Mark Aitchison is looking forward to his WSBK debut on Sunday depite a difficult qualifier today.

Australian Pedercini Kawasaki teammates Bryan Staring and Mark Aitchison are hoping to make progress for Sunday’s opening World Superbike round after qualifying in 18th and 22nd positions respectively.

The pair, who are teamed with Italian ex-GP star Roberto Rolfo, are making their WSBK debuts at Phillip Island, failing to make Superpole’s top 16 qualifying session but upbeat for the pair of 22-lap races to round out the weekend.

“I’m very disappointed for the team and myself because I was not able to achieve the lap time I needed to enter Superpole,” current ASBK champion Staring commented.

“I knew it was attainable and I pushed very hard to improve my lap time, but three times I risked a crash and so preferred not to risk any more, especially in view of tomorrow’s double race.

“The team has been fantastic and we have been making strong progress over the weekend. We did a good job also in the afternoon free practice, improving my bike setting, and tomorrow I’ll try my best to take some good results for my team and my sponsors.”

For Aitchison the event marks his first ever Superbike appearance, and he’s put in a formidable job ahead of his maiden full WSBK season.

“Our second day of qualifying and practice went well,” Atcho enthused. “During the session I have experimented with a few different settings and I found some more comfort with the bike.

“The weekend here in Phillip Island is really like a test for our team and with these changes we are gathering data for the future rounds. I think I know exactly which tyre combination I will use for the race, so after warm up we will evaluate the weather condition and close the set up.

“I look forward to my first Superbike races tomorrow – they’ll be tough, but I’m sure I’ll have fun.”