Phillip Island played host to the Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) for the second time this season at round five, where we had two new winners emerge in the premier class. Quotebook features compiled comments from riders over the weekend.

Superbike

Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati) – Second overall:
We’ve had a pretty good weekend overall really, fast out of the box on Saturday morning, although we probably didn’t execute Qualifying as well as we could have, I had a lot of confidence going into the two races that I would be able to move forward through the field. The technical issue as I launched in race one threw a spanner in the works there and I had to fight my way back from dead last. For the second race, rain fell as we were about to head out, but we were prepared for it, so I just went for it. Twice in a row, I got off the line really well and led the way for essentially the whole race. It got a bit tricky to gauge just how fast I could push in the cold, wet and miserable conditions, but when a few riders started to come up on me, I put my head down to win by around a second. I’m so glad to get my first ASBK win with DesmoSport, the team work so hard day-in and day-out to give me the best opportunity and I’m happy I can reward everyone with a win today.

Max Stauffer (Penrite Racing SBK) – 14th overall:
Round five is over – tough weekend from start to finish for me. Never really got comfortable with the bike, qualifying in P9. The races were also tough, and I finished race one in seventh place. For race two the rain had set in and unfortunately [while] battling for third position on the last lap I had a high-side and have broken six ribs and a collapsed lung. I’m on the road to recovery and looking forward to getting with my Penrite Racing SBK team again. Thanks for everyone’s hard work – I’ll put it all together soon.

Cameron Dunker (Penrite Racing SBK) – 13th overall:
It was an up and down weekend here at Phillip Island for round five of ASBK. Unfortunate to have a mechanical in race one, but I think we salvaged the day a little bit in this wet race to come fifth. I would have liked to have been closer to the front, but we are improving in the wet on the Superbike, so I’m happy with that. My teammate Max had a rough race two and we hope he makes a speedy recovery – we are waiting to know how he’s going. I saw him after the race in medical and he’s in good spirits, considering. Thanks to the team and all our sponsors for supporting us, and we look forward to the next round at One Raceway in Goulburn.

Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) – Sixth overall:
It wasn’t a good weekend for me. It started well and I felt my speed with good and that was the case in qualifying, but in the first race I could feel the tyre going and I felt I was at my limit given the condition of it. Race two was just a disaster. I felt terrible, like I was riding on ice… The other guys seemed to be getting around okay, so it was me, but I just couldn’t push the speed at all as every time I did, I felt like I was about to go down. It wasn’t the round we were after and I owe the team one. They worked hard all weekend in tough conditions, so I need to bounce back at the next round and give them a result they deserve.

Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) – Fifth overall:
I felt like my riding was better here this weekend as Phillip Island has long been a track that I have struggled with. I felt I made some gains in certain areas of the track and my times were a lot more competitive than they have been here previously, but it didn’t show in the results and that’s disappointing. In race one, I was trying to make things happen and move forward but ran wide and lost a position or two on the last lap and then the last race in the rain was just survival. I need to be better at riding in the wet and slippery conditions and something I need to work on.

Glenn Allerton (GT Racing BMW) – Third overall:
Going into the race weekend, I felt confident with the bike after testing at Eastern Creek. Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t fully translate to the track at Phillip Island, partly due to the strong winds and gusts we experienced all weekend. My dry race pace was promising, especially towards the end, and the overall performance was solid. The wet race was one of the toughest I’ve faced in a long time. It felt extremely slippery, and the wind made high-speed corners particularly challenging. It’s great to have made it onto the podium overall for the weekend and to reward the team for their hard work. I’m really looking forward to the next round at the new One Raceway in Goulburn.