At midday beyond the seas, the WSBK took charge of boosting the morale of the Yamaha squad put to the test in MotoGP, by delivering a time sheet to Phillip Island mentioning the presence of four R1s in the top 7. This is indeed the verdict of the first of the two test days that the World Superbike took place on the Australian track which will open, from this weekend, the season of the category reserved for motorcycles from the series . At the top, we find Andrea Locatelli, crew member of a Toprak Razgatlioglu who fell. The stage location Remy gardner, and also a rookie, is already knocking on the doors of the top 5. Enough to excite the local public…
Andrea Locatelli begins his stay well in Australia which will take place on a Phillip Island track which will deliver the first ranking of the year in WSBK at the end of this weekend. It is in fact there that a World Superbike season will be launched which promises to be close, because the teammates of the three usual protagonists who are Alvaro Bautista, Jonathan Rhea et Toprak Razgatlioglu finally seem to want to give voice. Meanwhile, three rookies, namely Gardner, Aegerter et Petrucci, who are all but true beginners given their track record, will be keen to shorten their adaptation period to discover the joys of the podium.
It is in this context that the official Yamaha rider Andrea Locatelli took the lead in this first day of testing with more than a tenth ahead of Alvaro Bautista. The reigning World Champion held the best time with his Ducati until the last minutes marked by the attack of the Italian, teammate of a Toprak Razgatlioglu only fifth due to a fall at turn 10, which was not serious for the driver. The Turk worked on rear grip, something he struggled with at Phillip Island in 2022.
Jonathan Rhea keeps Kawasaki in the top three to the detriment of the other Ducati factory led by Michael Ruben Rinaldi. The local hero Remy Gardner on his satellite Yamaha started his week at home in spectacular fashion by taking sixth place ahead of his teammate Dominique Aegerter. The two-time reigning WSS World Champion thus brought the number of Yamahas in the Top 7 to four. The Swiss is notably ahead Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven), Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), first BMW driver, while alex lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) completed the Top 10.
It's a grimace for BMW official Scott Redding at Phillip Island
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) is 11th, ahead of the best Honda rider, Iker Lecuona (Team HRC), 12th. His teammate, Xavi Verge, suffered a fall at turn 4. Further away, Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was only 20th after the first session, out of 22 drivers and more than 2s behind the leader. This will not help the Englishman's mood towards his German machine.
There were two red flags, both due to geese on the track... To be able to put the times in perspective, we must remember that Tom Sykes (BMW) has held the pole record since 2020 with 1'29.230 min. The fastest race lap in 2019 was achieved by Jonathan Rhea (Kawasaki) in 1'30.075 min. Pirelli brought to Phillip Island neither the qualifier SCQ nor the softer rear tire SCX in the selection, but only the hard SC0 and SC1 due to the aggressiveness of the Australian asphalt.
Finally, in Supersport, it is Open up who confirmed the form displayed by Ducati since the start of the season. It is ahead of the Yamaha by Manzi and the other Ducati from the local Bayliss oils. Load it on the Panilgale V2 and Oncu with the Kawasaki close the top 5. Only Frenchman in the running, Valentine Debise is eleventh on the GMT6 R94.
WSBK Superbike Test Phillip Island J1: times
Credit classification wsbk.com
