ASBK 2025
Pre-season interview with Ben Henry
DesmoSport Ducati
We already had a more formal conversation with Craig McMartin, Team Owner of defending champions McMartin Racing, with Josh Waters. Due to conflicting schedules, that was primarily conducted over email and is thus quite concise. In contrast, this is more of a freewheeling chat syle of interview with Ben Henry, Team Owner of DesmoSport Ducati.
Like Craig (McMartin), Ben also has a good racing resume as a rider. Battling for Australian Superbike podiums at times, on bikes he had prepared himself, going back to the Cube Racing days with Kawasaki. Ben then went on to found DesmoSport Ducati with Troy Bayliss in 2016. The team won the Australian Superbike Championship with Mike Jones in 2019.
With Oli’s (Bayliss) career taking him overseas in recent years, Troy has stepped back from the team, and it is now all down to Ben.
The Western Australian has been based in Queensland for some years now. Ben operates Cube Performance Centre, just south of the Gold Coast. A Ducati specialist, but also servicing and race preparing all manner of motorcycles when called upon to do so.
Trev and Ben go way back. Both are Western Australians. Trev was on hand at Wanneroo Raceway when a teenage Ben had his first-ever track day, and went on to witness pretty much every road race Ben has contested. Which then continued into the present era with Ben at the reins of the DesmoSport Ducati squad.
Trev – G’day Ben, I understand it has been quite a busy off-season for you in the workshop, and also trying to stitch together enough sponsorship to continue at a high level for season 2025. I understand some of those expensive preparations went up in smoke at a Phillip Island Ride Day recently…
Ben – “Long story short, the bike caught fire and bloody burned to the ground. Really, It’s not going again, and it won’t be going again for the first round. I can’t see it. That bike was Broc’s Marelli bike. The boys had a MoTeC bike and Marelli bike each, which was handy because we could back to back them and just try and emulate what we have achieved on the Marelli bike. Yeah, anyway, so I can’t say for sure if it’s (the burned bike) definitely not going to go. We’ll just see how it unfolds in the next little bit.”
Trev – Sounds as though not too much was salvageable…
Ben – “Like obviously the wiring loom is gone and you know, it wasn’t a big crash, it is just that it caught fire in a big way… The wheels are all right, the swing-arm, the suspension and the frame and all that stuff, it is just more of the plastic things, anything plastic has really gone, the loom and all that sort of stuff, so yeah, it’s certainly not ideal. Still, I will put it this way, if it (the burned bike) was all I had and I was absolutely strung out for the first race then it’d be on the grid. You know what I mean.. But as it stands, I’m working really hard on the other bikes, so it’s not too big of a problem right now.”
Trev – And Troy Herfoss will line up one of your bikes this season but in a satellite team of sorts with Penrite backing?
Ben – “Yeah, that’s basically it. I mean, honestly, it’s so close to the season and I don’t exactly know the firm details on exactly the sponsorship on that bike, but the long story short and where the money comes from and the stickers that are on it is, I guess, not my business on that bike. It’s one of my team bikes and it’s all the same and et cetera, et cetera. But yeah, the funding’s coming from effectively his old team in ER (Deon Coote’s Elite Roads) Motorsport, they’re sorting the finance to run it. Yeah, we’ll sort of leave it at that really, that’s the bottom line.
“As far as the personnel and the staff go, it’s certainly a bit of a mixed bag at the moment and obviously Charlie’s with us but so far it’s probably just been sort of Charlie working with Troy and then just my team, you know what I mean. So that’s pretty much how it’s unfolded for now. I know we’re only a few weeks out from the race but I’d say at the race they’ll have a bit more support and it’ll be more along those lines.”
Trev – When we spoke previously, you were unsure of where M.A. was going with ASBK in regard to electronics. The previously approved Ducati package’s homologation was set to expire, and you were unsure of whether it would be renewed, and that was one of the reasons that you had started to experiment with MoTeC. Can you reflect on your experiences so far there?
Ben – “Yeah, it’s been a learning curve and I’m certainly enjoying it. It’s been a way bigger project than I expected and I can see why there’s only one bike on it in the field and I can see why so few have gone and done it. It’s certainly a way bigger project than you’d expect and that’s probably also why M.A. haven’t pushed it too hard…
“I don’t know what their (M.A.) responsibility is as a series to provide what they have to provide to get the bikes going, but I guess I can say that what we got as a package in the MoTeC, wouldn’t have been competitive enough to go racing on as it was. And that’s not really anyone’s fault. It’s just a situation because not many people are using it. It’s an Aussie product and we’re Aussies and we can get some pretty good people around it. So I’m pretty happy and I’m really fortunate. I’ve got some really, really good guys around me at the moment and yeah, we’re marching on with it.”
Trev –Â My next question was going to lead into the primary pros and cons between MoTeC and the Magneti Marelli system that you and other Ducati competitors have used successfully in recent seasons. But I guess you’ve half answered that by by saying that how much work there is to do to to get up and running to a competitive level with Motec. Is that right?
Ben – “Honestly, the pros and cons…. you speak to the guys in Europe and that they prefer Marelli. And then you speak to the Aussies and Aussies prefer MoTeC. Well, there’s two bikes that are using it, the two Yamaha’s (In 2024 Max Stauffer and in latter part of the season Arthur Sissis), and well both of them have been on the podium this year. So you know, it’s definitely got its pros. It’s definitely good.
“The cons with Marelli are that, we just aren’t in Italy and we just can’t get the support that we need when we need it. And the other thing is, is they’re not making that ECU anymore and they become a little bit unreliable. And when something breaks, it’s real hard to get them fixed. And obviously, with I presume a new V4 coming, I guess it’ll come at the end of this year for the next season, then, you know, the Marelli won’t be homologated again.  I don’t know that, but you simply can’t get that ECU any more. So what are they gonna homologate? You know, it’s a no-brainer what’s gonna happen. So that’s that’s another thing that’s gone through my mind as to why I am making all the effort now… I’m spending twice the money on electronics for the two different set-ups. I’ve got two sets of race bikes, which is crazy. It’s just crazy money and stress to achieve that… Well, that’s why it’s because I want to build something that I can effectively move on to with my next race bikes and do a good job on.
“Just going back a step, the other thing that I find a problem with Marelli, and it’s with with both the Ducati’s on Marelli, is that it’s not consistent, it’s just not the same all the time and we struggle with it and obviously you know results wise… Josh (Waters – McMartin Racing), did better than us last year, obviously, he won the championship, but man they’re as inconsistent as we are, in my opinion… There are the tracks that they’re good at, and then the tracks that they’re not good at, and it’s the same every year, the same circuits, the same or different riders, it is the same result… We’re the same, like we have different riders and we’ll go to Philip Island or whatever and we’re not as competitive, although Troy wasn’t bad there recently, but then we go to the tighter stuff and we go good at those those events…Â
“It’s a funny thing…. Like you make a chassis change and you have to change, I feel, like you have to change the electronics to match it all the time, and if you don’t really have an understanding of what you want to change…Â Outside of the the two races you’ve got seven sessions, four practices, two short Q’s and a warm-up… Jeez it’s real easy to find yourself going out the back door trying to chase electronics just because you want to do something with the chassis…Â
“Whereas it seems like in some areas the MoTeC is not as advanced, but at least you know what you’re going to get, and the riders like that, riders don’t want stuff that changes all the time, they get confused and that just doesn’t work for them… that’s the cons, that’s the kind of thing I am trying to get away from. Inconsistency is my main problem. However with the Marelli we do have sector based tuning which is useful, we can set up ten sectors for power delivery, and ten for engine braking, but we can only do it distance based as M.A. removed the functionality for it to be done automatically, so that does constrain its true ability to a point, but we do still have sector based traction and engine braking with it. The MoTeC system does have sector based tuning as it comes off the shelf, but M.A. chose to remove that functionality in the ASBK approved firmware, so we do lose that functionality when using MoTeC.”
Trev – You said one of the riders prefers one (MoTeC) and one of the riders prefers the other (Marelli). Are you just going to put both of them on MoTeC and make that commitment now..?
Ben – “No, it’s not 100 per cent, it is still up in the air. Like, if we get to a point where they both want to ride the Marelli bike, just to be safe, as in then they know we’re against what we had before and so on so forth, and against what the other guys are on, then I’ll be scratching myhead trying to achieve two bikes for them. But the long story short is that Broc is the king of the castle and Broc gets what Broc needs, because Broc is racing the whole championship. If that’s what Broc wants then that’s what he’ll get, and that’s how that is, the fact that Broc crashed and it’s set on fire oh that sucks, but that’s that’s not really Broc’s problem. Broc’s problem is he needs to turn up for the race and try and win it.”
Trev – And does Broc favour the the Marelli or Motec, what’s he going to start on?
Ben – “I reckon he’s a bit keen on the on the MoTeC.”
Trev – And how has pre-season testing been going…?
Ben – “Honestly pre-season so far this year Harry Voight’s (McMartin Ducati) been really fast really, really fast. And it is what it is, but yeah we were nowhere near that. But we had Senna Agius just ride the bike last week at Phillip Island and he went faster than anyone else has gone pre-season this year, on the Motec bike. Just on that, far out that kid is unreal, Jesus he’s good, just the way he is and the way he processes stuff and riding the bike, you can see he’s spent a lot of time with a lot of good guys, and he’s super impressive far out. I haven’t seen really many people like that like that kid, he was unreal.. But in the end anyway look he was really fast and yeah no one else has been as fast as that. There was that bank of sort of five days where everyone rode there the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then we rode Monday and Tuesday, at the two ride days, and yeah I don’t think anyone went as quick as him so...”
Trev-Â What are you talking… Zeros or something…?
“No one else that I’ve seen has been in the 31s, except Harry (Voight), Harry was doing 31s no worries, and he did a 30 on a soft tyre I think, yep he’s on a soft tyre and on the race tyre he was doing 31 s, could be mid could be high I don’t know, and Senna was around the same pace. But I didn’t see anyone else do a 31 over the two days, and when I had watched the timing from the race weekend nodoby seemed at that pace. I think their first practice, before it warmed up, a few were going pretty quick, but not near the pace of Harry and Senna. So hopefully I’m pretty sure I’ll send the bike back down again soon, and I’ll have another world level guy on it and getting some more laps and more data, flogging that thing into the ground, Charlie will be looking after it. Just another two days with a good rider, with his feedback, I think it is worth doing. My boys can’t ride that close to the round, just more data, more laps on the right tyre…
“Man I am desparate to get back to winning… That said, we did win at least on race in each of the three final rounds of the year. Troy (Herfoss) at The Bend, Broc (Pearson) at One Raceway and also at Phillip Island. So I guess it’s hard to say we’re not consistent, when we have been winning, but it’s two different riders and so on so forth.. It is just I can remember times going to the circuit knowing that if it all went to shit we would most likely still be on the box, and I am not in that boat right now. Like, that was a great time as back in the day with Jonesy and stuff, you kind of take it for granted even when things sound shit, it’s still on the box here.”
Trev – “You are talking about the days of the big twin now…
Ben – “Yeah, it was good man, it was really good, but it was a different era, like, there’s so much, it’s just changed, it’s not like that at the moment. But I can’t say anyone’s in that boat really of being guaranteed results even if things go pear shaped right now. I don’t know.. I guess I’m reflecting a bit, like, I’m saying we weren’t consistent, but we’re on the podium as a team pretty much every single round last year…So probably not that inconsistent. I just think we’re not, I just want to win, basically, I just want to fucking win.”
Trev – I also understand you built a V2 Panigale ready to go in Supersport spec’, so you must have also dabbled with Mectronik hardware and software. From the recently released Homologated Motorcycle Model List put out by Motorcycling Australia, it seems as though we are continuing with the previous Supersport competition. I know some riders wanted to campaign a Ducati in Supersport this year, and another had built some Triumphs ready to race under the Next Generation rules being used worldwide, but not here. What’s your thoughts on the subject?
Ben – “I kind of thought it was a given… Like they’ve been racing in New Zealand and like everywhere in the world now, they just race them everywhere and they’ve got a sort of formula that’s working, and why we didn’t adopt that I just don’t understand. I really don’t understand that. I don’t think it was from M.A. to be honest with you..but whatever mate, like, I ain’t the brains trust there, but I’ve now got a really expensive motorbike that I’ve never ridden…”
Trev – Some changes in the rules have been promulgated for 2025, including a new single-bike rule. What are your thoughts on this change?
Ben – “It’s not really a single bike rule… You can still have one in the truck ready to go and if you’re entering your one well then If you can’t fix the other one… What constitutes you can’t fix the other one? I haven’t got enough blokes to fix it? I haven’t got enough spare parts? Like I don’t know how that’s going to go. But it’s not like single bike, single bike, if you know what I mean, it’s not what I expected out of a single bike rule if you can just park one up in the truck, as I guess that is what everyone will do, but I won’t be, because I won’t have two of the same bikes… I guess we will work it out when we get there…At least they are having a go at it.”
Trev – I think there’ll be a transition period for sure, and maybe a few teething problems, but anyway, we’ll see how that shakes out. On to another subject… In recent seasons there has been a lot of downtime for the Superbike class on Saturday. A single morning practice session then a quick-fire Q1/Q2 in the afternoon. The schedule is packed with support classes, but there are very few laps turned by the main attraction on Saturday. Would you be in favour of a Superbike race on Saturday?  Obviously, there are pros and cons, risks and potential rewards on offer. Costs also have to be considered, but when you have already transported bikes, riders, team personnel and encountered all the logistical costs for a race weekend, are two short races enough to do that justice?
Ben – “It doesn’t feel like there’s not much going on in the box at any point… Far out…It’s busy. You’re just full gas all the time I’m not, I’m definitely not sitting there on a Saturday twiddling my thumbs. I can tell you that. So I don’t sit there wishing the bike was running more. I don’t feel I haven’t ever thought of that on a Saturday. What I will say is that I really like the two-day events. Yeah I do like them. We can squeeze it in, and it sucks if it’s going bad for you, but I really didn’t mind it. That would sort that out… Maybe maybe that’s my answer, to say I prefer a two-day event, that would keep it busy on Saturday, and yeah you get a fair bit busier, but you get it done mate, it’s all good…“
Trev – Our Superbike race lengths are about the shortest seen anywhere in the world, much shorter than even the Red Bull Rookies or JuniorGP kids bouts. Even the 14-year-olds in the Asia Talent Cup contest race distances much longer than our Superbike category, let alone the shorter races in our Supersport category and even shorter again Supersport 300 bouts. Do we have it right? Are our tracks that abrasive and our tyres not up to longer race distances? Or do we need to get better at setting up the motorcycles to look after their tyres, and our racers learn better tyre management strategies throughout the races? Craig (McMartin) suggested that we would need to allow larger fuel tanks if we were to run longer distances at some tracks. Would you be in favour of something like this?
Ben – “We could probably do one more lap…. Um, but yeah, if we’re going too much further than that we need bigger tanks.”
Trev – Would you be in favour of that?
Ben – “Yep, bloody oath, absolutely, a long race is a good race...”
Trev – Are you happy with the race calendar this year?
Answer – “I’m real happy with, because I am in Queensland.. I am home from March.. All the way to September.. I have got a family and a business, more so about family, best year ever. The only thing to make it better is if we went over to Perth and did a few laps, I’d be cheering, but honestly, for me, it’s fantastic.. If you’re in Sydney you’d also probably be happy enough, but if you live outside of that, then it probably wouldn’t be that good for you.“
Trev – Well us Perth boys do like going back home for a visit don’t we, and don’t need much of an excuse to do so…
Ben – “I’m tempted to go back for the Motorcycle Racing Club of WA 70th birthday event, Denise (Stronach from MCRCWA) invited me the other night… I would have been in for sure if I hadn’t busted my shoulder… I’d race that three hour event they are putting on for sure, 100 per cent I would. I wouldn’t mind having a ride somewhere to see if I can get my shoulder to come good, if it does I will race it. I love going home, it’s good. I’ve sold one of my V2s to a guy over there and I could go there and race it. I’d just love to have a go around there and just see everyone again, but my shoulder…”
Trev – We have already gone on a bit longer than planned, but anything else you would like to cover…?
Ben – “I don’t have too much more to say but, on the positive. I think M.A. are doing a decent job with the young people, there’s some young guys coming through and that’s great. That’s really good. But I am a little bit worried about the sport. Everyone’s definitely struggling. Like we’ve lost some really big sponsors this year. The sport just can’t sustain the big bucks. Like I can’t ask the big bucks because i’m just not worth it, the sport is just not big enough, not strong enough.”
Trev – None of us have a magic bullet for that problem. We can’t walk up to M.A. poke a finger in the chest and say ‘you should be doing this’ and everything will be hunky dory, it’s not quite that simple… But it is always worth having conversations like this…
Ben – “No, I’m not. I definitely don’t have the shits on, it is not that. But I can say that this year is going to be a real hard one for me… In short, yeah, it’s just, I just can’t give, I can’t compete in the corporate world against the Porsches and the Supercars, basically. That’s the long story short. And our sport as a sport is awesome. But on the corporate point of view, we can’t compete against those guys and I don’t really know what the answer is, but fuck, there’s gotta be one somewhere.”
Trev – Thanks for the chat Ben. Thanks for your insights. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks, if not before…
Ben – “See you, man. Take it easy. Cheers. Thanks, man. Ciao.”
2025 Australian Superbike Championship Calendar
- Round 1: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, VIC Feb 21-23​
- Round 2: Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW Mar 28-29​
- Round 3: Queensland Raceway, QLD May 2-4​
- Round 4: Morgan Park Raceway, QLD Jun 13-15​
- Round 5: Queensland Raceway, QLD Aug 8-10​ (Superbike Only)
- Round 6: Phillip Island GP Circuit, VIC Sept 6-7​
- Round 7: One Raceway, NSW Oct 3-5​
- Round 8: The Bend, SA Nov 7-9
