After three 12-lap races at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in what can only be described as challenging weather conditions, Bryan Staring has taken another race win to move into second in the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) with Broc Pearson taking some valuable knowledge in 8th overall for the weekend as DesmoSport Ducati turn attention to season finale this weekend in South Australia.

Team co-owner, Ben Henry: “It was an interesting weekend that’s for sure. We went from the most ideal track conditions you can ever have at Phillip Island in Qualifying to a wet race one. It proved beneficial for us with Bryan able to push in the conditions and take the win. Race two was less than ideal for us in sixth in the dry, but it forced us to regroup, make some changes and give Bryan a Panigale V4 R that he could really race on with confidence in race three. It may have been second place, but looking at the time sheets from race three, we have a lot of confidence in Bryan and the bike we have given him to finish the season strong at The Bend this weekend. It was a challenging weekend for Broc though, I think all riders agree it’s a tough track to get everything right on and Broc still needs to get some more laps on a superbike there to lift his confidence at the track, but he actually did a great job. He rode smart, worked with the team well, and brought the bike home safely, with points and data that helped us improve both race bikes. I’m quietly confident that Broc will bounce back and do well this weekend.”

Bryan Staring: “That was a great weekend at the track for us, and to be honest, I’m still running through all the decisions we made on and off the track to get us where we ended up. It really is the first weekend this year that I’ve left the track feeling satisfied. We were missing something in our dry setup, but in the wet, I had a lot of confidence and was able to make good decisions to take the race win. We ended up making some key changes to the bike setup after race two and I had a motorbike that I could really push with confidence on, setting strong times through the race, and I believe, had I got a stronger start, I would have been challenging for the win. I head into the last round this weekend second in the championship, and while it is a mathematical possibility to win the championship, we will concentrate on getting a strong qualifying position and see what we can do to get the best results in each race to see where we stand on Sunday afternoon.”

Broc Pearson: “I was quite confident heading into weekend, but I have to admit, I was a little nervous too as I haven’t had a lot of success at Phillip Island in the past. In the end, it really wasn’t a great weekend for me. Qualifying in 13th, I was always going to have a tough time moving forward, but I worked hard in each race and I did manage to make up some track position, especially in the wet. I may not have had a great weekend personally, but DesmoSport had a good weekend with Bryan moving to second in the championship, and I’m happy that I was able to give the team more information to help their decision making for a better result in the end. It gives me a lot of confidence heading to The Bend this weekend too. I really like the track, and I have had good results there in the past, so I think we can finish the year strong.”

A quick turnaround, DesmoSport Ducati are already in South Australia, ready to be on-track at The Bend Motorsport Complex on Friday for the last two races of the 2022 Australian Superbike Championship this weekend.