to be shallow for the corner, and not able to make the apex, and I could get back underneath him.

“Sure enough he did in both corners, but luckily I just had the bike stopped enough to turn it back and finish off the corner ahead of him.

“It’s good fun, it’s a lot of effort goes into running these bikes, and putting it altogether. Sometimes there’s something holding you back. But to be able to be in a battle with Troy like that all the way to the finish line – it’s just… – I can’t tell you how good it feels.”

Trev: You look more relaxed, without the build-up of pressure that normally being in a team that has been working hard leading up to this first round. I guess you haven’t come in with that weight of expectation on your shoulders that you normally have every other season, the build up with people relying on you, and vice-versa, because you weren’t going to be racing here at all until a week or so ago…

Allerton: “I guess you’re right, the pressure does build up, people put all this effort into it, and you might push it all onto your shoulders before that first race. I haven’t had to deal with that so, it’s probably why I did well this weekend, I was just relaxed, I basically just did what the bike would let me do. I pushed it to that limit and that was it. I was happy to accept that was what it was. Just ride the wheels off it.”

Trev: Good on you, see you in Sydney.

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