GRID TALK | BEN HENRY

…on Broc Pearson’s ASBK success, the Troy Herfoss factor, crucial staff changes and future plans for the team.

It’s a good time for DesmoSport Ducati – Broc Pearson is now a multiple ASBK race winner. Can you put your finger on what the main catalyst was for that success this year?

A big part of it is a change in staff. That’s what I’ve been needing for a long time. As a team manager you usually know what you need but sometimes you have to tread a bit of water. I couldn’t find the people I needed but, fortunately, with Troy (Herfoss) coming over and the people he brought, that has made the difference. Also, Troy’s attitude with helping Broc – he committed to that at the start of the year. Verbally, he said he was keen to help Broc and the team but you never really know how that’s going to pan out until it happens – after all, they’re all racers and they want to win. Troy is the fiercest racer but to his credit he made a massive effort to support Broc. Broc has been on the phone to him most weekends. Troy’s crew chief, Charlie Hallan, has also made a big impact and the way he sees things has made a really big difference.

What were the specifics of Herfoss’ input? Did he set the bike up differently or make big changes?

Yes and no. With the rear of the bike, it’s very, very close to how we had it set up for Bryan (Staring). 

The front is a little bit different, but the big gains have been in the way we manage the electronics. It’s a combination of things, obviously, but our theory behind what we think is going to make the bike go better from an electronic point of view is probably the main change. 

And that would be a lot of Charlie’s influence, I guess?

He’s been a really big part of our success. This year he’s been working with Indian in the US but also briefly the BMW MotoAmerica Superbike when Troy rode that. He’s learning so much and it’s been helping our team. He can come up with structures and processes to interpret data in a way that makes sense, processing a truckload of information and quickly filtering out what’s important. He’s even better with people and managing situations – I’d go so far as to say that’s his biggest strength. He’s very good at dealing with the riders; he has this way of making people feel at ease. 

You’ve won in the wet and dry this year. Is that enough to say you’ve climbed the mountain? Do you feel your choice for developing a younger rider is vindicated?

I would say yes… but I’d also say we still really need to back those results up a few more times. I’m pretty confident it’s a firm step that we’ve taken and I do believe that Broc will keep getting better and we will keep improving as a team. Running younger guys is something I’ve always done. It’s my choice – it’s something I want to do – but sometimes I’m kind of forced down that path because I haven’t always been able to afford whoever the biggest name in the paddock is at the time. Sometimes you have to try and develop a combination and what we’ve achieved is a credit to everyone – it’s something I’m really proud of. I feel like Broc is very underrated in the paddock. We’ve got the best bloke on our bike.

How about next year? Do you have plans in place yet?

It’s a lot easier for me now because we’re in a position of being successful. When you’re finishing outside the top five and you’re trying to do deals with sponsors and they haven’t got much to cheer about, it’s pretty hard.

 Right now it’s easy for me to say for sure, we’ll run Broc next year. We’ve had a few discussions and he doesn’t want to go anywhere else. He’s doing really well in his job outside of racing and I actually think that’s another little piece of the puzzle as to why he’s going so well right now. The financial pressure of life isn’t bothering him so much because he’s doing well at work. 

In short, next year is an easy one – which is a pleasure for me, because it’s not always like that.

Will you run two Superbikes next year?

If Troy Herfoss wants to ride my bike there is always a bike there for him. He’d like to race as many rounds as he can, so it will probably be something similar to this year. There is one round that clashes but we’ll see how it unfolds. Having said that, his main employer is in America. We’re all pretty motivated to keep heading in the same direction but until something is down on paper, nothing is certain.