DesmoSport Ducati press release:

Australian Superbike Championship contender Cru Halliday will contest this weekend’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix support races at Phillip Island aboard the DesmoSport Ducati Panigale 1299 S.

With team regular Mike Jones competing for Avintia Ducati in the MotoGP World Championship for the second weekend in succession, DesmoSport Ducati has secured Halliday for the 21-23 October event in Victoria.

Halliday brings a wealth of experience to the official DesmoSport Ducati squad co-owned by Troy Bayliss and Ben Henry, finishing fourth in the 2016 ASBK standings including a race win at Winton’s final round earlier this month.

“Racing with DesmoSport Ducati at Phillip Island will definitely be something very new to me, but it’s a real privilege to be in the team operated by Ben Henry and Troy Bayliss,” Halliday commented. “It’s a really professional team and I’m really excited heading into the weekend.

“After a strong final round of the ASBK I’m feeling really confident, so it will be a matter of getting comfortable on the bike, setting it up to suit the way I ride and also for me to get a good feeling with the Pirelli tyres – I’m sure I can get a good result.

“With practice, qualifying and two races on the first day, I just need to focus on the job, take it one lap at a time and get up to speed as quickly as I can. My results at the start of the year at Phillip Island were quite good and I’m really excited to see where it heads.”

Meanwhile, Jones will join the MotoGP grid once again aboard the Avintia Racing Ducati grand prix machine, which he rode to 18th at Motegi’s Grand Prix of Japan on Sunday after being called in at the 11th-hour.

“I’m very happy and I can’t believe the experience of finishing my first ever MotoGP race,” Jones said post-race. “It was fantastic to be part of the Avintia Racing Ducati team this weekend. They worked so hard to help me learn so much, but definitely I gained more experience through the race.

“My start wasn’t very good. We tried a practice start in the warm-up this morning and I felt really, really good, but we changed the clutch for the race and when I went to do the race start it felt different, so I really struggled with the start.

“Once I got going, I tried to follow the guys in front of me, but I had a few small problems and I couldn’t get the bike stopped like in qualifying. I just wanted to finish the race, no matter how, and I did it. I really want to thank Avintia Racing and Ducati for this opportunity and I hope to do it better at Phillip Island.”

Halliday will make his first appearance aboard the DesmoSport Ducati during the opening ‘Phillip Island Championship’ practice session this Friday morning. The domestic Superbikes are scheduled for four eight-lap races across the weekend.