Access Plus Racing-Ducati Philippines-Essenza ready to fight in Asian Superbike 1000 at The Bend, Australia

Following the team’s debut at the Asian Road Racing Championship’s (ARRC) opening round last month, Access Plus Racing-Ducati Philippines-Essenza now has its sights set for the ASB1000’s next event. Round two will see the series visit The Bend Motorsport Park in Australia for the very first time with riders Timothy Joseph “TJ” Alberto and Jonathan Serrapica resuming their 2019 campaign this April 25-28.

Located 100 km south-east of Adelaide, The Bend Motorsport Park is a brand new circuit that opened early last year. Its layout is inspired by some of the world’s most iconic tracks with a mix of technical and fast, flowing corners which should add to the challenge for the ASB1000 riders including Alberto and Serrapica.

The team has been hard at work since the last event in Malaysia where Alberto scored an impressive 6th and 7th on his first outing with the Ducati Panigale V4R. His teammate, on the other hand, picked up a point-scoring 8th place finish. This time their efforts are focused on improving bike setup and race strategy for the upcoming race using valuable feedback provided by both riders from their experience at the Sepang International Circuit.

Since the teams and riders in ASB1000 all have no previous experience running on the 4.9 km circuit in Australia, Access Plus Racing-Ducati Philippines-Essenza sees this as an equal opportunity for them to pick up strong results.

The Panigale V4R of Access Plus Racing-Ducati Philippines-Essenza are the latest production superbikes to come out of Ducati. Available in limited numbers and featuring a 998cc 90° V4 engine, the homologated version of the V4 makes 217 hp and 112 Nm of torque. Fully adjustable top spec suspension components from Öhlins allow a wide setup range while new aerodynamic winglets provide downforce and stability.

TJ Alberto, #77 Ducati: “We’ve made improvements to our Ducati Panigale V4Rs for the next race to help us improve our performance in Australia. It’s a new track that the teams and riders have not tested on before, so we should all be on equal ground and would make for an interesting race. Being 6th overall in the championship is good, but moving up in the standings is our main goal.”

Jonathan Serrapica #48 Ducati: “Many improvements to the bike will be finished by the time we reach Australia and I’m confident to get some additional help from these updates. I learned a lot about the bike and the team during my first race weekend, but Australia is new for all of us so it’s hard to predict what will happen. My focus right now is to be able to fight for position and finish strong in both races.”

Toti Alberto, Team Principal: “With our experience from Sepang and more preparation for the team, we believe we can now bring the fight to the frontrunners in Australia. It’ll also be everyone’s first time to race at The Bend so the entire field will be on an equal playing field. Looking forward to do better for Access Plus Racing-Ducati Philippines-Essenza with TJ and Jonathan.”

Team Access Plus Racing-Ducati Philippines-Essenza is sponsored by Access Plus Group, Ducati Philippines, Essenza, AELLA, Dickies Philippines, Öhlins Philippines, Century Hotel Angeles City, LV8, and Pradera Verde.