Image: Foremost Media.

A revitalised Bryan Staring has made a dream start to his DesmoSport Ducati campaign in taking the season-opening round win at Phillip Island, the first round of the 2022 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).

In the opening bout, Staring launched from fifth to second on the first lap, slotting in behind pole-setter Wayne Maxwell (Boost Mobile Ducati).

Disaster struck, however, on lap five for Maxwell, crashing at the Hayshed and unable to remount – Staring notably just over a second from the 2021 champion at the time of the fall.

From there Staring rode a controlled race to win by 5.4s ahead Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) who made a poor start and was left with a lot of riders to pass in his recovery, new teammate Mike Jones on lap eight for the runner-up position.

Jones kept the pressure on Halliday right to the line, finishing just 0.116s from his teammate. Josh Waters (Maxima BMW) rode to a relatively quiet fourth place, as Daniel Falzon (JD Racing Yamaha) finished fifth – far from full fitness as he builds from his season finale fall last year.

Maxima BMW’s Glenn Allerton and Aiden Wagner (Addicted to Track Yamaha) were engaged in a battle for a majority of the race, the pair sixth and seventh respectively, as Sissis made a great start, before crossing the line in eighth.

Matt Walters (Kawasaki Connection) and Anthony West (Yamaha) completed the top 10. Maxwell was effectively cleared of any major injury, expected to line-up again for race two this afternoon.

Maxwell bounced back in race two to take the victory and deliver on the dominant form he has shown throughout the weekend after putting in a commanding performance on Saturday.

Staring made another strong start to leap to second, keeping Maxwell honest at the beginning of the race until losing touch during the second half, eventually finishing runner-up 2.4s seconds back.

Halliday made a better start, however was left with work to pass Jones for third. The number 65 then kept the pressure on Staring in second for much of the remainder of the race before crossing the line third at the completion of the 12 laps.

Behind him, Jones remained intact with Staring and Halliday until about the halfway point, from there riding to a somewhat lonely fourth position 1.5s second behind Halliday and 6.3s ahead of Waters, who made it two top-fives to start his year with BMW.

Falzon was sixth this afternoon, ahead of Allerton, Sissis, Walters and 727 Moto Team Yamaha’s Jed Metcher, who completed the top 10 in an encouraging end to the weekend.

Staring was victorious for the round with a seven-point advantage over Halliday, as Jones was third, a further three points adrift. Waters and Falzon completed the top five as the championship now heads to Queensland Raceway on 18-20 March for round two.

Detailed results