Source: Supplied.

Crankt Protein Honda Racing’s Jamie Stauffer is having a hard time rebuilding confidence following an injury-struck start to the 2016 Australian Superbike Championship season.

Stauffer was in the fight for victory at Phillip Island’s opener when he clashed with Mike Jones and went down at high speed on the front straight, then fractured a vertebra soon afterwards in Wakefield Park testing.

Barbagallo Raceway’s fourth round was a difficult weekend for the 37-year-old two-time ASBK champion, qualifying a lowly 11th and then going 9-8 in the races for eighth overall aboard the CBR1000RR SP.

“I felt a lot better on Sunday than what I did on Saturday. I sort of struggled all weekend and I didn’t qualify in the best position,” Stauffer explained. “Once racing kicked off though, it was the best thing that could have happened to me, I felt a lot better and I think it’s just about getting my confidence up after coming off my injury.

“I’ve had plenty of injuries to deal with across my career, but this one has been the most challenging. We know what we need to work on ahead of Morgan Park, so we’ll just focus on the next round and go from there.”

Stauffer will have two more tries at establishing himself back toward the front of the ASBK field when Morgan Park hosts the next round in August, prior to the Winton finale in October.