DesmoSport Ducati press release:

Queensland newcomer Callum Spriggs set the 11th fastest time during today’s opening day of Australian Superbike Championship practice at Hidden Valley Raceway in the Northern Territory.

The 23-year-old gradually upped his pace throughout the three Free Practice sessions on Friday to eventually register a 1m07.717s lap-time in FP3 this afternoon.

With temperatures hovering over 30 degrees throughout today’s proceedings, Spriggs completed 42 laps throughout practice and is set for a strong day of qualifying tomorrow on-board the factory-supported 1299 Panigale S.

“Today was really good, the team has been working hard and we moved forward in every single session, so I was happy with how it ended up at the end of the day,” Spriggs said. “I was hoping to get into the top 10, which we almost did, and I got into the 1m07s so that was good!

“It’s definitely a good feeling after that last session to reach my target, so the plan is to hopefully keep improving tomorrow, get a little bit quicker and try to get onto the first three rows. I’ll be trying my best and am looking forward to getting back on the bike.”

Team co-owner Ben Henry, who is partners with triple Superbike World Championship winner Troy Bayliss in the DesmoSport Ducati organisation, said it was a satisfying way to commence the Darwin race weekend.

“It was a good start to the weekend and Cal’s definitely finding his feet,” Henry commented. “We’ve definitely been in worse positions than this, that’s for sure, so the aim is to carry this momentum into qualifying and keep it going. The bike has been performing well, so hopefully we can move forward even further tomorrow.”

The opening 30-minute qualifying session for the premier Superbike class is scheduled for Saturday at 10:55am local time, with session two taking off from 2:50pm. Visit www.asbk.com.au for further information on the series.

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