Blazley was still smiling when he flew back to Tasmania on Monday, the day after the fifth and final round at Phillip Island.

He credited his good showing at the penultimate round at Symmons Plains, in September, for finishing ninth in the championship, despite contesting just two of the five rounds.

Blazley finished fourth at the Symmons Plains round to claim bragging rights as the best-placed of five Tasmanian riders.

‘‘We were pretty much thinking of going to Phillip Island for the final round and doing so well at my home track made the decision easy,’’ he said.

Blazley finished the Phillip Island round in eighth place and said that he had hoped to be faster.

‘‘My first goal at Phillip Island was to be one of the 10 riders to contest the Super Pole shoot-out,’’ he said.

‘‘But I qualified in 13th and although I got faster as the weekend went on, I hit the wall at about 1 minute 39 seconds and couldn’t improve on that,’’ he said.

‘‘The factory guys are in the 1:33s and I need a lot more time on the track to get to that next stage.’’

Blazley said that he would complete the full Superbike series the next time Tasmania hosted a round because he could expect to do well here.

That is expected to take place in 2017.