Bryan Staring fast in QLD
Queensland Raceway hosted the second round of the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) last weekend. DesmoSport Ducati’s Bryan Staring was chasing Mike Jones hard in race one and set a new lap record in the process, but unfortunately a small mistake cost him his chance for victory.
Bryan bounced back for a second place finish in the final bout and now lies 16-points behind championship leader Mike Jones.
Bryan Staring – Rider
“It obviously wasn’t the weekend I had planned, crashing from a good track position after setting a new race lap record on the sixth lap, but mistakes happen and I’ll be learning from this one. Mike was really strong out there, and looking back at the day, I’m fortunate to still be sitting second in the championship. I’ve spent enough time on the bike now to be comfortable to push, and I obviously found the limit this weekend, and so I have to thank Ben (Henry), Dan (Stauffer) and Byron (Draper) in particular for their work to get the bike back together for me to race. They did an incredible job. The season is already building to be a battle, with different riders and manufacturers taking race wins already, but I’m quite confident, after two very different circuits and racing at the front of both that we will have a strong season as we continue to develop the Panigale V4 R.”
Team co-owner – Ben Henry
“We’ve kept our heads down and worked hard on our own program to put us in the best position that we can be in. Bryan’s from WA, he doesn’t have a home track on our calendar, he hasn’t ridden much at all in the last year and I’ve been really impressed with the way he and the bike have adapted to the completely different circuits of Phillip Island and Queensland Raceway. If we count this weekend, he’s up to 13 days riding the Panigale V4 R and he’s just set a new race lap record at Queensland Raceway on the way, so I’m pretty excited to see just what he’s capable of! Congratulations to Mike Jones, he was a class above this weekend and we didn’t leave anything on the table. Even though we crashed in race one, Bryan salvaged points to keep us second in the title hunt.”
Team co-owner – Troy Bayliss
“Oli and I had a catch-up with the team on Friday night with a video call, and there was a lot of relaxed confidence from everyone, which was great to see. Bryan’s fitting in really well with the team dynamic and we’re seeing that pay off in the way everyone is communicating in the pit box and on the track. It’s never ideal to crash, but Bryan’s a true racer, and for racers it’s always difficult to make the decision to let the rider in front go and to settle. I know he believed he would have something at the end of the race if he could stick in there, but I’m sure he’ll learn from that mistake. I’m missing not being there with the team on race weekends, especially when it’s so cold here and so warm back home, but I’m proud of the job the whole DesmoSport Ducati crew is doing right now. They’re ticking boxes, being methodical, and moving forward every time they ride the bike.”
With the next round of the ASBK to be in Wakefield Park, near Goulburn in NSW on April 22-24, the team heads home to relax, before further fettling Bryan’s two Panigale V4 R superbikes and loading the truck for another two-day test in the first week of April.
Alpinestars Superbike Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | PI | Pole | R1 | R2 | Total |
| 1 | Mike JONES | 35 | 1 | 25 | 25 | 86 |
| 2 | Bryan STARING | 45 | 5 | 20 | 70 | |
| 3 | Josh WATERS | 33 | 18 | 16 | 67 | |
| 4 | Wayne MAXWELL | 26 | 20 | 18 | 64 | |
| 5 | Glenn ALLERTON | 29 | 17 | 15 | 61 | |
| 6 | Arthur SISSIS | 26 | 14 | 17 | 57 | |
| 7 | Cru HALLIDAY | 38 | 16 | 54 | ||
| 8 | Daniel FALZON | 31 | 10 | 10 | 51 | |
| 9 | Troy HERFOSS | 18 | 15 | 14 | 47 | |
| 10 | Anthony WEST | 21 | 13 | 13 | 47 | |
| 11 | Aiden WAGNER | 23 | 12 | 12 | 47 | |
| 12 | Mark CHIODO | 15 | 11 | 11 | 37 | |
| 13 | Broc PEARSON | 13 | 9 | 9 | 31 | |
| 14 | Beau BEATON | 11 | 8 | 8 | 27 | |
| 15 | Matt WALTERS | 24 | 24 | |||
| 16 | Max STAUFFER | 9 | 7 | 7 | 23 | |
| 17 | Jed METCHER | 20 | 20 | |||
| 18 | Chandler COOPER | 3 | 6 | 6 | 15 | |
| 19 | Michael EDWARDS | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | |
| 20 | Luke JHONSTON | 7 | 7 | |||
| 21 | Corey FORDE | 3 | 3 |
2022 ASBK Calendar
| Round 2 Queensland Raceway, Ipswich QLD 18 – 20 March |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup, OJC, Sidecars |
| Round 3 Wakefield Park Raceway, Goulburn NSW 22 – 24 April |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup, OJC, Sidecars |
| Round 4 Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin NT 17 – 19 June |
| * With Supercars – SBK Only |
| Round 5 Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick QLD 5 – 7 August |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup, OJC |
| Round 6 Symmons Plains Raceway – Launceston TAS 20 – 23 October |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup |
| Round 7 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Cowes VIC TBA – November |
| TBC |
| Round 8 The Bend Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend SA 2 – 4 December |
| SBK, SSPT, SS300, R3 Cup, OJC |
| ASBK Night of Champions Dinner – The Bend 4 December |
