Features 7 Jun 2010

Moto Talk with Bryan Staring

Get the inside scoop on Bryan Staring’s first ever ASBK victory at Queensland Raceway straight from the man himself.

Every so often you see riders have race weekends where they come of age, and for Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing’s Bryan Staring, that moment may have came yesterday in the premier class of domestic motorcycle racing as he scored his maiden Australian Superbike victory.

Staring made a last-minute decision to leave the factory comfort of the FX-bound Yamaha Racing Team to remain in the ASBK, forming an all-new single rider team in a bid to race against the best.

That move was rewarded on Sunday in the Sunshine State as the recently turned 23-year-old and reigning Australian Supersport Champion took victory and the series lead three rounds into the 2010 season.

MotoOnline.com.au gave Staring a call this afternoon to get his thoughts on that elusive first win.

Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing's Bryan Staring rode to two flawless ASBK victories at Queensland Raceway on Sunday.

Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing's Bryan Staring rode to two flawless ASBK victories at Queensland Raceway on Sunday.

Bryan, you said during our ASBK Panel Show on Saturday afternoon that you felt as though it was your turn to take a double victory, and you did! You must be pumped…

Yeah, it was really just a dream. Realistically I didn’t expect it, and it wasn’t until the end of Superpole that I really honed in on getting everything correct. I guess I was just talking a bit of shit really with the whole “it’s my turn to take a perfect weekend”, but anyway it worked out that I nearly got it with both race wins. If I went a tenth faster in my Superpole lap then it would have been pretty much perfect. It was an unexpected victory, but definitely a really satisfying one.

It’s not often that our domestic Superbike races are won by over two seconds, but you managed to achieve that in both races yesterday. Take us through the races and how you made it happen.

Well it’s no secret that we used a different size tyre than the rest of the field, which I guess probably sounds pretty strange considering the series is on a control tyre, but we did use a tyre that was available to everybody.

In the opening race I sat in behind Wayne [Maxwell] and got comfortable, then I thought that I could maybe step the pace up a bit, which I was able to once I got past. I kept getting +0 on the pit board from the guys, but I knew if I could hold on then I’d be able to win the race.

It was similar in the second race, where I got a good start and thought that it was my chance to get out of there again. I opened up a little bit of breathing room, got comfortable, into a rhythm and punched out the laps as best I could.

I couldn’t be happier with how they went. I think that between the two races there was only one second difference in my race time over the 16 laps, which I lead the majority of. I’m ecstatic at how the weekend went and it’s really only beginning to sink in this afternoon [on Monday] that I got my first two wins on the Superbike. It was a dream run, really.

Like you said, a talking point of the weekend was that you won on Dunlop’s 190/55R17 tyre, opting not to run the latest 200/55R17 that Dunlop released for the round. What made you decide to stay on the older rubber – a tyre that many had written off?

To be honest it was really a simple choice for us in the end. We spent a lot of time testing the 200 size tyre, and the lap times proved that I was able to be a lot more consistent and faster when I used the smaller 190 tyre. The 200 had its pluses and its minuses, but for us overall it had more minuses.

I was pretty nervous about sticking with the 190 really, kind of wondering what if there was something that we could have tried with the set-up of the bike with the 200 that would’ve made it work because everybody else seemed to be going forward with the bigger tyre.

We just didn’t at all, so the way it worked out was a bit of a shock to us. I expected that at the end of the race the 200 might have been a little bit stronger than the 190, but anyway, I don’t think it actually worked out that way.

It was just a methodical process that we worked through, as we do with everything, and it worked out that we were able to be stronger with the smaller tyre.

What do you have to say to those who claim you only won because of your tyre selection? Do you think others will revert to the 190 now?

I think that everybody will definitely go and try the 190 tyre again and that more will race with it at the next round, but the interesting thing at this point is going to be the supply because I know they were planning on the 200 taking over, basically ceasing the importing of the 190. So I don’t know what’s going to be available at the next round, but I think there will be more racing on it at the next round and everybody will test on it at the very least.

As far as anybody claiming that we only won because of the tyre, it just doesn’t matter. To me it doesn’t make any difference at all because everybody had the same option to use it and they chose not to, so they can claim whatever they like. The fact of the matter is that we did our job the best over the last couple of days and got the result to prove it. That’s all that matters, really.

Despite all that, you rode absolutely flawless races over the weekend. How much work has gone into getting to this point with what is essentially a brand new team for 2010?

It’s definitely been a lot of work for the team. We’ve just finished round three and we’re halfway through the year, but this round is the most organised that the team has been. We had two bikes prepared really well, set up with similar parts on them. In previous rounds we’d still be juggling parts from one to the other because we had a new bike that wasn’t quite finished at Darwin so we didn’t get to race it there.

There was quite a long break in between rounds and we were able to get through a lot of those things. As far as the team structure goes, it hasn’t changed, we still have the same people that I started with in road racing back in 2003. We get along unreal and there’s no real change as far as my guys go, it was just the preparation in the lead-up to the event that was flawless.

I don’t think many people realise just how hands on you are with the whole Cougar Honda operation, right?

Well realistically when we first got everything up and running at the start of the year I was pretty hands on, but since then life’s gone back to my usual ways, living my glamorous lifestyle or whatever you want to call it [laughs].

So yeah, look, I haven’t had as much hands on stuff to do with the team between the second and third rounds because it’s all been taken care of. As hard as it was initially, I did enjoy it and I think it’s made it all that bit more satisfying – the team’s awesome.

From this point the series will head back to Queensland Raceway in August. I guess the big question is, can you repeat and go back-to-back at the ‘Paperclip’?

I hope so, and I don’t think there’s any reason why we can’t. Obviously the other teams will be a lot stronger come the second event in Queensland for obvious reasons, as well as the fact that everybody always continues to improve.

I’m always confident that we can do well, and I’m sure that if we can do our best then we’ll be in the hunt to win another couple of races. That’s what the goal is and we can only work towards that, so we’ll see how it pans out in another couple of months time.

Well thank you mate, well done again and we look forward to seeing this championship go down to the wire between you guys.

Yeah, thanks Alex.

Staring celebrates his first ASBK win on the podium yesterday afternoon.

Staring celebrates his first ASBK win on the podium yesterday afternoon.

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