Image: Supplied.

DesmoSport Ducati newcomer Oli Bayliss has taken confidence from his Superbike debut after landing on the podium across multiple races in the Southern Downs & Queensland Road Racing Series at Morgan Park.

While reigning Australian champion Mike Jones went 3-1-2-1 for the overall, 16-year-old Bayliss piloted his V4R to DNS-3-3-2 after missing the opening race of the weekend.

“Once we got things setup for me, I felt really comfortable on the bike and I’m really happy to be on it,” Bayliss said. “The way it handled and stopped, it didn’t feel too different to the 600 to be honest.

“The power and speed of the V4R is incredible. I’m really grateful to Ben [Henry] and dad for giving me the chance to ride the bike and also to Chris Jones for helping set the bike up for me. Morgan Park is where I basically started my road racing career and every bike I’ve ridden, I’ve ridden here first, so it makes sense that I get to race a Superbike here first too.

“Mike gave me some great advice over the weekend and to race with guys like him and Aiden [Wagner] just gave me even more confidence. The V4R is definitely a challenge and there’s a lot more to learn, but it was great to line up at a race again and to put two DesmoSport Ducati V4R’s on the podium this weekend!”

Triple world champion father and DesmoSport co-owner Troy Bayliss added: “I’m glad we made the decision to put Oli on the V4R. The way he rode proved what we all thought, that he was ready to make the next step.

“I’m really proud of what he did this weekend on both the Superbike and the 600. He had a few moments out there, but kept his head, made smart decisions, set quick lap times for the conditions and brought the bike back in one piece.”

Bayliss pulled double-duty across the weekend in also riding his Cube Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 in the Supersport category, qualifying quickest and then dominating the four races to go 1-1-1-1.