Staring gears up for WSBK debut

Article from http://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/latest-news/5024-staring-gears-up-for-wsbk-debut.html

Australian Bryan Staring has been granted a wildcard entry to race in the opening round of the 2011 Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island. The reigning Australian Superbike champion will campaign the Kawasaki ZX-10R for Pedercini Kawasaki - the same Italian-based outfit he will ride for in the 2011 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup.

"This is an incredible opportunity, I know Phillip Island very well, so I know what lap times will be required to be competitive," said the 23 year-old from Perth. "I am lucky I have had a lot of support from Australia, and Troy Bayliss in particular, has opened a lot of doors for me internationally."

Staring will be joined on the grid by countrymen Troy Corser (BMW), Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) and Josh Waters (Suzuki) at Phillip Island, in what is shaping up to be the strongest local representation at the Australian WSBK round in many years.

Staring was initially signed by Pedercini to contest the 2011 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, but that doesn't start until mid-April, leaving the door open for him to make his WSBK debut at Phillip Island. Staring has already completed some exploratory laps on the Kawasaki Superbike at Malaysia's Sepang in mid January, and is mightily impressed by the all-new machine.

"It's a really promising motorcycle," said Staring. "Obviously, most of my testing to this point has been on the Cup-spec bike, but in that time I have developed a real insight into what makes it tick, especially the electronics. You always have to keep working on these things, but I am really happy with how it's all gone so far."

Staring has been the most successful Australian-based road racer over the last two years, winning the Supersport championship in 2009 before going one better and claiming the premier Superbike category in 2010.