After starting from 9th place on the grid on his Rivamoto Honda World Supersport debut, Aussie Bryan Staring was forced to retire in the opening round of the 2014 World Supersport championship at Phillip Island, Australia.
Having had less than a week to adjust to his production CBR 600cc machine, Bryan made a good start to end the opening lap 10th.
The weather was thankfully dry meaning Bryan could reap the rewards of his consistent lap times and moved into 9th by the half way point. By lap 8, Bryan found himself being able to make use of the consistency that he had found during practice and bit by bit closed in on the battle for the top 6. Unfortunately a few seconds later the red flag came out due to another riders machine laying oil on the track.
The race was restarted over a shortened 5 laps with Bryan starting from 9th on the grid as this was his position at the time the flag was shown.
After a better start, the Rivamoto rider found himself locked in a fight for 7th but with 3 laps to go he was forced to retire with a clutch issue.
Bryan Staring – Rivamoto Honda: “Racing can be cruel at times. I want to thank everyone who has made this weekend happen, all my sponsors and everyone at Rivamoto Honda. I am looking forward to getting to Aragon where I hope we can continue to be part of the action at the front.”
Jeremy McWilliams – Team Manager: “It is so disappointing after all the hard work that Bryan and the whole team have put in. I can’t remember the last time Rivamoto Honda had a technical problem during the race but restarts are always risky on the little 600, that’s racing. We will take the positives and move on to Aragon where I am sure we will be able to show our potential.”
World Supersport action resumes at Motorland Aragon, Spain in April.
