Corey Turner eager for ASBK DesmoSport Ducati Morgan Park debut
The DesmoSport Ducati team is set to debut team newcomer Corey Turner this weekend at Morgan Park’s fifth round of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship in Queensland.
Replacing injured team regular Callum Spriggs for the remainder of the series, the former privateer will make his first official race outing this weekend aboard the Ducati 1299 Panigale S.
Running with the Superbike category regulars at the recent two-day Morgan Park test and with a quick time of 1m13.478s to his name, the self-confessed underdog will not allow the added pressure into his head this weekend.
“Obviously there’s a lot of pressure being the underdog, but it didn’t effect me at the test and I don’t think it will effect me at the race,” said Turner. “I’m just going to go out and do what I do, and that’s ride.”
Working together with the DesmoSport Ducati team, the 19-year-old has quickly found comfort aboard the 1299 Panigale S and believes consistent lap times will now be the focus in order to capture a strong result on debut.
“I’ve gelled really well with the bike, even from my first session it wasn’t far off from where I wanted a bike to be for me,” he explained. “The bike isn’t far away from where we want it to be, so it’s going to be more about chasing consistent times for the distance of the race over the weekend.”
Looking forward to entering the Morgan Park event with Turner at the controls of the DesmoSport Ducati 1299 Panigale S, team co-owner Ben Henry expects to stir things up in the premier class.
“We’re looking forward to the race with our new young rider in Corey Turner,” Henry commented. “We think we can put a cat amongst the pigeons there, which will be really good. He tested well and there’s only a few little things that we’re chasing with the bike, then we think we should be competitive on the race tyre for sure. If we can get a good time on the soft tyre then you never know, we might be getting on the front row if all goes well.”
The fifth round of the 2017 Australian Superbike Championship will take place at Morgan Park Raceway, Queensland, on 25-27 August.
