2014 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup winner Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing Team Ducati) entered the first race day of his World Superbike-returning season as the last rider on the grid, due to the penalty he and his team received after using two qualifying tyres in the opening Superpole session the day before.

In spite of this, the Argentine rider did not lose hope and, courtesy of two impressive recovery rides, managed to finish the two encounters at Phillip Island in 12^th and 11^th places, respectively.

“I’m really happy with how the weekend went,” Mercado declared. “Starting from last place on the grid is never easy but we did a great job. It was our first race here and I didn’t know the track, so we had to work step-by-step and try to improve our race pace. The feeling with the bike has improved a lot. We now have a good base setup for the next round. I would like to thank the team for their hard work.”

Round 2 will be a new challenge for everybody, as WorldSBK heads to Thailand for the first time. The event will be hosted at the Chang International Circuit on the weekend of 20-22 March.