2019 WorldSBK Round One – Phillip Island Race Three
Alvaro Bautista again sprinted away from the field when the lights went out at 1500 on Sunday afternoon for the third and final World Superbike race of the opening round of the championship staged at Phillip Island over the last weekend in February.
KRT duo Leon Haslam and Jonathan Rea gave chase, but a consistent string of 1m30s from Bautista across the opening laps proved too much for them to contend with.
Behind the Kawasaki Racing Team pair it was a battle for supremacy amongst the Yamaha riders. Melandri and Van Der Mark proving too quick for Lowes in this one as they tussled over fourth position.
Melandri won the battle for Yamaha supremacy, breaking away from Van Der Mark and as the race approached the halfway marker Melandri was starting to attack the KRT double-act. Up front Bautista was leading by eight-seconds, and in a different race…
Rea had followed Haslam for the first 15 laps before finally making his way past his team-mate, Haslam was having none of it though and pushed back through at turn four. That little tussle had allowed Melandri to really start nipping at their heels. Early on the next lap though Haslam ran in way too deep at turn one allowing Rea back through, it was a great recovery though and Haslam was back with him by the exit of Southern Loop. Bautista was halfway to the airport by this time…
The battle for the other spots on the rostrum though was really warming up. With four laps remaining nothing separated Rea, Haslam and Melandri while Michael Van der Mark has also joined that party.
Haslam and Rea responded to the Yamaha challenge though by pulling their finger out and gapping Melandri and Van der Mark.
As Rea and Haslam got the last lap board Bautista was boarding his plane home… In reality he led by almost 20-seconds, despite backing the pace right off in the closing laps, and rolling out of the throttle to cruise to the line and take the chequered flag still with a buffer of 12-seconds over the KRT duo.
2019 WorldSBK Round One – Phillip Island Sunday Superpole Sprint Race
Jonathan Rea got the holeshot ahead of Alex Lowes and Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam. Tom Sykes had started strongly in sixth but ran wide late on the opening lap and lost a number of positions.
Bautista made short work of Lowes and then immediately started to make parrys and thrusts at race leader Jonathan Rea. It took him another lap to make a move stick but once through he dropped the hammer.
This time around though Rea had the confidence to also bang his gavel and the pair started trading places at the front of the field.
Bautista and Rea swapped positions numerous times per lap as the race continued as Leon Haslam tried to close the gap and join the party up front.
Haslam though did not have the pace as the race wore on to stick with that leading duo.
Up front it was Bautista that had the pace, and enough pace to pull away from Rea over the final two laps and go on to make it two-from-two. Will he make it three-from-three in the next full distance 22-lap race later this afternoon…?
Only half-points are awarded for this new shorter middle race that has been added to all rounds of the Superbike World Championship for season 2019.
Despite a concerted time attack from Jonathan Rea towards the end of FP2, it was Alvaro Bautista that remained atop the timesheets when the 50-minute session came to a close just after 1550 this afternoon at Phillip Island.
Bautista’s benchmark was a 1m30.327 to Rea’s 1m30.341. KRT’s Leon Haslam was also right there with a 1m30.482.
While Bautista put in plenty of very fast laps it would be a brave man to bet against the KRT duo when it comes to race pace over a 22-lap race distance come tomorrow.
Tom Sykes heads the second row as the fastest BMW rider alongside Alex Lowes (Yamaha) and Leon Camier (Honda), which makes it five different manufacturers across the front two rows of the grid.
Wildcard entrant Troy Herfoss is obviously still not comfortable with this WorldSBK spec’ bike, lapping more than a second slower than he managed only an hour earlier on his ASBK Superbike spec’ Fireblade.
WorldSBK Friday Practice Combined Times
Alvaro Bautista – Ducati 1m30.327
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki 1m30.341
Leon Haslam – Kawasaki 1m30.482
Tom Sykes – BMW 1m30.664
Alex Lowes – Yamaha 1m30.783
Leon Camier – Honda 1m30.792
Sandro Cortese – Yamaha 1m30.850
Markus Reiterberger – BMW 1m30.862
Michael Van der Mark – Yamaha 1m31.049
Toprak Razgatlioglu – Kawasaki 1m31.125
Jordi Torres – Kawasaki 1m31.146
Michael Rinaldi – Ducati 1m31.238
Marco Melandri – Yamaha 1m31.259
Chaz Davies – Ducati 1m31.334
Eugene Laverty – Ducati 1m31.403
Leandro Mercado – Kawasaki 1m31.545
Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda 1m31.790
Alessandro Delbianco – Honda 1m32.669
Troy Herfoss – Honda 1m34.314
World Supersport
Compulsory pit-stop introduced for Phillip Island race
It has been announced that the first race of the FIM Supersport World Championship season will take place under flag-to-flag rules, with a mandatory entry to the pits to change tyres for all bikes.
After speaking with the teams and based on the information gathered during the official two-day test here at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, FIM and Dorna WSBK Organization have decided to implement this format for Sunday’s race, adding a new challenge for the 24 riders set to line up on the grid.
Riders are free to choose when to do their pit-stop, under the condition that no tyre is used for more than 10 laps. Race distance has also been shortened to 16 laps.
This decision does not affect any of the three World Superbike races, which are scheduled to be run in regular conditions as more flexible regulations for teams ensure that proper safety conditions will be met.
Gregorio Lavilla WorldSBK Executive Director of Sporting & Organization
“Due to specific track conditions seen at Phillip Island since Monday and some concerns regarding tyre life in race conditions, we decided that the best way to fully guarantee the safety of the WorldSSP riders and avoid any problems would be to do a flag-to-flag, which is in compliance with WorldSSP rules. This is unfortunate, but we believe that it is the best course of action and will guarantee an exciting race this weekend”.
World Supersport Friday Practice Combined Times
Krummenacher – Yamaha 1m32.777
Gradinger – Yamaha 1m33.150
Caricasulo – Yamaha 1m33.166
Cluzel – Yamaha 1m33.208
De Rosa – MV Agusta 1m33.257
Mahias – Kawasaki 1m33.521
Okubo – Kawasaki 1m33.631
Barbera – Yamaha 1m33.809
Perolari – Yamaha 1m33.885
Fuligni – MV Agusta 1m34.098
Vinales – Yamaha 1m34.218
Soomer – Honda 1m34.459
Sebestyen – Honda 1m34.547
Herrera – Yamaha 1m34.585
Toparis – Yamaha 1m34.658
Cresson – Yamaha 1m34.754
Danilo – Honda 1m34.854
Van Sikkelerus – Honda 1m34.937
Coppola – Honda 1m35.076
Badovini – Kawasaki 1m35.159
Calero – Kawasaki 1m35.183
Ruiu – Honda 1m35.232
Hartog – Kawasaki 1m35.276
Van Straalen – Kawasaki 1m35.362
Tickets and on-circuit camping for the Yamaha Finance-sponsored WorldSBK round are available at Ticketek or at the gate. Gates open 8am Saturday and Sunday. On-circuit camping open 24/7 for arrival and check in at any time… via gate 2.
Alvaro Bautista is the new kid on the block of the WSBK and he is certain to get into some pretty heavy street fights as he establishes himself in the World Supers gang. He is definitely not adverse to a good old brawl after his days in the tiddlers of 125cc and 250cc GP racing ascertain, before his graduation to the cauldron of MotoGP.
Álvaro Bautista – Image by Geebee
Of those that have switched from GP to World Supers, Bautista, at 34 years old, has arguably the second best resume behind Max Biaggi: A 125cc World Championship in 2006, second in the 2008 250cc championship behind the late Marco Simoncelli and three podiums during his nine years in MotoGP.
Not too bloody shabby.
Last year he scored 12 top ten finishes in MotoGP. An impressive result on what was a second, or maybe third-tier Ducati, so it is somewhat of a surprise to see that he was squeezed out of the MotoGP paddock.
However, with such impressive stats, Ducati showed faith and offered the seat in the factory WSBK team, at the expense of Marco Melandri. After two days testing and topping the sheets on both days with consistent sub lap record performances Bautista was, naturally, upbeat.
Alvaro Bautista – TBG Image
His best lap of the two days (1:30.303) would have put him eighth on the grid of last years Oz GP (in front of Petrucci). In reality last year he qualified 12th, some two seconds slower with a 1:32 lap, although he progressed from Q1 to Q2 with a blistering time of 1:29.851.
Trivial statistics, yes, but remember what Carlos Checa did when he dropped back to the World Superbikes with no where near the record of Bautista?
Bracksy joined the media scrum to get the low down on his two days of testing.
Alvaro Bautista Interview
Alvaro Bautista: “It was a positive day for us, we worked in the morning to make another step forward with the setup, like we did yesterday, but we didn’t find what we expected, so at the end we came back in the afternoon to try and see how the bike works after the same laps. In the afternoon we tried to do a long run and we did it, but I had to stop after three laps because it’s starting some sprinkling.
“Then I restarted again with the same tyres, the same spec, and I’m quite happy because the feeling with the bike was good, the pace was quite fast and at the end I felt the drop off of the tyre, especially in the last four laps. The tyres went down a lot. But you know, normally in the race you try to always manage the tyre consumption and also your energies. Today it was not necessary to manage, so I tried to push hard from the beginner and I didn’t have a big big problem until the last four laps, specially at the tyre, when too much drop.
Alvaro Bautista – Image by TBG Sport
“But in any case I’m happy because also, we get some data for the weekend, for the electronics to try to save a little bit more of the tyre, and to try to don’t feel last a big drop from the tyre. So we work with the electronics to help me to manage this situation.”
“The only question mark for me is, I mean to say something of the tyre, because the pace is I think good, but then when the tyre comes down/drop, but I think the problem is for everybody not just for me, no? Also you know at the beginning of the long run I was more than half race, I was doing 30s, faster than the lap record of the track, so I think when you are so fast, the tyre is more used and at the end you have more problem. But in normal race, maybe you can manage specially in the first half of the race, to push more at the end, or depends how you feel. So today nothing to manage, just tried to push the maximum as possible and I did, and I saw the results.”
Alvaro Bautista – TBG Image
“There was less strong wind than yesterday, but the track today was a bit cooler, and with this tyre if it’s too hot, the tyre is worse. Yesterday the track temperature was over 40 degrees, today it was in between 30-35 degrees, so the condition was better for the tyres. For that I think the other riders can improve. I didn’t try to improve my lap time from this morning, because our target is to do the long run.
“In the afternoon I did one exit before the long run, just to understand the front tyre, because in the morning, I had to use the soft compound in the front, but for me it’s not the best tyre for the race. In the afternoon I did one start, with the hard – to see that everything was good, and then the long run as we didn’t have enough from the hard tyre to try in the morning. So for this, I didn’t try to push in the afternoon to make a better lap time.”
Do you think 29s possible if you push?
Alvaro Bautista: “At the moment, no more riding and yesterday nobody can make a 29, but I think nothing is impossible, with tyres or with qualifying tyre, we’ll see.“
Alvaro Bautista – TBG Image
Is the feeling better here than at Jerez? With the heavy braking into turn four, with the tyre strength?
Alvaro Bautista: “In Jerez I don’t know if because it’s a new surface or what, but the feeling with the bike, was not really good. The most important was Imola was a new track for me. But also here we started to work here with the bike, just yesterday the bike was from Ducati and I ride the same bike. But with some data we decided to make some modifications, the geometry here, and for sure today we did nice step forward. Maybe with this tyre now I arrive at Jerez and can go faster. But when you don’t know the bike and you don’t the tyres, you have to adapt and start to work and understand, so for me, I think we don’t arrive today the maximum yet, so we are on the right way, but still much work to do.”
But it’s not impossible to win?
Alvaro Bautista: “We’ll see in the races, everything can happen no? At the moment I feel very comfortable and my target is try to give to the riders that in the past of the superbikes, to give them a bit more stress *laughs*.”
Alvaro Bautista – TBG Image
You’ve started already.
Alvaro Bautista: “Exactly that’s my target at the moment, win a race, we’ll see, that would be my first race in superbike and my first race for these bikes, so for sure we’ll try our maximum, at the moment, and the pace is quite good and the race is saturday or sunday, so not now.”
Mark Bracks: This might be a stupid question but the main different between this and the MotoGP bike.
Alvaro Bautista: “The power… you feel it especially in the track like this one, that are very fast, exit from the corner I remember with the MotoGP, just the bike push a lot. This bike seems like it seems like you are stop. So that’s the biggest difference.”
WorldSBK 2019 Phillip Island Test
Day 2 – AM Report
Cape Barren Geese put a temporary halt to proceedings with an hour remaining in the sessions, as so often happens when these big 4-kilogram birds start waddling around the track. The red flag then had to come out a few more times to clear the birds in the final hour of the morning session, frustrating riders and teams no end.
One thing riders did not have to contend with this morning was the blustery wind that plagued them on Monday afternoon. As a result we had four riders under the previous race lap record, and on four different brands of machinery. The outright qualifying record has not yet been broached though, the 1m29.573 set by Jonathan Rea here two years ago not yet threatened.
Jonathan Rea – GeeBee Image
Again it was Alvaro Bautista on the Ducati Panigale V4 R setting the pace, a 1m30.303 to the Spaniard, but the big improver this morning was Marco Melandri on the satellite GRT Yamaha. The hugely experienced Italian picked up seven-tenths to finish the morning session with a best of 1m30.760, besting Jonathan Rea by a thousandth-of-a-second.
Marco Melandri – TBG Image
Fourth quickest was Tom Sykes on the new BMW S 1000 RR. The German machine obviously to the Briton’s liking as he adapts to a new motorcycle after many years on the dominant ZX-10RR machines with KRT. BMW have neven been known to be short of horsepower, but curiously both Sykes and his team-mate Reiterberger are amongst the slowest bikes in the field through the speed trap.
Tom Sykes – TBG Image
Michael Van der Mark and Leon Haslam were also under the 1m31s barrier.
Alex Lowes did not make much progress this morning, presumably working on new developments after his great showing yesterday. The Pata Yamaha man eighth ahead of BMW’s Markus Reiterberger while Althea Moriwaki Honda recruit Leon Camier rounded out the top ten.
Leon Camier – TBG Image
Wildcard entrant Troy Herfoss made some progress after major problems yesterday fail to make any impact. A busy session in the garage overnight from the Penrite Honda squad has obviously started to allow them to find the right direction with their times now starting to drop, but are yet to match what Herfoss did here a few months ago on his lesser spec’ ASBK Superbike.
Troy Herfoss – Penrite Honda – TBG Image
WorldSBK – Tuesday AM – Times / Speeds
Alvaro Bautista – Ducati 1m30.303 – 316.7 km/h
Marco Melandri – Yamaha 1m30.760 – 306.8 km/h
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki 1m30.761 – 310.3 km/h
Tom Sykes – BMW 1m30.777 – 302.5 km/h
Michael Van der Mark – Yamaha 1m30.911 – 312.1 km/h
Leon Haslam – Kawasaki 1m30.947 – 309.5 km/h
Sandro Cortese – Yamaha 1m31.077 – 308.6 km/h
Alex Lowes – Yamaha 1m31.272 – 310.3 km/h
Markus Reiterberger – BMW 1m31.376 – 301.7 km/h
Leon Camier – Honda 1m31.443 – 309.5 km/h
Toprak Razgatlioglu – Kawasaki 1m31.445 – 306.8 km/h
Chaz Davies- Ducati 1m31.796 – 314.0 km/h
Jordi Torres – Kawasaki 1m31.808 – 300.0 km/h
Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda 1m31.860 – 306.8 km/h
Leandro Mercado – Kawasaki 1m31.942 – 303.4 km/h
Eugene Laverty – Ducati 1m31.986 – 303.4 km/h
Michael Rinaldi – Ducati 1m32.428 – 314 km/h
Alessandreo Delbianco – Honda 1m32.979 – 294.3 km/h
Troy Herfoss – Honda 1m33.130 – 300.8 km/h
WorldSBK RPM Limits
Dorna has released updated RPM limits for the 2019 WorldSBK season that will be in place for the start of the season. If a single type of machine looks to have much of an advantage these limits will be reduced further during the season. The new BMW will start season 2019 with a 14,900 rpm limit while the Kawasaki will be pegged to 14,600 rpm.
The new Ducati Panigale V4 R will start with a 16,350 rpm limit, but with both Bautista and Davies clocking by far the fastest speeds during this Phillip Island test, one would expect that the Ducati rev limit to be reduced in due course…
WorldSBK 2019 Phillip Island Test
Day 1 – PM Report
A stiff wind caused riders all sorts of problems this afternoon and of the morning top ten it was only Tom Sykes on the new BMW, and the man that replaced him on the KRT ZX-10R, Leon Haslam, that successfully battled the breeze to lower their markers this afternoon. Sykes moving up fourth quickest on combined times just ahead of Haslam.
Morning or afternoon, wind or no wind, the consistently fastest man of the day was Alvaro Bautista but it was his morning time that remained the fastest overall. The #19 Ducati Panigale V4 R the only machine to dip under the 1m31s benchmark today, a 1m30.743 the best of three laps in a row that the 34-year-old recorded in that 1m30s bracket during FP1.
Bautista’s best time is actually under the 1m30.848 race lap record set by Marco Melandri during last year’s second World Superbike race at Phillip Island on the V-Twin Panigale. The outright World Superbike lap record though belongs to Jonathan Rea who put in a 1m29.573 during qualifying here two years ago.
Alvaro Bautista – GeeBee Image
Bautista’s Ducati team-mate Chaz Davies has not had such an enjoyable day. A technical gremlin this morning saw his Panigale V4 R roll to a stop at Siberia, then this afternoon the Welshman was plagued by agonising back spasms. The 32-year-old ending day one 13th on combined times.
Another rider not having any fun today was Troy Herfoss as the Penrite Honda squad try to get a handle on the new bike they have built for this one-off World Superbike wildcard effort. Proceedings are not going well at all thus far and the team will be scratching their heads. Herfoss rounded out the tail end of the timesheets today with a 1m34.961 in FP1. Worryingly he could only muster a 1m35.475 from his 13 laps this afternoon.
Troy Herfoss – GeeBee Image
The reigning ASBK Superbike Champion went more than two-seconds faster than today’s best in race trim aboard the ASBK, almost Superstock spec’, Fireblade here back in October. Some serious head scratching and spanner twirling going to be undertaken in that pit garage this evening…
Troy Herfoss – GeeBee Image
Alex Lowes is showing encouraging speed on the Pata Yamaha to clock the second fastest time of the day ahead of Jonathan Rea.
Alex Lowes – TBG Image
Along with Tom Sykes in fourth, that made for four different brands filling the top four spots on the day’s combined times.
Jonathan Rea – GeeBee Image
Marco Melandri was sixth quickest ahead of fellow Yamaha riders Michael Van der Mark and Sandro Cortese.
Marco Melandri – TBG Image
Markus Reiterberger and Toprak Razgatlioglu rounded out the top ten ahead of the leading Honda of Leon Camier.
WorldSBK RPM Limits
Overnight Dorna released updated RPM limits for the 2019 WorldSBK season that will be in place for the start of the season. If a single type of machine looks to have much of an advantage these limits will be reduced further during the season. The new BMW will start season 2019 with a 14,900 rpm limit while the Kawasaki will be pegged to 14,600 rpm.
The new Ducati Panigale V4 R will start with a 16,350 rpm limit, but with both Bautista and Davies clocking by far the fastest speeds in today’s morning session, one would expect that the Ducati rev limit to be reduced in due course…
World Supersport
In the World Supersport ranks it was a Yamaha 1-2 in both the morning and afternoon sessions but while Caricasulo topped FP1 it was team-mate Randy Krummenacher that went fractionally faster in FP2 to top the day on combined times.
Randy Krummenacher – GeeBee Image
Goulburn youngster Tom Toparis had been inside the top ten in the morning session but on combined times this afternoon the 18-year-old slipped to 14th. Still a highly creditable results in the 24-rider field. We spoke to him at the end of proceedings today and that interview can be found at this link.
Tom Toparis – GeeBee Image
WorldSBK Testing Phillip Island
Day One Combined Times / Best Speeds
Alvaro Bautista – Ducati 1m30.743 – 314.9 km/h
Alex Lowes – Yamaha 1m31.146 – 308.6 km/h
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki 1m31.189 – 308.6 km/h
Tom Sykes – BMW 1m31.300 – 303.4 km/h
Leon Haslam – Kawasaki 1m31.399 – 308.6 km/h
Marco Melandri – Yamaha 1m31.445 – 314 km/h
Michael VanderMark – Yam 1m31.458 – 304.2 km/h
Sandro Cortese – Yamaha 1m31.639 – 304.2 km/h
Markus Reiterberger – BMW 1m31.992 – 300.0 km/h
Toprak Razgatlioglu – Kaw 1m32.050 – 302.5 km/h
Leon Camier – Honda 1m32.459 – 307.7 km/h
Jordi Torres – Kawasaki 1m32.670 – 300.0 km/h
Chaz Davies – Ducati 1m32.706 – 313 km/h
Leandro Mercado – Kaw 1m32.789 – 300.8 km/h
Eugene Laverty – Ducati 1m32.797 – 305.1 km/h
Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda 1m32.962 – 306.8 km/h
Michael Rinaldi – Ducati 1m33.402 – 307.7 km/h
A Delbianco – Hon 1m33.949 – 292.7 km/h
Troy Herfoss – Honda 1m34.961 – 295.1 km/h
WorldSSP – Combined Practice Times
KRUMMENACHER Randy SUI Yamaha 1’33.820
CARICASULO Federico ITA Yamaha 1’33.882 +0.062
CLUZEL Jules FRA Yamaha 1’34.198 +.378
MAHIAS Lucas FRA Kawasaki 1’34.222 +0.402
DE ROSA Raffaele ITA MV Agusta 1’34.293 +0.473
OKUBO Hikari JPN Kawasaki 1’34.584 +0.764
BARBERA Hector ESP Yamaha 1’34.751 +0.931
GRADINGER Thomas AUT Yamaha 1’34.753 +0.933
PEROLARI Corentin FRA Yamaha 1’34.850 +1.030
VINALES Isaac ESP Yamaha 1’35.369 +1.549
SOOMER Hannes EST Honda 1’35.516 +1.696
SEBESTYEN Peter HUN CIA Honda 1’35.581 +1.761
CRESSON Loris BEL Yamaha 1’35.588 +1.768
TOPARIS Tom AUS Landbridge Transport Yamaha 1’35.690 +1.870
FULIGNI Federico ITA MV AGUSTA 1’35.762 +1.942
BADOVINI Ayrton ITA Kawasaki 1’35.974 +2.154
VAN SIKKELERUS Jaimie NED Honda 1’36.150 +2.330
HERRERA Maria ESP Yamaha 1’36.214 +2.394
DANILO Jules FRA Honda 1’36.421 +2.601
RUIU Gabriele ITA Honda 1’36.569 +2.749
COPPOLA Alfonso ITA Honda 1’36.629 +2.809
CALERO Nacho ESP Kawasaki 1’36.647 +2.827
HARTOG Rob NED Kawasaki 1’37.043 +3.223
VAN STRAALEN Glenn NED Kawasaki 1’37.273 +3.453
WorldSSP – Free Practice 2 Times / Speeds
F Caricasulo (ITA) Yamaha 1’33.882 – 272.7 km/h
R Krummenacher (SUI) Yam 1’34.226 +0.346 – 266.7 km/h
R De Rosa (ITA) MV Agusta 1’34.293 +0.411 – 270.0 km/h
J Cluzel (FRA) Yamaha 1’34.539 +0.657 – 266.0 km/h
H Okubo (JPN) Kawasaki 1’34.584 +0.702 – 272.0 km/h
L Mahias (FRA) Kawasaki 1’34.807 +0.925 – 270.0 km/h
I Vinales (ESP) Yamaha 1’35.369 +1.457 – 268 km/h
C Perolari (FRA) Yamaha 1’35.695 +1.814 – 264.7 km/h
T Toparis (AUS) Yamaha 1’35.725 +1.843 – 262.1 km/h
A Badovini (ITA) Kawasaki 1’35.974 +2.002 – 256.5 km/h
H Soomer (EST) Honda 1’36.305 +2.423 – 260.9 km/h
F Fuligni (ITA) MV Agusta 1’36.313 +2.431 – 264.7 km/h
L Cresson (BEL) Yamaha 1’36.313 +2.431 – 272 km/h
P Sebestyen (HUN) Honda 1’36.331 +2.449 – 265.4 km/h
H Barbera (ESP) Yamaha 1’36.636 +2.754 – 265.4 km/h
WorldSBK Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Event Schedule, 22 – 24 February 2019
FIM Track Safety Inspection
Safety Car TestTrack closed
All 1st Time RidersRiders Briefing
All ClassesTyre Stickers DistributionTechnical Bay
WorldSBK 2019 Phillip Island Test Day 1 – AM Report
Alvaro Bautista and Jonathan Rea traded places at the top of the timesheets many times during this morning’s two-hour practice session at Phillip Island but Alex Lowes eventually split the pair late in the session.
When the session wound up shortly after 1300 this afternoon, it was the Ducati man topping the charts ahead of Lowes while Rea made it three different manufacturers occupying those top three spots on the timesheets.
Alvaro Bautista – TBG Image
Tom Sykes was the leading BMW rider in seventh place just ahead of the man that replaced him at Kawasaki, Leon Haslam.
Overnight Dorna released updated RPM limits for the 2019 WorldSBK season that will be in place for the start of the season. If a single type of machine looks to have much of an advantage these limits will be reduced further during the season. The new BMW will start season 2019 with a 14,900 rpm limit while the Kawasaki will be pegged to 14,600 rpm.
The new Ducati Panigale V4 R will start with a 16,350 rpm limit, but with both Bautista and Davies clocking by far the fastest speeds in today’s morning session, one would expect that the Ducati rev limit to be reduced in due course…
Leon Camier was 11th quickest on the Moriwaki Althea Honda.
Chaz Davies suffered some mechanical gremlins this morning with the Panigale V4 R rolling to a stop at Siberia. Limiting the number of laps the Welshman could do at pace this morning.
Chaz Davies – TBG Image
Wildcard entrant Troy Herfoss spent the majority of the session in the pits and will be looking to move forward in this afternoon’s second two-hour bout which finishes shortly before 6pm AEDT.
Earlier in the morning World Supersport riders had also hit the track and it was a Yamaha 1-2 for the 600cc machines headed by Caricasulo. Wildcard entrant Tom Toparis was a highly creditable ninth in that opening session.
Tom Toparis – GeeBee Image
WorldSBK – Free Practice 1 Times
Alvaro Bautista – Ducati 1m30.743 – 314.9 km/h
Alex Lowes – Yamaha 1m31.146 – 308.6 km/h
Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki 1m31.189 – 308.6 km/h
Marco Melandri – Yamaha 1m31.445 – 314 km/h
Michael Van der Mark – Yamaha 1m31.458 – 304.2 km/h
Sandro Cortese – Yamaha 1m31.639 – 304.2 km/h
Tom Sykes – BMW 1m31.740 – 303.4 km/h
Leon Haslam – Kawasaki 1m31.886 – 308.6 km/h
Markus Reiterberger – BMW 1m31.992 – 300.0 km/h
Toprak Razgatlioglu – Kawasaki 1m32.425 – 302.5 km/h
Leon Camier – Honda 1m32.459 – 307.7 km/h
Jordi Torres – Kawasaki 1m32.679 – 300.0 km/h
Leandro Mercado – Kawasaki 1m32.789 – 300.8 km/h
Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda 1m33.171 – 306.8 km/h
Chaz Davies – Ducati 1m33.204 – 313 km/h
Eugene Laverty – Ducati 1m33.353 – 305.1 km/h
Michael Rinaldi – Ducati 1m33.843 – 307.7 km/h
Alessandrio Delbianco – Honda 1m33.965 – 292.7 km/h
Troy Herfoss – Penrite Honda 1m34.961 – 295.1 km/h
2019 WorldSBK Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R livery revealed
Álvaro Bautista & Chaz Davies headline Ponte San Pietro team launch
The 2019 Superbike World Championship Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team has officially unveiled the new Panigale V4R in team livery, as well as introducing Álvaro Bautista who joins Chaz Davies on the team, having competed the last nine years in MotoGP.
2019 WorldSBK Aruba.it Racing Ducati team presentation
2019 is a particularly noteworthy year for Ducati, as the manufacturer introduces a four-cylinder Superbike for the very first time in the Panigale V4 R, having won 17 Manufacturers’ and 14 Riders’ titles since 1988.
The Panigale V4 R, developed on the basis of experience accumulated in MotoGP, features a number of evolutions from the previous model, not only from an engine point of view, but also in terms of chassis, electronics and aerodynamics.
Álvaro Bautista
With regard to the riders, the arrival of Álvaro Bautista is equally significant, the Spaniard highly motivated and ready to face a new professional challenge in Superbike after nine years spent racing in MotoGP.
The 34-year-old from Talavera de la Reina is a rider with considerable experience, having also raced in 250cc and in 125cc, the category in which he won the title in 2006, and he has rapidly adapted to the new technical scenario.
Álvaro Bautista
“I can’t wait to start this new adventure. The balance of the winter tests is really positive. The project is a new one and there’s still a lot of work to be done but lap after lap we found a good base to work on. I still have to adapt to this new technical situation, particularly the tyres, but the performance shown in just six days of testing is undoubtedly encouraging. Phillip Island is a spectacular track and I’ve always liked it, there couldn’t be a better place to begin this exciting new adventure and we’ll do our best to be ready.”
Álvaro Bautista
He will line up alongside the 31-year-old Welshman from Knighton, Chaz Davies, three-time championship runner-up in the last four seasons, who has put the past year’s bad injuries behind him and who will tackle his sixth successive season in Superbike aboard a factory Ducati.
Chaz Davies
Chaz Davies
“I’m very excited and motivated about the season that’s about to start. After five years and many great memories with the twin-cylinder bike, the time has come to begin a new challenge and I can’t wait to get back on track with the Panigale V4 R. My last tests were hampered a bit by the twinge I felt in my back, but my overall physical condition is much better than last year and in any case we managed to complete our test schedule. We’ve still got two more days of testing left and they will be fundamental to define the last details, and then finally we’ll be racing again. The start of the year is going to be even more exciting than ever, and having a new bike – as well as a new team-mate – is going to be extra motivation for me.”
Chaz Davies
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will now set off for Australia, where the traditional pre-season tests will be taking place at Phillip Island on 18th and 19th February in view of the opening round of the 2019 Superbike World Championship held at the same track on the following weekend, from 22nd to 24th February.
Claudio Domenicali – CEO of Ducati Motor Holding
“This year we will truly witness a historic turning-point. Racing is an inseparable part of Ducati, just think of the many examples in which the technology and know-how developed on the track have then been applied to production models. The Panigale V4 is a perfect example of this philosophy: it’s the first Ducati production bike to be fitted with a four-cylinder engine and equipped with technology coming from MotoGP. In just twelve months it has become the new benchmark for style, technology and performance, with more than 6,100 units delivered across the globe, and it has allowed us – for the first time ever in company history – to achieve a global sales record in the superbike market segment. Now we also want to take it to the top on the track, its natural habitat, by making it become the king of SBK in the 1000cc R version.”
After taking the Panigale V4 R to the racetrack for the first time at Aragon with Chaz Davies, the Factory Ducati squad resumed action at full capacity in Jerez with MotoGP exile Alvaro Bautista having his first chance to get acquainted with the V4 Ducati.
Alvaro Bautista – GeeBee Image
In sunny conditions, with temperatures around 15 degrees, Bautista and Davies clocked 65 and 49 laps respectively. The Spaniard’s priority was to get acquainted with the Panigale V4 R and the Pirelli WSBK tyres. The 34-year-old showed good chemistry with both the bike and the team to post the second-best time of the day, a 1m39.979. On only his first acquaintance with the bike, and on very different tyres than he is accustomed to, that could be an ominous sign which might have the competition sweating a little
Alvaro Bautista
“It felt like the first day at school and, while it’s still very early, I’ve been enjoying the bike quite a bit. For sure, the V4 R is different compared with the Desmosedici, in terms of engine, chassis and tires, but the character is similar. You need to ride it differently though, a bit smoother. We did not make many changes, just small adjustments, and we basically just tried to get as much kilometers as possible under our belt to get acquainted with the whole team. I was surprised to be this fast, but we must not get carried away and we’ll keep following the same plan tomorrow.”
Alvaro Bautista
At the top of the timesheets though it was that familiar face, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), didn’t waste any time setting the pace.
Jonathan Rea – GeeBee Image
Working on suspension, tyres and finding a balance with their chassis and weight distribution for their new engine, it was a productive day for the reigning world champion who came out on track at 1300 to shoot right to the top of the timing screens. Rea ended day one with a time of 1.39.657, and put in 57 laps.
Chaz Davies was third quickest and continued to work through the differences that the new Panigale V4 R brings to the table compared to the booming V-Twins he has raced for many seasons.
Chaz Davies
“We’re figuring out the new bike step by step and, while it’s still early, the start has been positive. The package definitely has great potential. I’m very confident we have a better weapon to fight with. That said, we just need time. We’re trying to walk before we can run, because there is a lot to learn about the V4 R and it’s easy to get carried away. So, I’ve been cautious, trying only a few changes throughout the day. We have to find the nuances and differences with the previous bike, and put all the experience together, which is the path we’re going to follow tomorrow as well.”
Chaz Davies
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) continued to work through the parts and updates they had last week around MotorLand Aragon.
Alex Lowes – GeeBee Image
With elements of their chassis, swing arm and electronics to work on, the 2018 race winners had another productive day in Spain. Lowes was never outside the top four and ended in fourth with a time of 1.40.296. Whilst van der Mark was taking a more steady approach and ended with a time of 1.41.572 in seventh position.
Leon Haslam – GeeBee Image
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) also continued to get used to his new bike and team, although the Briton had come from a BSB spec’ ZX-10R that he used to win the British Superbike Championship, there are still many differences and despite a crash through turn five in the early afternoon, the British rider ended day one in fifth putting in 71 laps, with a time of 1.40.390.
Leon Haslam – GeeBee Image
Brand new WorldSBK team GRT Yamaha had their first day with the step up into the premiere class, with experienced Marco Melandri and WorldSBK rookie Sandro Cortese. Spending their first day getting adapted to the YZF-R1, the team are taking things step by step and were able to put in 125 laps collectively. Melandri ended day one in sixth, whilst Cortese finished the day in eighth.
Marco Melandri back on a Yamaha – GeeBee Image
It wasn’t only SBK teams testing, as there were three FIM Supersport World Championship teams out on track. MV Agusta Reparto Corse had 2018 star Raffaele De Rosa out on track, whilst Kawasaki Puccetti Racing took to the track with Hikari Okubo and Team Pedercini Racing were putting in the miles over the winter.
Action resumes on track Tuesday for the final day of pre-season testing in November.
Jerez WorldSBK Test Day One Unofficial Times
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1.39.657
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1.39.979 +0.322
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1.40.202 +0.545
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) 1.40.296 +0.639
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1.40.390 +0.733
Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha Team) 1.40.663 +1.006
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) 1.41.572 +1.915
Yamaha resurgent as Vinales from Iannone, Dovi wins
Riders and Team managers talk the Phillip Island GP
Maverick Vinales – P1
“This is the best feeling ever, honestly! We‘ve been in the dark all year, and suddenly we came into the light! I couldn‘t show my potential in the previous races, but today I could. Being first in Australia is always amazing! It‘s the best track ever, and I like to be at the front there. To win here and break this long none winning period of Yamaha is unbelievable! I was riding on the bike like I was in FP4. I got a really good feeling from the bike, so I knew I could maintain 1‘29s. That‘s what I did for most of the middle of the race. I tried to escape as far as I could, because I knew my tyre wasn‘t going to last until the end. I knew opening that gap would be difficult, I had some moments with some riders, and some shaking on the bike – I was struggling, but I still made it through anyway. It was amazing! I have to say ‘thank you’ to the team, because this weekend they worked for the win. We will try to be the best and we‘ll try to work in a good way. We don‘t want to lose the concentration, because we don‘t know what will happen in Malaysia, but for sure the level of motivation will be high after this weekend.”
Maverick Vinales
Andrea Iannone – P2
“I’m really happy, especially as we were at the top almost all weekend long, and this gives us a lot of positivity. We worked together on improving my feeling with the bike and it meant I was able to finish really close to the top. I felt able to win but it was a hard fight with the others and I was losing ground with them. When I managed to overtake them and keep them behind I realised I couldn’t catch Viñales, so I just tried to defend and manage the tyres. At the end I pushed at 100% to make sure I could get 2nd place.”
Andrea Iannone
Andrea Dovizioso – P3
“I’m really satisfied with the way the race went. Even though we knew we had good speed, managing to get a podium here is another thing. I’m pleased I got myself immediately into an ideal position in the race, because if you start from the third row here at Phillip Island anything can happen, as we saw. Instead with a bit of luck I immediately managed to make up some positions and after a few laps I was first: I never expected that! Then I had a chance to manage the tyres and reach the end of the race in a good state, even though we were all in trouble a bit. I’m very pleased with the work we’ve done here: Phillip Island was a fundamental test to understand our level of competitiveness and now we know we have made a good step forward over last year.”
Andrea Dovizioso
Álvaro Bautista – P4
“At the end of a difficult weekend in which I crashed three times, this fourth place is a great reward for me. To come into a new team and step onto a new bike at a circuit like this was for sure not going to be easy, but I think we’ve worked well together, making steps forward in every session. I started the race really focussed and relaxed because I had no real targets to aim for, except for enjoying riding the Desmosedici GP18. After quite a complicated start, I was able to soon catch up with the leading group and fight for the front positions. In the last few laps I made a few small mistakes and lost contact with Dovizioso and Iannone, but in any case I’m very happy with my overall result, especially for the team and for Ducati, whom I would like to thank once again for the trust they have shown in me.”
Álvaro Bautista
Alex Rins – P5
“It was an interesting race and I was able to learn a lot. During the first part, when I was inside the group, I was feeling good but then when I got the contact from Maverick I lost a lot of ground and it cost me a lot because the group got away, but this is racing. I also lost further time trying to overtake Miller. But we want to focus on the positive points, and there were many, for instance the way I was able to battle with Rossi and defend my 5th place. We’re going to Malaysia with good feelings and we are prepared, so we hope for another nice result there.”
Alex Rins chases down Vinales and Rossi
Valentino Rossi – P6
“Unfortunately from the first lap I already started to slide a bit too much on acceleration. I lost some grip compared to yesterday and this morning. It’s a shame because for sure we wanted to try to do better. I tried to ride smoothly and manage the tyres, but unfortunately after 15 laps I was in trouble, because when exiting left corners I had too much spin. We need to understand why this happened and then try to improve, but having Maverick win a race is good news for the team and Yamaha, because it gives great motivation.”
Valentino Rossi
Jack Miller – P7
“If I have to be honest I was expecting a little more but I am still happy with this result and being the first Independent rider. I got off to a good start even though I honestly didn’t think I would be in the lead so early. In the middle of the race I tried to save my tyres but in the end I didn’t have any room to attack the podium group.”
Jack Miller
Franco Morbidelli – P8
“I am very happy with this result, my personal best result in MotoGP. We did a god job to exported the situation with riders going out of the race. Our tyre choice was the right one and I had good pace especially from half-race and I was able to get into the tope ten. I want to thank my crew for a great job this weekend to sort out the set-up of the bike for the race.”
Franco Morbidelli
Aleix Espargaro’ – P9
“On the straight, I was in the slipstream of a lot of riders and at a certain point, a piece of Marc’s bike struck my left hand. I began to feel pain, but fortunately in MotoGP we only use the clutch for the start, so I was able to finish the race. We’ll assess the situation in view of Malaysia. After a less-than-easy weekend, in warm up we made a big step forward and in the race I was able to ride very incisively. This is demonstrated by the fact that we lapped faster than in qualifying, but unfortunately on the final laps, the soft rear tyre began to suffer and I was unable to hold onto eighth place. In any case, the result is good, considering the hard work done this weekend with two different bikes.”
Aleix Espargaro – AJRN Image
Bradley Smith – P10
“We did a good job. We saw Phillip Island as an important weekend for KTM because we knew the bike would work quite well here. The team did a fantastically because the main aim of the weekend was to try and set up the bike as best as we could to look after the rear tyre. It meant we had to sacrifice qualification a little bit yesterday but it paid off today. I had a great first lap to come from sixteenth to eighth and then tried to hold the position for as long as possible. Unfortunately towards the end I just didn’t have anything left for Morbidelli or Aleix. Sepang now and it is a difficult track but I think we have some good confidence and the bike has a good setting and it working well for me. I’m optimistic we can keep the same level and take some good points.”
Bradley Smith
Karel Abraham – P11
“We have to be happy with this race, we have doubled our points score for the season in just round. I am happy to have had the chance to ride the Ducati GP17, I could see how much potential the bike has but you also have to consider that it is difficult for any rider or chief mechanic to find the perfect set-up for a new bike in just one weekend. In any case we have done a good job and you could see that at the start of the race, when I felt really good. After that the bike started to slide and pump, I changed the mapping and it helped for a couple of laps but then it started again. I didn’t want to use the last two maps because they are for emergency use and we still had a lot of laps to go. The riders behind me were closing in and I wanted to push harder but I couldn’t get any more out of the bike. In the end, luckily, I managed to stay ahead of them.”
Karel Abraham
Danilo Petrucci – P12
“It’s really a shame. I felt like I had a great feeling right from the warm-up. I went on track very focused and made my best start in my career. Unfortunately at turn two I had a problem with the clutch. I am really sorry but these are the races: once it is the rider who makes a mistake, another time it is the bike that betrays you. We’ll try again in Sepang.”
Danilo Petrucci
Scott Redding – P13
“I am happy with the way the race went. To be honest, I didn’t expect it. Even in warm up, I didn’t have any particularly good feeling. Apparently, staying in the slipstream of the other riders helped me warm up the front tyre better. Maybe in terms of pace I could have done a bit better too, but when I found myself leading the group, I began to have some difficulties. In any case, I battled, overtaking Nakagami on the final lap and bringing home important points. A few crashes helped, but we did a good job anyway turning a complicated situation around.”
Scott Redding
Takaaki Nakagami – P14
“It was a difficult weekend. The weather conditions were a little bit better than yesterday, they were less windy and the track temperature was getting higher and higher. We decided to go with a soft compound on the rear and I think that was the correct choice, but I really struggled in the last ten laps. The lap times were quite strong and I couldn’t find the race pace I wanted. In the end I got into the points which is very good, but I was expecting a better result here so now we have to think about the next one in Sepang and try to be more consistent over the weekend.”
Takaaki Nakagami
Xavier Simeon – P15
“I have a lot of problems with the clutch and once again, my start was horrible. I was last again, but this time at least I was able to recover some positions on the first lap. The bike was very good and I had the pace to fight between eleventh and fifteenth position. Ten laps from the end though, the left flank of the rear tyre was destroyed and I had to slow down. Therefore I’m a little bit disappointed. The weekend has been very good and I always felt strong, but we depend too much on tyre wear. Apart from this, I’m super happy about achieving my first MotoGP point and I want to thank my team because they helped me a lot since I got on this bike. In Malaysia we have to improve the start and work more with the tyres for the race. I hope to have fun again like here and score more points.”
Xavier Simeon
Tom Luthi – P16
“I had a good rhythm for the first ten laps and could stay with the group I was in so I’m little disappointed for this result. But then I lost a lot of edge grip and could not keep corner speed in the fast left-hand corners and I was struggling with understeer and that’s where I lost too much time. I’m disappointed to be 16th again and just miss some championship points.”
Tom Luthi
Jordi Torres – P17
“The race has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This morning in the warm-up I felt pretty strong and we had a very promising pace. But it was more windy in the race and tyres maybe did not reach the right working temperature on the first laps because twice I was close to a crash when I tried to push. This affected my confidence and I wasn’t riding comfortably throughout the race. I know what I have to do to go fast, but I lacked the confidence to do it. At least I’m gaining experience in every race and I hope things will go better in Malaysia. Sepang is a very long circuit and I’ll have to learn many things in a short time, because the other riders have done lot of kilometres over there. The heat will also be a new challenge for me. I hope to my level of fitness is high enough.”
Jordi Torres
Mike Jones – P18
“I just wanted to give my best and finish the race, and we achieved our objective. I am very happy and grateful to the Ángel Nieto Team for the opportunity to race in MotoGP in front of the Australian fans. It has been an incredible experience, the power of the bike is crazy and the braking force is unreal. It has been a physically demanding weekend because this is such a different bike to anything I have ridden before.”
Mike Jones
Marc Marquez – DNF
“At first I didn’t understand exactly what had happened, but I was angry because I felt the contact from the rear. I couldn’t continue the race because my seat was broken and moving around. It was impossible to ride. When I arrived in the garage and saw the video, I understood. It was just a race incident because at that point of the track, we arrive really fast, over 300 km/h. I was behind Jack Miller when I braked even a bit later than usual, and then I felt the impact. Zarco had taken the slipstreams from the two of us. You may think he could have considered that, but for me it’s just a race incident and I already spoke with him. What I can say is that today I feel really lucky, and the most important thing for me is that both me and Johann are okay. Today I was really focused, and the race was going as expected. I led for a couple of laps, and then I decided to stay in the group and wait a bit. I had the pace and I felt I was able to fight for the win. It’s unlucky that we got a zero here at Phillip Island, but if next year I can win the title in Japan again and have another DNF here, I’ll sign up for that! Now let’s focus on the next race.”
Damage to Marc Marquez’s Honda
Dani Pedrosa – DNF
“It has been a difficult weekend. We never had a good feeling over the three days, and unfortunately I crashed out of the race. I wasn’t in a good position, and then I lost the front in the braking point after the straight—quite a big crash, as it’s a fast point. Anyway, we just have to move forward, hoping to have a better race next Sunday.”
Dani Pedrosa
Hafizh Syahrin – DNF
“Until lap 19 I had a good race. I just lost the front because I tried to close again on Miller. In the straight it is just impossible, as the Ducati just passes very easily. The guys and myself, we are already working very hard with our package, which is a bit different to the rest of the Yamahas. I was fighting with the faster group in the front, but it was just technically impossible to keep up with them, although I was pushing very hard. It’s a great pity to crash on the 19th lap. Anyway, we keep pushing, working hard and believing in ourselves because my team and me work very hard to be strong in the race. We tried to use our speed for a good result, but in the end we didn’t have a chance to fight with the rest of the riders in front.”
Hafizh Syahrin
Johann Zarco – DNF
“It was a bit cold today, but the sunshine made it a nice day. Starting from third position was a good advantage. I got a good start, but in the second corner I slide with the rear and a few guys had the same, I lost a few positions, but then I was really feeling quite ok to attack and try to overtake. I’m happy about the feeling that I was strong and did some good passes. After a few laps, I was still feeling pretty good, I got the slipstream of Jack Miller and Marc Marquez was also there. We were going so fast and when we were braking for corner one, I touched the rear wheel of Marc and totally flew away. I had a big crash, but I’m okay, which is the most important thing, as that crash was really fast It’s a shame about the race, because finish the race would have been important for the independent riders’ championship, but I didn’t. The crash was big and I am sorry that Marc could not finish the race. Thank you to my team, because the bike was competitive today! I did a mistake and I need to make up for it on the next two rounds.”
Johann Zarco
Pol Espargaro – DNF
“I was super-angry because I think we worked well this weekend and did a lot of laps with the tyres front and rear and we put the Soft options for the race thinking it would be OK. For some reason after six-seven laps it started to drop and I couldn’t open the throttle. After a few more laps it was dangerous to ride the bike so I had to stop. I don’t know what else to say. We made all the processes and procedures to know the tyre 100% but it looks like it can be a lottery. We’ll talk to Michelin and try to learn from this.”
Pol Espargaro
Davide Brivio – Suzuki ECSTAR Team Manager
“This has been another very good day for our team, we took another podium, the second in a row and the third in 4 races. Andrea had a great battle with many riders and was able to finish 2nd. Because of this big battle it was hard to catch the leader, but anyway, it was a good race and we scored our 7th podium of the season. Alex finishing 5th was also very positive, Top 5 is really important to us. I really hope we can continue like this for the last two rounds of the season and thanks again to everybody involved for always working hard, especially on difficult times.”
Andrea Iannone
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“What a thrilling and dramatic race! Maverick is always strong at the Phillip Island circuit, and he once again outdid himself in Australia today. He really deserved the victory, because he had been strong the entire weekend. It‘s a great feeling for the team to secure a win again – we have all been working so hard for this. It‘s not just us who have been waiting, but also our fans, so this is as much for them as it is for us. It was a pity that Vale wasn‘t able to join the podium, because he was showing great potential for the majority of the race. It would have been great to have him up there too. He and his crew have also been pushing to the maximum, but sixth place was really the best he could do today due to tyre wear at the end of the race. Overall this weekend has been a great moral boost, because both riders were competitive, so we‘re all looking forward to the next round, the Grand Prix of Malaysia, in just a week‘s time.”
Maverick Vinales with crew chief Roman Forcada
Hervé Poncharal – Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team Manager
“There are some days you wish what you see is a dream – or rather a nightmare. But unfortunately, what we saw today was reality. We had high hopes with a great Qualifying from both of our riders, Johann on the front row and Hafizh with his best ever Qualifying in 10th. The start was difficult as usual, it was a big pack as we saw in the other two classes and clearly, Johann was trying to find his way through the field after a bit hectic lap one. We could see that he was really fast and I think he wanted to use the advantage of the soft-soft choice he had made for front and rear and that was quite intense until that incident, which was unbelievable. When you see a rider going down at such a high speed – I think he touched the ground at 280 km/h – for the few seconds following the incident, you just hope nothing bad will happen. Johann had a really good reflex and although his bottom is quite sore, he was strong to walk back to the garage and be still fully fit and ready to race the next round. That was a big thing. Unfortunate for the fans and the racing overall, Marc and Johann were out of the race, which made it less exciting. So, our focus went on Hafizh, who was behind the leading group until he slowly los the contact. But he was still holding on a good eighth position and we were quite happy because although he was loosing ground he was still keeping a good pace and he crashed without any warning, without really understanding why. That was the end of our weekend. Both of our riders could have been really strong and both of them get no points, which is a big disappointment. I know you always have to keep up the ‘never-give-up-attitude’, but today it is hard, also with Remy in the Moto2 class. The only good thing is, our riders are fit, ok and we have a race next week.”
Remy Gardner
Mike Leitner – KTM Team Manager MotoGP
“Race conditions can be difficult here and so can tyre choice. It went quite well for Bradley and he ran where he we think we can be – between 8-10. We lost ninth position by four hundredths of a second: it was very close. A shame for Pol. He had a different tyre choice but then other riders also had that selection. In the middle of the race he had a very big drop which is not usual and he had to stop. So we need to analyse what happened. He should have also been able to fight for the top ten. We’ll go to Malaysia now and try to make it happen.”
“Phillip Island is always a big challenge and this year was certainly no different. The strong gusting winds and cold temperatures made it difficult for everyone, but the whole Michelin team worked in a very professional and methodical way with the riders to make sure the tyres which were best suited to the conditions and riding styles were used today. Despite the challenges, the race was very exciting and it is good for Michelin to have another winner, both rider and manufacturer, and it is also pleasing to see all six manufacturers in the top-ten and three different ones on the podium. We are constantly striving to give tyres to all that they can use to the best of their abilities, so having results such as this are very rewarding. The Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix is a very big occasion on the company’s calendar and this has been another great event. We have again learned a lot about the toughest track of the year and this will enable us to come back even stronger next year.”
