Morgan Park Raceway played host to round five of the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) as Broc Pearson raced the DesmoSport Ducati Panigale V4 R to 5-4 race results to secure fourth overall for the round, and a new personal best lap time at the circuit, under the previous lap record.

Broc Pearson #4

Qualified: 3rd (1:12.464)
Fastest Lap: 1:12.464
Results: 5-4, 4th Overall

Championship Standing: 7th

Team co-owner, Ben Henry: “Our home round and by far, our best weekend to date here at Morgan Park. We spent most of the weekend inside the top three but couldn’t quite translate that across to the races, but we have a lot to be happy about. Broc qualified on the front row, under the previous lap record at the track, and in particular for race two, he was right there racing for that third position. It’s nice to be moving forward and go into our mid-season with that momentum, feeling positive and confident. I’m disappointed that after the last race, only Yamaha and DesmoSport Ducati from the top five submitted bikes for mandatory post-race inspection of the inlet cams, so the results from the weekend will remain pending until the other bikes are inspected either at their home workshops or at the next round.”

Broc Pearson: “P5 and P4 for the weekend. It’s a little bit of bummer, we were inside the top three all weekend and we weren’t able to put it into the races, but I really exceeded my expectations with a 1:12.4 lap time in qualifying and I was so happy with that. I made a few mistakes in the races, but I worked hard to regain track position, especially in race one, and I’m really proud to be the first Ducati home this weekend.” 

Team co-owner, Troy Bayliss: “We couldn’t have asked for better track conditions this weekend. Cold in the morning, but lots of sun and no wind across all three days, so we knew early that the pace would be fast. The new surface through the back of the circuit definitely helped with everyone’s lap times but Broc did a great job to get his first superbike front row start and another season best round and race result. We’ve got a bit of a break now before Phillip Island just after MotoGP, which will give us some time keep working with Broc and look for that podium finish.”

Now in the mid-season break, round six of the ASBK will descend on Phillip Island on October 27 to 29, just one weekend after MotoGP at the iconic Victorian race track.