Previously Wakefield Park near Goulburn 2 hours south of Sydney, the newly renovated One Raceway is set to host its first major event with the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) descending upon the circuit this weekend. Marking Broc Pearson’s first time at the track aboard the DesmoSport Ducati Panigale V4 R, the new track surface and slightly modified layout are set to challenge the field with tyre degradation already a key talking point with no laps ridden at the venue prior to Thursday’s additional practice hour.

Ben Henry: “Goulburn is a great town, hugely supportive of motorcycle racing, especially with names like Herfoss and Toparis growing up here so I’m really happy to be back this weekend. Congratulations to Troy Herfoss for taking the win on the Bagger over the weekend! The timing was a little tight to get home in time to race this weekend, but we’re proud of his efforts nonetheless. Apparently, the original lap records stand here, despite the changes to the first and last corners, so I’m interested to see the effect on the lap times. With a new surface, we have an additional one-hour practice on Thursday afternoon to test on and gauge how aggressive it will be on the Pirelli’s and help us to make strategic decisions through the race weekend. We’ve had a consistent year, with a bike on the podium at every round, and I expect to continue that trend this weekend.”

Broc Pearson: “I’m really looking forward to getting back on the bike this week. After taking my first Superbike race win last round, we went back and had some fun at Phillip Island ahead of MotoGP with Troy (Bayliss) and I doing some 2-Up rides for the day, and now I’m focused on taking some more strong results at One Raceway. It’s going to be interesting to see what the new surface is like, and the how different the track is now with changes to the first and last corners. I’m confident we can keep pushing forward in the championship.”