ASBK competitor Phillis heads to WSBK

Australian Superbike Championship competitor Alex Phillis has been given a golden opportunity to strut his stuff on the big stage, earning a call-up to ride the final four rounds of the Superbike World Championship.

Phillis will be heading overseas to compete as part of the Grillini Kawasaki Racing Team, and will take part in the final four events of the calendar in Malaysia, Spain, France and Qatar.

Speaking ahead of his opening ride this weekend, Phillis said he is still pinching himself at the wonderful opportunity in front of him.

“It’s a really exciting thing to happen and quite out of the blue,” he said.

“At the moment it is taking a while to sink in, but hopefully we get to the track, get everything sorted and by Friday be ready to ride.

“This is going to be the hardest learning experience I have ever had on a motorcycle.”

Phillis admitted that it will be tough getting used to an unfamiliar bike and setup, but is hopeful that with four rounds to tame the machine, he will be able to produce the results that he is capable of.

“It’s a very different bike to anything I have ridden in the past – I have been on a ZX10 in the past, but this bike is a lot more advanced on the technical side.

“So set-up and getting used to the bike is going to be hard, but to have the opportunity to do back-to-back rounds is going to be great.

“By the end of the season we should have some good speed and have some good races, and hopefully get up into the points.”

After riding as a Wildcard at Phillip Island earlier in the year, Phillis has settled into competing at the 2015 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli in the Supersport class.

“I have found the ASBK this year to be really good – in the past it has been difficult, but this year MA has really taken it on and done a fantastic job,” he said.

“The program is awesome and we get plenty of track time. We have two decent length races on the Sunday which is good and all the people around the paddock have really enjoyed this years’ series.”

Phillis said that he has enjoyed riding in Australia, and believes that riding in the ASBK has helped with his visibility as a rider and contributed to getting the new ride with Grillini.

“It is refreshing to be at home to be honest,” he said.

“I haven’t been in Australia for the past couple of years and haven’t raced in the bigger classes, so it has been really great for me to get my name out and for people to see what I have learnt in the past few years.

“I feel like I have been riding the best that that I have for a while and I have been really confident with my bike which has helped to build my confidence.”

Round four of the 2015 Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli will take place at Symmons Plains from 4-6 September.

For more information on ASBK follow us on Facebook, or head to www.asbk.com.au.

More, from a press release issued by Grillini Racing Team Press Office:

Barragan withdraws. Grillini Racing Team welcome the young Australian Alex Phillips

Lack of motivation. This is the reason why Santiago Barragan decided to leave the WSBK with four rounds to go.

A decision taken a few days before the race in Sepang that left the Team Manager Andrea Grillini with a sour aftertaste. “A really complicated season. I always make all possible resources of the team available to my riders however this season, each time for different reasons, I had to face difficult situations that did not allow the Team to give its best and to work in serenity. I will not comment the decisions taken by the riders, but I want to say that, once again, enthusiasm and the desire to move forward win. Enthusiasm is what I found in Gianluca Vizziello who was not afraid to get involved in WSBK and in young Australian Alex Phillis who decided in perhaps less than an hour from my first phone call to join the team and will race with us in Sepang”.

Alex is a young talented Australian rider. He has commented:” To be offered to ride the last four rounds of WSBK is privilege and a great opportunity for me. I am going to take it with two hands and do my best to really make something special of it. Cannot wait!”