News 11 Jul 2017

Season-first podium a boost for Honda's Staring

Western Australian ace claims third in Darwin aboard new Fireblade.

Image: Keith Muir.

Crankt Protein Honda Racing’s Bryan Staring soared to third overall at last weekend’s fourth round of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli in Darwin, marking his first of the season.

After qualifying fifth fastest, Staring went onto lodge an impressive 4-3 to be credited the final spot of the podium on debut with new top-spec Fireblade CBR1000RR SP2.

The likeable Western Australian revealed the result has provided him with a boost of confidence in the final sector of the championship, as he endeavours to climb his way back through the standings.

“It is a boost of confidence,” Staring told CycleOnline.com.au. “I feel like I’ve been knocking on the door of the podium all year, but I’ve just had some things go wrong really – that’s kept me away.

“It’s good to finally hit the nail on the head, and what made a big difference was that I had a good Saturday. With all these things, I feel like I’m building some momentum, and I’ve been trying to get momentum on my side all season long – I’m glad that I feel like it’s coming.”

The 30-year-old praised the new motorcycle and team for the result, declaring the weekend’s gamble to run the new machine paid off with valuable information gained.

“I had just a great race bike today – I had a bike that was easy to make passes on,” he continued. “It’s a real credit to the team, and yeah, we’ve come out very strong on the new bike.

“We already had good direction as we just kept improving the bike all weekend, I think we’ve got even better direction moving ahead now. We gained so much information – we’re really happy with this new motorbike, it’s pretty special.”

Staring sits sixth in the championship, four points behind Hidden Valley’s victor Josh Waters. Round five of the series is pencilled in for 25-27 August, at Morgan Park Raceway in Queensland.

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