Keen to get out on track for the final day of the 2018 World Superbike Championship pre-season, the weather was kinder to riders Down Under on Tuesday and they took advantage of two full sessions on track.

With less than three days to go until the first official WorldSBK session of the season begins, it was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who secured the first honours in Australia.

Blue skies welcomed the riders out on track this morning and Rea ended on top, despite a crash through turn 10. Finishing ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) by 0.206s, Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was in third but nearly half a second behind the Kawasaki rider.

Beginning to improve the rear feeling they have been consistently searching for, Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) was fourth and close to Melandri, whilst Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) bounced back from a crash early this morning to take a top five finish.

The afternoon’s final session continued to have the sunny weather and some stunning action, with times tumbling compared to the morning.

After losing some time in this morning’s session once they changed the front callipers on the Panigale R machines, Melandri and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) once again had a mixed day over all. With the Italian completing a stronger test, he was surprised and happy with his pace so far. Ending his day in third overall, he was half a second ahead of team-mate Davies in 11^th.

Laverty ended the day in a strong position of fourth, despite a crash towards the end of the day at turn four. After working with both his RSV4 RF machines set-up almost identically. Again focusing on rear grip, his team are now looking at the pace throughout the full race distance, hoping to be able to challenge at the front of the pack until the end.

On the other side of the garage, Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) suffered from problems with his number one machine. Despite this the Italian improved on his opening day time, and with a final position of, tenth he was happy with the overall test.

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team continued to work on the pace for the race, changing very little to Monday’s set-up and are hoping to be as fully prepared for the weekend as possible. Improving on their times from the opening day, they are able finish in the top seven. Michael van der Mark was sixth and Alex Lowes in seventh.  

Crashing at the start of the day, Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) was able to get back out on track in the afternoon and put in some long runs, as he lost track time following his crash through turn four.

Having to wait to use his bike to it’s full potential in the afternoon, he was happy with the set-up and potential, which showed on the timing screens with a top five finish and lap time of 1.31.076.

Continuing to impress the field with his new team, Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) ended his day in the top eight and is just under a second behind the Kawasaki Racing Team riders, he is still working with the electronics on the CBR1000RR SP2. American team-mate Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) is continuing to work through his pace and feeling on the Honda.

Returning Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) had a solid overall test session, as he continues to work to understand the BMW and adjust to Pirelli tyres once again. His time of 1.31.542, put him in ninth.

Whilst Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was hindered by his 190kph crash on Monday, as his new team had to reconstruct the bike. Putting in a lot more runs this afternoon, he ended in 13^thposition overall.

After some early drizzle over Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, WorldSBK kicked 2018 into gear in the damp, with the sun taking some time to begin peeking through.

Reigning champion Jonathan Rea had a hold on the timesheets until quite late in the session, but Marco Melandri hit back in those final stages to put his Aruba.it Racing – Ducati machine in P1 and pip the Northern Irishman. Behind Rea in second, Eugene Laverty completed the top three, also making a late dash to the top.

The session came to an end early with a Red Flag due to track conditions – but with only 34 seconds left on the clock and the problem appearing to be geese around the circuit.

Fourth was a solid opening effort from Barni Racing Team’s Xavi Fores, ahead of the first Pata Yamaha in the form of Alex Lowes. PJ Jacobsen made a late lunge for P6 for new squad on the grid TripleM Honda World Superbike Team, ahead of fellow Honda rider Leon Camier, who took seventh.

Chaz Davies, Michael van der Mark and debutant Yonny Hernandez completed the top ten, with Friday action continuing soon in FP2 and FP3 – and entry to Tissot-Superpole 2 yet to be decided.

source: worldsbk.com

Windy conditions welcomed riders to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit as the final pre-season test of 2018 was underway, but there were no surprises from the timing screens as Marco Melandri ended the day on top, followed by the Kawasaki Racing Team duo of Sykes and Rea with the top six split by a second.

Monday morning’s session saw riders start to bed in their new set-up ahead of the season opener, and the track temperatures clearly played a part. Marco Melandri ended the session on top with a lap time of 1.30.726, ahead of Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea.

It was an eventful morning for what is set to be a stunning season, with wild card’s impressing and riders crashing. As teams began to get their bikes ready for the race, there were no main parts to test but they had two hours to prepare for the weekend ahead.

Reigning world champion Rea suffered his first crash of the year, as he went down at turn 11 but was up and ok, whilst Torres fell at turn two and was also up and ok. Despite the strong wind – especially through turn one, riders were already beginning to lap at times close to the fastest time set last year.

WorldSBK veteran Melandri had a very strong opening day Down Under, and finished the day on top overall as his team begin to work on the main race set-up. Emphasising the importance of keeping a cool head, they were working with the set-up from the previous testing. Mainly focusing on electronics, it was a different day for Chaz Davies as he finished in 10^th position with a time of 1.32.054 and continues to work on his race set-up.

Despite both their riders crashing through turn 11, the Kawasaki Racing Team duo were able to finish in second and third – Sykes was 0.341s off the top whilst Rea was 0.533s behind in third position. Both riders will be continuing with the new set up of their new bikes with the 2018 regulations.

With two new riders for 2018, the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team were getting ready for the opening weekend with Leon Camier and Jake Gagne. British rider Camier continued to impress in the pre-season testing as he ended in a stunning fourth position, and has been working mainly on his position on the CBR1000RR SP2. Whilst on the other side of the garage, American Gagne was generally working on race pace ahead of the weekend, and finished in 17^th.

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team we’re utilising the extra track time they were offered, in order to prepare the YZF-R1’s for a round they are usually strong around. Gaining a basic feel of how the bikes feel with the track relating to the new rules, they were hoping to focus on the engine spec as well as enhancing their performance with some new parts on Tuesday. Dutch rider Michael van der Mark finished in sixth position whilst Alex Lowes was eighth following some strong laps at the end of the day.

Continuing to search for the all important rear end feeling with the RSV4 RF, Eugene Laverty secured a top seven finish and 1.147s behind the front runners with some strong steps made throughout the winter test.

Influenced by the cooler weather conditions, Xavi Fores was making the most of using both bikes in order to compare set-up on their machines. Continuing to adapt to the 2018 regulations, they are hoping to develop on their exit of the corners. With a full day of testing under his belt, he ended the day in sixth.

Loris Baz had his first time out on track with the SS 1000RR bike, and was focusing on understanding the bike around the circuit. Using the same bike geometry as he did in the last test at Portimao, he used two bikes to try to adjust the settings. Aiming to put in as many laps as possible he finished in 11^th position, with a time of 1.32.157.

source: worldsbk.com