ASBK 2025 is officially underway, with the first stop of the season run and won at Phillip Island over the weekend. We’ve gathered the direct takes from riders for this Reaction feature from the opening round of the season.

Image: Foremost Media.

Josh Waters (McMartin Racing Ducati) – First overall:
I could not be happier with how this weekend has gone, although it certainly wasn’t as easy as it looked. But I was super happy with how my McMartin Ducati performed, and this result has certainly put down a very solid foundation for the 2025 season. Racing is still a huge passion for me, and I enjoy competing – and celebrating success – with family and friends.

Broc Pearson (DesmoSport Ducati) – Eighth overall:
I leave round one with a lot of confidence. We built through the weekend to have a really competitive bike for the races. Although we had issues getting the bike off the line in every race with the launch control, I was able to move through the field the best I’ve ever been able to, but the time lost on the first lap really hurt our track position and the lead riders were just too far down the road by the time I got past everyone. I’m really happy with how our team is working together though and the bike we have developed this year. Although we would have liked to leave here with some more points, I’m motivated to get back to winning and I’m looking forward to gearing back up again for Sydney next month.

Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) – Second overall:
It’s good to start the year with a podium, but more importantly, to ride well and minimise the points damage to Josh Waters, who rides so well here. I have struggled a bit here in the past but have worked hard on some technique and watched a lot of footage to see where I have been lacking and where I could improve. Today was a small step forward in that regard so a nice reward for the work done behind the scenes. The team worked well all weekend, and we got the bike dialled in quickly. So, a huge thanks to them and we can take this momentum onto round two.

Max Stauffer (Yamaha Racing Team) – Fourth overall:
I was aware that I was coming in a little under prepared but at least I was riding pain and injury free. My goal now is to build some continuity in my riding that will allow me to improve every time I get on the track. The weekend was good to get more used to the bike and learn some things that can only be done in race conditions. I need to work on my starts as two of them weren’t great on the weekend, but I know the speed will come and I look forward to getting to SMSP for the next round as I have done plenty of laps around there and confident I will be riding better.

Tom Edwards (Motoschool Racing Team Yamaha) – 10th overall:
I was really happy with the weekend overall. Coming down with not that much preparation, I think the team did a great job putting together a good package. We didn’t do anything wrong and made steady progress throughout the weekend, going quick straight away in the first session which was a massive bonus. Then we spent most of the weekend chasing setup – mainly trying to hold onto tyres over longer stints. We dipped into the 1m32s bracket but I couldn’t really maintain that pace. For race three we made a change, but there was a racing incident at turn one at the start which sent me to dead last. The bike did feel a lot better but the best we could fight back to was P10, which was still very positive.