DesmoSport Ducati celebrate third in the championship but rue what could have been

DesmoSport Ducati on the season that was

DesmoSport Ducati’s Bryan Staring secured third place in the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) while Broc Pearson took out Rookie of the Year at The Bend, in South Australia for the final outing for DesmoSport Ducati in 2022.

Bryan Staring – P3

“You can never be unhappy with third in the series, any time you get to stand on the podium you’ve done a great job.

“Did we expect more, I think we would have hoped for more, but as the races panned out and the series progressed, it seemed we were always racing for second or third, or that’s the way it seemed.

“We’ve had a good year, we can hold our heads high, we had a difficult last round but I think the team and I can be proud.”

That first win of the year set the tone for the year, after a hard previous year…?

“I guess it was a combination of many hard years, and it wasn’t just one hard year, in looking back at that emotion of that first victory for a long time. I can only imagine Troy (Herfoss) might have felt something like that earlier today. It’s never easy when you feel like that and then know you need to back it up in a few races time and dissolve those emotions.

“It was difficult after leading the first round, and then not really being able to challenge for the championship after that, and reset ourselves and our targets.

“But look, like everyone up here you just try so hard every single lap of every single session, and every single test, and really the effort from everyone is so enormous, and it’s really a privilege and an honour to be at the end of the series and be one of the top three.”

Team co-owner – Ben Henry

“I’m really proud of Bryan, Broc and the whole DesmoSport Ducati team. We had a number of challenges in 2022 and in particular, this final round was by far our most difficult and unsuccessful on track, yet everyone rallied together, continued to support each other and work together to find solutions.

“In the end, we actually had a strong plan for the two races but Bryan was taken out by one of the guest riders after gaining five positions in the opening lap, and after a red flag, was able to re-start, but the bike was simply too damaged to race on.

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“For race two, again being buried in the pack gave Bryan some additional dangers and in avoiding another incident, was pushed off the track and forced to race from the rear of the pack, making a huge number of passes to get back to 12th.

“While third in the ASBK is an achievement to be proud of, we know we are capable of more and we’ll use this weekend as motivation for our 2023 campaign.”

Broc Pearson

“I’m happy to take Rookie of the Year in the ASBK this year, especially when you consider that I wasn’t able to race at all the rounds, but this weekend just wasn’t a great way to finish the season on track.

“I tested well at The Bend and with the improvements found at Phillip Island, we were set to have a strong weekend but it just wasn’t to be. The team worked hard to turn a corner, but trying to move forward through a fast field was difficult and I spent just as much time trying to avoid trouble as I did making good passes.

“I know I’m capable of more and I hope I have an opportunity to prove that in 2023.”

Team co-owner, Troy Bayliss

“Difficult weekends are when good teams really come together, and this weekend was as difficult as it gets at the track, but everyone worked together to get ourselves out of it.

“When you don’t qualify well you have a lot more to contend with, between getting a good jump, making smart passes, and also being aware of other riders around you.

“In the end, it wasn’t our weekend, we never showed the speed we had in testing and it’s definitely a rough way to finish the season, but we leave the 2022 Championship in third place and a lot of scope for improvement.

“We’re here to win, all of us in DesmoSport Ducati are, so Ben and I will take some time to assess 2022, to come out stronger in 2023.”

2022 Alpinestars Australian Superbike Championship Points (Final)