A 47-year-old male rider has died in a collision with a car at the notoriously dangerous Minden turnoff on the Warrego Highway, Queensland, last night (27 February 2020).
Queensland Police say the rider was heading west on the highway about 7.20pm and turned into Lowood-Minden Road.
His bike collided with a car travelling east heading from Hattonvale.
Police say the rider was “pronounced deceased at the scene”.
The driver of the car, a 36-year-old Minden woman and a 12-year-old boy were transported to hospital with minor injuries.
An 18-year-old woman who was a passenger in the car was airlifted to Princess Alexandra Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Our sincere condolences to the rider’s family and friends and our best wishes to the injured for a swift and full recovery.
Anyone who may have witnessed the accident or has dashcam footage is urged to contact police.
If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day.
You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, by calling 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersqld.com.au 24hrs per day.
Quote this reference number: QP2000413301
Notorious Warrego intersection
The Warrego Highway intersection is notorious for accidents.
We’ve witnessed two crashes at the site over the years.
In recent year’s it’s been upgraded, but it probably now needs a flyover to cope with increased traffic from nearby urban developments.
Tragic week
It’s been a tragic week since Sunday with six deaths and an injury in the three eastern states.
On Tuesday, a 53-year-old male rider died in a tragic twist of fate involving two other vehicles on the New England Highway, south of Toowoomba, Queensland. Police say a utility was waiting to turn right into Opportunity Drive at Clifton when it was struck from behind by a station wagon. The utility was propelled into the path of the rider heading north on the highway. He died at the scene.
2020 WorldSBK Round One – Phillip Island WorldSSP Free Practice Two
With Chris Plumridge
MV Agusta have gone fastest in Free Practice 2 for the FIM Supersport World Championship Yamaha Finance Round at Phillip Island, with Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher beating Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Yamaha) and Krummenacher’s team-mate Raffaele De Rosa to claim the top of the leaderboard.
After a red-flag interrupted session took us late into the afternoon, Krummenacher claimed fastest time after the chequered flag, stealing P1 from Locatelli at the death. The session took place in vastly different conditions to this morning’s rain interrupted FP1, with sunshine and warm temperatures allowing riders to unleash.
As the session opened there was a veritable stampede to get out on track, with everyone except Krummenacher (MV Agusta) and Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) waiting at the end of the pitlane for the green light- the two stragglers were out on track not long after. Clearly everyone was keen to make up for lost time spent waiting for the rain to clear this morning, though finding the space to get a clear lap in might be a challenge. Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing Yamaha) was off the track at Honda Corner on his second lap, but resumed – no harm done.
As the riders posted their first round of lap times, Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Yamaha) emerged at the front of the field (1:34.220), two-tenths up on Krummenacher in second. Half the field was looking like a Supersport 300 field as this stage- a pack of bikes all drafting each other down the straight while the others preferred to try and find some clean air.
Locatelli (1:33.901) advanced the mark further, while Krummenacher improved his time to a 1:33.914 in his debut on the MV Agusta. Krummenacher had said at the 2020 World Superbike launch that adapting to the MV Agusta would be a challenge, so to be on the pace at this early stage was impressive. Further through the field, Oli Bayliss was clearly giving it a red-hot crack, evidenced by his 1:35.667, good enough for 12th and a wild moment over Lukey Heights.
Having completed their first stint most of the field disappeared back into the pits as quickly as they appeared, leaving only six riders still circulating. Isaac Vinales (Kalio Racing) had only done two-laps until this point but he was back out of the pits with half an hour still to go.
A few more practice pitstops were happening at this point too, teams preparing for the flag-to-flag conditions for tomorrow where riders would complete a mandatory one-minute-18-second pit-stop to change tyres. No big position changes were taking place at this point, save for Vinales who was now in eleventh spot and making up for his absence earlier (1:32.222).
Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) had just moved from ninth into fourth spot with a 1:34.002, when a pair of Cape Barren geese decided that they’d like to get a closer look at the bikes- red flag. A not uncommon occurrence at the Island! While the riders took the opportunity to chat to their engineers, quick work from one of our hard working volunteer Boundary Riders soon had the geese looking for a safer vantage point and we were ready to go again. So ready, in fact, that again the riders gathered at the end of pit-lane hoping to squeeze in every second of track time they could.
As the field got up to speed again, Krummenacher was straight down to business, a 1:33.701 taking him to the top. A problem with Cluzel’s bike through Turn 12 saw the engine go up in smoke- the resultant oil laid down into Turn 1 and 2 saw oil on the circuit and Odendall and Soomer hit the deck when they encountered it. Red flag once again, and no quick re-start this time. This would be a lengthy clean-up job.
After a huge clean-up job by the officials, we finally got back underway at 1710 in the afternoon (the session had an original scheduled finish time of 1645), to finish the last 22-and-a-half-minutes of the practice session. Soomer’s team had time in the break to put the bike back together and get him back out there, however Odendaal had not yet re-emerged. Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta), having not set a time in the morning session, didn’t appear to be hampered by his lack of morning running with a 1:33.995 to lock him into fourth behind Locatelli, Krummenacher and Odendaal, 2017 WorldSSP champion Lucas Mahias was now fifth (1:33.996).
Locatelli had lowered his best to a 1:33.337, and Randy Krummenacher was now on a charge after Locatelli’s time. His 1:33.496 not good enough to catch the Italian but the best effort by anyone else so far. Our red flag culprit Cluzel was also back out on track and sitting seventh fastest.
With five minutes to go there were a few more riders looking to improve their times, De Rosa running wide at Turn 4 onto the escape road. A number of riders led by Can Alexander Oncu (Turkish Racing Kawasaki) were sitting up at Turn 11, looking for a clear lap, but with Locatelli further lowering the mark to 1:33.264 that seemed like it might be a moot point. But Krummenacher was on a charge as the chequered flag came out, three tenths up at the final split and closing on a heap of traffic looking to time their run for the line. It didn’t matter, the Swiss rider on top of the leaderboard with a 1:32.894 to top the session.
Australian Wild Card Oli Bayliss ended the session in 18th, posting a 1:35.191.
The Yamaha Finance Round of the 2020 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship continues until Sunday (1 March) from Phillip Island.
Reigning champion Krummenacher tops the timesheets in WorldSSP.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Scott Redding once again set the pace in FP2 at Phillip Island’s Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), this time in dry conditions.
The WorldSBK rookie was a step above the competition after setting a 1m30.436s lap, which was 0.418s clear of Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (Pata Yamaha) 1m30.854s.
Micheal van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) was third fastest with a best time of 1m30.905s, while Leon Haslam (Team HRC) and Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing) were fourth and fifth respectively.
Sixth through to 10th was taken out by four-time defending champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK), Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC), Michael Rinaldi (Team GoEleven), and Xavier Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).
Image: Russell Colvin.
In the WorldSSP category, reigning champion Randy Krummenacher (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) topped the timesheets with a 1m32.894s, edging out rookie Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Evan Bros. Yamaha), who whose best time was 1m33.213s.
A 1m33.510s time granted Raffeale de Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) third, while the top five was rounded out by Can Oncu (Turkish Racing Team) and Isaac Vinales (Kallio Racing), Australian wildcard Oli Bayliss (Cube Racing) was 18th fastest.
2020 WorldSBK Round One – Phillip Island Free Practice Two
With Chris Plumridge
Scott Redding (Aruba.IT Ducati) has showed just how quickly he can adapt to World Superbike, topping the time-sheets in Free Practice 2 for the Yamaha Finance Round of the 2020 FIM Superbike World Championship.
In conditions that couldn’t have been more different from what the riders experienced this morning, the World Superbike stars enjoying a near-perfect Phillip Island in blazing sunshine this afternoon.
Redding put in a late 1:30.436 to show his rivals that he intends to run at the front this season.
FP2 Report
As the session opened it was a Kawasaki setting the early pace but not the green bike you expect. Alex Lowes was the first rider to find the pace in the first two laps with a 1:31.336. But before too long the field was dipping into the 1:30s, Haslam (HRC) the first to bite with a 1:30.936. Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA Yamaha) was making amends for missing most of the morning’s session, his 1:31.145 put him into second spot. Tom Sykes (BMW) was another tenth further back at that stage.
With just under 40 minutes to go the session was red flagged to remove a piece of debris from between Turns 1 and 2. Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s bike appeared to have a problem at that time too as he was straight back in the pits.
Xavi Fores was looking good in fourth fastest with 1:31.265 after returning from British Superbike for 2020.
Jonathan Rea, down in 8th, moved himself up the standings to third with a 1:31.185 after some time in the pits while rival Alvaro Bautista (HRC), having done ten laps, was still outside the top 10.
Bautista’s best of a 1:31.840 putting him in 12th. Chaz Davies (Aruba.IT Ducati) fared even worse out of his ten laps, 1:31.967 only good enough for 14th.
With just under half-an-hour to go in the session, Haslam was fastest, Razgatlioglu two-tenths back, Rea two-and-a-half tenths behind and Tom Sykes (BMW) only an extra two-hundredths off that. Loris Baz, hero of testing for Ten Kate Yamaha had only done six-laps and was ninth (1:31.589). Not many riders appeared to be opting for super long runs at this stage, with everyone in and out of the pits looking to perfect their set-ups. Slow motion television shots showed the rear of Bautista’s bike squirming through Turn 3 – he was pushing hard.
Rinaldi was back out and circulating, his problems now sorted and he was sitting tenth quickest (1:31.620).
In terms of speed trap numbers down the front straight, the two Hondas were fastest as they had been during testing earlier in the week: Bautista clocking 319 km/h down the straight.
With 13-minutes to go Alex Lowes had his hand up as he slowed through Honda corner, looking down near the rear swingarm. Clearly all was not well with the Kawasaki.
The times at the top had still not changed – Haslam was quickest, from Razgatlioglu, Rea, Sykes and Fores.
Baz injected some spice into the session with just over 10-minutes to go, clocking a 1:30.973 and planting himself in second position. Fellow Yamaha rider Michael van der Mark had a brief excursion through the gravel but returned to the track, he was still in eighth.
Razgatlioglu had a big moment through the Hayshed and lost time, but his next lap was quick – 1:30.854.
Scott Redding though had him beat – a 1:30.436.
Now the pace was really hotting up, van der Mark up to third and flying, only to fall back through the final sector and finish the lap half-a-second off of Redding.
When the chequered flag came out Redding’s marker was still good enough for P1, followed by Razgatlioglu, van der Mark, Haslam, Baz, and Rea.
Bautista was eighth (1:31.201), and Davies struggled in 13th (1:31.478).
The Yamaha Finance Round of the 2020 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship continues until Sunday (1 March) from Phillip Island.
Oli Bayliss will start from pole position for Round 1 of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship in the Motorsports TV Supersport class, but all the paddock is talking about a potential injury to 2019 champion Tom Toparis.
Tom Toparis – Image Robert Murdoch
Toparis crashed his Benro Racing Yamaha at Turn 10 only a few minutes into the session. He was immediately attended to by medics due to a possible lower leg injury. Toparis is scheduled to leave for Europe in less than a week to contest the European rounds of the World Supersport Championship. Early indications are that nothing is broken but Toparis will be subject to medical clearance tomorrow morning before he is confirmed to race.
Tom Toparis – Image Robert Murdoch
Supersport Qualifying
With the sun coming out at Phillip Island the Supersport riders had a very different experience to the one they had in the morning, and it would be up to who could adapt the best as to who would be on the front row tomorrow.
Tom Toparis unsurprisingly set the early pace on his Benro Yamaha (1:36.962), but Oli Bayliss (Cube Racing Yamaha) was right behind on 1:37.698.
Ty Lynch crashed two-and-a-half minutes in at Turn 8, but then with ten-minutes to go Toparis went down at Turn 10.
This was huge news for the rest of the Supersport field who had been in Toparis’ thrall for the whole of 2019 – save for one race at The Bend. Toparis was on a flyer, too: three-tenths up at the first split.
While the medical team attended to Toparis, Bayliss made his move, knocking the mark down to 1:36.893 to claim provisional pole.
Jack Passfield continued his recent run of form for third (1:37.558), with Nic Liminton fourth (1:37.694). At the chequered flag Passfield lowered his time to a 1:37.242 and Liminton a 37.282, but otherwise that’s how they stayed.
Max Stauffer (GTR Motostars Yamaha) impressed during his first-ever Supersport qualifying in fifth (1:37.616), with Jack Hyde sixth.
Tom Edwards (Bikebiz Yamaha) will start from eighth, Broc Pearson (Yamaha) will start from ninth, while Ted Collins (JC Motorsports) will start from 11th on his return to the Supersport class from Superbike.
Record lap earns Maxwell Phillip Island ASBK pole position
Section: Competition
Bayliss secures Australian Supersport pole position on Friday afternoon.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Boost Mobile Ducati rider Wayne Maxwell soared to a new qualifying record at Phillip Island this afternoon to claim the first Mi-Bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) pole position of 2020.
After topping Q1, Maxwell posted a 1m31.942s in the final Kawasaki Superbike qualifying to secure P1 on the grid by over a full second from Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team).
Joining Maxwell and Halliday on the front row when race one takes off tomorrow morning will be Josh Waters (JW Racing Suzuki), with the top five filled by Glenn Allerton (Maxima BMW) and Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing).
Positions six through 10 included defending champion Mike Jones (DesmoSport Ducati), Matt Walters (Kawasaki), Bryan Staring (Kawasaki BCperformance), Daniel Falzon (JD Racing Yamaha) and four-time American champion Josh Hayes (Yamaha).
Image: Russell Colvin.
In the Australian Supersport Championship qualifying session it was Oli Bayliss (Yamaha) who rode to pole position at 1m36.893s in the lone session this afternoon.
Bayliss led defending champion Tom Toparis (Yamaha), who is making a one-off appearance this weekend, and Jack Passfield (Yamaha), who will also start off of the front row. Nic Liminton (Yamaha) was next, with rookie Max Stauffer (Yamaha) impressing for P5.
Harry Khouri (Kawasaki) earned pole position in the Supersport 300 category, edging out Jacob Hatch (Yamaha) and Ben Baker (Yamaha), who will complete the front row this weekend.
Race one of the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup season was won by Lucas Quinn by a narrow 0.007s over Marianos Nikolis and Angus Grenfell. Cameron Dunker and Tom Drane were fourth and fifth, also within half a second of victory.
2020 mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship Round One – Phillip Island Superbike Qualifying
Wayne Maxwell, Mike Jones, Troy Herfoss, and Aiden Wagner were some of the big names that had finished outside the top nine fastest in Timed Practice (Link).
That had really put the pressure on those riders as they had to contest Q1, which normally would not have been much of a problem as riders of that speed would normally be guaranteed to cruise through Q1, but with four of them and only the top three earning a spot in Q2, one would be left to start not only tomorrow’s opening 12-lap encounter from the fifth row of the grid, but all three races this weekend from the fifth row of the grid…
Q1
The session had been declared wet but the track was mainly dry. Most riders were on wets ahead of the session start but then changed to slicks before heading out of pit-lane.
Glenn Scott went down at turn 11 early on in the session – Rob Mott Image
Glenn Scott went down at turn 11 early on in the session.
Glenn Scott went down at turn 11 early on in the session – Rob Mott Image
Halfway through the Q1 session Herfoss (1m34.3) was on top from Maxwell, Jones (1m34.617) and Wagner (1m34.861) but Maxwell then dropped in a 1m33.151 to go quickest. The Boost Mobile Ducati rider then improved to a 1m32.724 and Herfoss went 1m33.734.
Wayne Maxwell – Rob Mott Image
Aiden Wagner was fourth with a few minutes remaining, thus would miss out on Q2. He left pit-lane too late in order to make a final lap count and secure his progression. He had started the session on a wet set-up and never made enough progress during the allotted time.
Aiden Wagner
“We went out on wets, just to check out the track as it was still declared wet, but did the out lap and it was dry everywhere. We came in and jumped on the dry bike. Had a little bit of a hiccup with the setting of the bike but I’m sure we can re-evaluate the settings and have it ready for tomorrow’s races and be up there to fight. I think we’ll still be strong, I know I can fight hard in the race, it was just a bit of a disaster session for us there but that’s not to say we can’t have a good weekend and get up there on the podium.”
Q2
It was a very quick turn-around straight into the Q2 session and despite the dry track it was still a declared wet session.
Ahead of the Q2 session Herfoss commented that the preceding rain had taken some grip out of the track and that Penrite Honda were tweaking the set-up of the Michelin shod machine ahead of the final hit-out. Maxwell was happy to progress with no changes to his Pirelli equipped Ducati.
Troy Herfoss – Rob Mott Image
Maxwell was the early leader in the Q2 session after dropping in a 1m33.144 on his first flying lap ahead of Glenn Allerton, Mike Jones and Cru Halliday.
Daniel Falzon came in for a new rear hoop five-minutes into the session just as Herfoss put in his first flyer to go fourth on 1m33.470. Josh Waters was up to fifth which pushed Halliday back to sixth.
The top five were covered by less than half-a-second with eight-minutes remaining.
Wayne Maxwell – Rob Mott Image
Wayne Maxwell and Glenn Allerton had returned to the pits for new rubber but the tyre change looked problematic for the NextGen crew and Allerton did not manage to turn another lap in the session. His rear brake caliper had stuck on and thus Allerton did not get to do a time-attack on fresh rubber, his time spent on the same tyre he had used in Timed Practice early on Friday morning.
Maxwell loved that new rear Pirelli, significantly quicker at every split before crossing the stripe with a 1m31.942, a full 1.3-seconds quicker than second placed Allerton with four-minutes left in the session…
Halliday put in a 1m32.998 to go P2 then quickened marginally to 1m32.993. Josh Waters improved his standing to P3 with a 1m33.045 as the session came to a close.
Cru Halilday – Rob Mott Image
Falzon had lost pressure in his rear tyre on his time-attack lap which cost him a chance to improve.
Maxwell’s time a new official ASBK Superbike qualifying lap record. He went quicker at the test, 1m31.7, but official lap records only count from race weekends thus the 1m31.942 is the new benchmark.
Maxwell on pole from Cru Halliday and Josh Waters
Maxwell on pole from Cru Halliday and Josh Waters while Glenn Allerton will head the second row alongside Troy Herfoss and Mike Jones.
“Hats off to the team, the bike was fantastic, we did a lot of work and we’ve still got a lot of work to do. It’s very exciting for us. We’ve got a very standard bike, once we can get some things homologated and approved we can get some updates and improve (the bike), so hopefully that happens over the next few races.”
Wayne Maxwell chats with Jonathan Rea and Fabien Foret after qualifying – Rob Mott Image
WorldSBK opens at Phillip Island with Redding topping FP1
Section: Competition
WorldSSP rookie Locatelli carries session-leading form into Friday.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Series newcomer Scott Redding has taken top spot in the opening practice session for round one of the 2020 FIM Motul Superbike World Championship, Yamaha Finance round at Phillip Island.
On a damp track, the WorldSBK rookie set the best lap of 1m41.658s on his factory Aruba.it Racing Ducati, as the 33rd season of competition in the production championship finally got underway.
With the 13 riders on track taking a cautious approach, Leon Haslam was second fastest in FP1 on the Team HRC Honda ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad) and world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team).
Completing the top 10 this morning were American debutant Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha), Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC Honda), Max Schieb (Kawasaki) and World Supersport graduate Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha).
Six of this weekend’s field didn’t take to the circuit, including Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) as well as Pata Yamaha pair Michael van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Image: Russell Colvin.
The FIM Supersport World Championship started with the first practice session from Phillip Island, starting off damp but drying throughout the session.
It was Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Evan Bros. Yamaha) who was fastest during the session after completing just four laps.
Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) was second quickest, almost 0.7s back from Locatelli, after being the first rider to switch to slick tyres during the session.
Teammate Jules Cluzel finished in third place with Estonian rider Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) in fourth place. South African rider Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing) rounded out the top five, with wildcard Oli Bayliss (Cube Racing Yamaha) 13th.
The Phillip Island weather provided plenty of excitement in the closing minutes of the first Motul FIM Supersport World Championship Free Practice session, with Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Yamaha 1:34.061) ending the session as fastest. Many riders chose not to go out in the early part of the session while the damp track dried, leaving a flurry of activity for the final ten minutes of the session before another bout of rain. Australia’s Wild Card competitor Oli Bayliss acquitted himself well, ending the session 13thfastest.
The World Supersport riders faced a damp track for their first Free Practice session, with the resultant water from morning rain just before World Superbike FP1 not clearing by the time the 600s got underway.
bLU cRU’s Andy Verdoia and Galang Hendra Pratama were the first out of the pit, keen to get some track time ahead of their first round in WSSP having moved up from WSSP300 last year. Hannes Soomer on the Kallio Racing Yamaha was out not long after, making it a trio of Yamahas out testing grip levels as the sun came out and the dry patches slowly started to take over. Soon after, Soomer and Hendra Pratama ducked back into the pitlane, leaving Verdoia with the track all to himself. After banging in seven laps (his best 1:47.124) he was in the pits as well and Phillip Island fell silent.
It wasn’t long before Verdoia’s teammate Hendra Pratama was out again, still on wets despite the sunshine that now bathed the circuit- he’d now have a turn with the drying circuit all to himself.
After ten minutes of what must have been great fun going around on his own, Hendra Pratama had a 1:47.580 to show for it, three tenths off teammate Verdoia. Corentin Perolari and Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) decided that Hendra Pratama looked lonely enough on track to join him, going out on track to test the conditions for a lap before coming back in.
By this stage Perolari was game enough to try slicks, and headed back out. Perolari immediately went six seconds faster than Hendra Pratama’s wet tyre time, knocking out a 1:41.060 and tempting the rest of the field out of the pitlane- but not before Perolari lowered the mark even further to 1:38.062, then a 1:36.604, then a 1:35.797.
Ten minutes to go and it was busier than the Monash Freeway on a Monday morning in pitlane as the riders suddenly scrambled to get some track time. Aussie Wild Card Oli Bayliss (Cube Racing Yamaha) was out flying the flag in front of the local crowd, his first flyer a 1:39.660 and good enough for third behind Perolari and Soomer (1:36.868) at that stage. By then there was only six minutes to go and the track was almost completely dry, letting Cluzel jump to the top with a 1:35.055 ahead of Perolari.
Four minutes to go and Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Yamaha) punched into the 1:34s for the first time (1:34.890), ahead of Cluzel, with Isaac Vinales (Kallio Racing Yamaha) rounding out the top three with 1:35.320. Three minutes to go and the tailwind down the straight had done a complete 180 to become a headwind, and with that the blue skies disappeared and the grey skies returned. Andrea Locatelli claimed the top spot on the Bardahl Yamaha (1:34.061) with all the riders now on track as the clock ran into the final 90 seconds of the session. But it looked like it was too late- riders began putting their hands up as they ran through Turn 1, with the Phillip Island weather gods calling an early end to the session.
At that point many of the teams were appearing with stands in the pitlane, to practice tyre changes for the planned flag-to-flag races, but there were no more laps. Locatelli ended the session fastest (1:34.061) ahead of Perolari, Cluzel, Soomer and Odendaal, with Bayliss in 13th(1:37.011). Raffaele De Rosa, Federico Fuligni (MV Agusta), and Hikari Okubo (Dynavolt Honda) all failed to set a time.
The Yamaha Finance Round of the 2020 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship continues until Sunday (1 March) from Phillip Island.
2020 WorldSBK Round One – Phillip Island Free Practice One
With Chris Plumridge
Ducati’s Scott Redding has had the ideal start to his Motul FIM Superbike World Championship career, with the 2019 British Superbike Champion fastest out of the blocks in the first Free Practice session of the Yamaha Finance Round from Phillip Island.
After overnight rain had provided damp but drying conditions for the morning ASBK sessions at the Island, the heavens opened 15 minutes before the first World Superbike practice session. The result was that both the track and the hardy punters keen for their first dose of WSBK action for the weekend ended up completely soaked. Ten minutes later and the sun was shining, but the track was still very damp and it would be up to the riders and teams to weigh up the risks of extra track time versus binning it before the weekend truly got underway.
Alex Lowes – TBG Image
Honda’s Alvaro Bautista was first to brave the conditions, keen to continue his development of the new Fireblade and get the relationship off to a good start after moving from Aruba.IT Ducati last year. Jonathan Rea was not far behind, out to match his rival in getting some track times while their rivals sat in their leathers and waited for the weather to clear.
Federico Caricasulo (PATA Yamaha) joined the fray not long after with Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Pucetti Racing) and Maximillian Scheib (ORELAC Racing Kawasaki) also out on track. Just under 40 minutes to go and the spray trails got longer and longer as the rain worsened, with the BMW of Eugene Laverty and the MIE Honda of Takumi Takahashi finally giving in and getting out there.
Rea seemed to be the only rider really willing to push his equipment as he slithered around the Phillip Island layout, Rea’s rivals almost two seconds outside his 1:43.323 best.
Jonathan Rea – TBG Image
Takahashi, having only just emerged from had an electronic component dangling by a wire behind the motorcycle. It finally parted company soon after, and Takahashi was stopped by the side of the road, rejoining soon after.
Frenchman Loris Baz (Ten Kate Yamaha) has consistently impressed in testing, the independent rider faster than his more fancied factory opposition. He catapulted himself to second with a 1:45.292 with 23 minutes to go. Rea’s time from earlier still stood, and the conditions were no worse, but no better, than what Rea had experienced early in the session so it was a surprise that many were still hesitant to match the Northern Irishman’s pace in the 1:43s.
With talk of slicks permeating the pitlane Tom Sykes finally showed what the BMW is capable of, lowering the mark to 1:43.290, Rea still second quickest. However with a number of ‘rivers’ of standing water in many places nobody was keen to take the gamble just yet. Baz then brought the mark down futher, 1:42.345 the best so far with Redding, Camier, Davies, Cortese, Rinaldi, Lowes, Razgatlioglu and van der Mark all yet to set a time with twenty minutes left in the session.
Leon Haslam – TBG Image
Scott Redding (Aruba.IT Ducati) was closing the gap to Baz at the front, his 1:42.553 only a tenth short of Baz. Ex-Motoamerica star Garret Gerloff was acquitting himself admirably for his first session in the wet on a World Superbike, sitting in sixth (1:43.998) ahead of Bautista, Scheib, and Leon Haslam (HRC).Redding’s next lap finally took him to the top of the timesheets, 1:41.479 six tenths up on Baz with four minutes to go.
Scott Redding – TBG Image
With most riders having found what they needed many riders opted to sit out the last part of the session, with Chaz Davies (Aruba.IT Ducati) the only rider to emerge of the ones having not yet set a time- he was straight back in the pitlane.
The order at the chequered flag was Redding, Baz, Haslam, Lowes, Sykes and Rea. The World Superbikes will have their second practice session this afternoon (Friday) at 1500.
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