It’s been a while between drinks, in a few circumstances and I’m getting back to some of my favorite past times, winning races and writing columns. I actually think they go hand in hand.
Not that either racing or life has been too unbearable to talk about, quite the opposite. However, for one I’ve been particularly preoccupied with some other life projects and secondly racing is smack in the middle of its busiest period. I’ve always enjoyed writing the columns but I’ve not made it my priority for a while and I hope I can win back the old Rapid bikes readers as well as the Bike Review supporters.
My aim for this column is to bring everyone up to speed on my current life.
Bryan Staring – Image by TBG Sport
I finally won a race again! Just when you thought the stallion had turned into a bronco. At the end of 2017 I had great form, the final rounds of the season were confidence builders as I was both regularly on the podium and often the only one to challenge Josh Waters for any race wins.
When I changed teams over the summer from Honda to the Kawasaki BC Performance team, I wasn’t sure if I would maintain that form with a new project. It’s true that I have a lot of experience with the Kawasaki ZX-10R however. It is a statement that most people and websites seem to love.
It’s also true that I enjoy this bike and have fond memories of the time I spent on the green machine cutting my teeth in Europe and in the few WSBK races that I was fortunate enough to start. Getting back to winning races is such a pleasure.
Bryan Staring joined BCperformance in 2018 for ASBK
The BC Performance team have prepared our superbikes superbly, which was evident during our preseason testing. Even though qualifying for ASBK Round 1 was a disaster in the wet that saw us start from 13th position, we managed to fight through the pack each race for the top positions. A 4th in race one, 3rd in race two and finally the comeback victory in race three.
Even I was guilty of underestimating ourselves following qualifying. But the reality was that my starts were fantastic and the ZX-10R is so damn fast that I never exited the first turn worse than sixth place on the opening lap. Essentially it halved our workload in less than 1km.
Much to my surprise, once I arrived at the podium following our victory the guys had told me I’d won the overall for the weekend and was currently leading the championship. Wooohooooo!
Although I never mentioned it in any column last year, I spent 2017 studying full time which was touched on in some other recent media exposure. I completed a course which was the equivalent of passing years 11, 12 and two first year university units in a single year.
Bryan Staring – Image by Foremost Media
After leaving school 13 years ago and being a professional rider for the past 11 years, passing this course was no mean feat. 12 months on and I’ve been accepted into university. Which is great even if I’m unsure what it will provide me in the future.
Continuing on the news outside of motorcycle racing, I have a new bicycle sponsor in Giant Bicycles Australia. This is something that’s pretty exciting for me and cool new adventure on two wheels. Even though I’m just a punter on the bicycle I love doing the local races. I’m quite proud that I managed to finish fifth at the Pemberton Classic, one of WA’s most elite road cycling events over 100km.
And speaking of sponsors, I’m wrapped to have some solid old personal sponsors continuing with me as well as some great new ones. BerrySweet strawberries in WA have been supporting me for 16 years this year! Of course their free product is amazing, but they started helping out my family when I was young by allowing us to load up on diesel from their farm prior to departing for the east coast.
Staring tops the overall ASBK Round 1 podium, ahead of Waters and Herfoss – Image by TBG Sport
Consent2Go is another company continuing on with me this year, they sell computer software for primary schools that makes ease of parent permissions and risk assessments for school outings.
Touching on risk, Wallace Risk Solutions are a new sponsor for me who can provide track day insurance for your race or street bike as well as business, accident and illness, motor insurance and much more. And finally Babylon Pump and Power who provide major equipment rental and repair options to the resources sector, mostly with heavy duty equipment.
I feel like I have a lot going for me in 2018. I’m writing this column on the plane as I travel back to Perth after the two day Wakefield park test, in the lead up to ASBK Round 2 at Wakefield Park later this month. The series is in the best form I’ve ever seen and the racing is fierce. I hope you can all make it trackside to see the action and support the Australian Championship.
-Bryan Staring
Twitter, Instagram: @bryanstaring67
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