Image: Foremost Media.

A ‘milestone’ top five return nears for Desmosport Ducati’s Broc Pearson in the Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship following an improved sixth-place finish in race two at Sydney Motorsport Park.

A difficult first round at Phillip Island saw the Queensland-based rider finish 10th overall with 10-9-11 finishes, indicating he was plagued by electronics problems as the 2023 season began.

With the round one issue ‘no dramas’ on Friday in Sydney according to DesmoSport Ducati co-owner Ben Henry, Pearson qualified ninth with a 1m30.740s. The following day he completed the red-flag-shortened race one in P9, and was just two-tenths off a top-five result as he crossed the line in sixth position during the re-started race two in wet conditions, under the lights.

“We had a few little issues on Friday, things that are quite unusual and just disrupted the rhythm that we needed to find throughout the practice sessions, but the guys really worked hard all day to give me a bike that worked for me when we got to qualifying,” Pearson explained.

“Being able to put in fast, consistent laps, my confidence grew pretty quickly, and I felt like we would be able to move forward in the races. I made a few small mistakes in race one.

“I was working my way forward when the race was red-flagged, and in race two, the track was still a bit wet in places but went with slicks and I actually really enjoyed pushing it a little in the conditions and I was a contender in the race, but then the rain bucketed down, and with wets on for the restart, I struggled a little for grip and hung in there for that sixth place.

“I just want to thank the team for everything this weekend. They are doing everything in their power to give me the tools I need to go fast, and although we didn’t hit our first milestone of a top-five, it feels like it might not be far away.”

The former Australian Supersport champion has demonstrated that he has the capability to score a top-five result in the premier class, with his best finish in the national Superbike category coming at Morgan Park last year, where he landed fourth overall with a pair of P4s in his DesmoSport Ducati debut.

He is currently ninth in the 2023 Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship standings ahead of round three which is set to take place at Queensland Raceway between 28-30 April.