Image: Russell Colvin.

Kawasaki Motors Australia has announced that Lachlan Epis and the Kawasakis BCperformance team have split four rounds into the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).

Epis, 19, ‘has chosen to pursue other avenues’ according to the brief announcement and BCperformance owner Kelvin Reilly wished him the best moving forward.

“I wish him all the best for the future and look forward to pushing on with our 2019 ASBK championship campaign,” Reilly stated.

Epis finished 10th overall at Morgan Park in Queensland earlier this month, marking his best result of the season and elevating him to 15th in the championship standings.

It’s not clear what the future of former world championship regular Epis holds, nor whether BCperformance will replace him on the second Ninja ZX-10RR alongside title contender Bryan Staring.

Image: Supplied.

Seven-time AMA Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath sampled Jonathan Rea’s Kawasaki ZX-10RR WorldSBK contender this week at Laguna Seca, the King of Supercross checking off a bucket list experience at the American venue.

McGrath first hit the famous circuit aboard a production Ninja ZX-10R to acclimatise himself to the track layout and conditions before hopping onto Rea’s race-winning machine machine.

“Riding this bike is like a dream for me – I am such a big fan of all of these guys and Jonathan and I have been friends for a while,” McGrath explained. “We’ve been thinking of doing a bike swap for a couple of years now, as he rode motocross with me a couple of years ago.

“Trying to learn the track and the bike was a steep learning curve, and I wish I could’ve stayed out all day. This track is another one I can check off the bucket list. After riding the Corkscrew, it was like a motocross berm, so it was really fun. I wanted to stay out and go faster but I’ve had a great day, I played it smart and I loved it!”

Four-time defending WorldSBK champion Rea added: “It’s always great to see Jeremy, especially letting loose on our Ninja ZX-10RR. I was impressed at how fast he was able to get the hang of things. The ‘King’ is even fast on the tarmac. It just goes to show the natural talent he has on anything with two wheels.

“It was such a special day and fun to be the one watching from the sidelines instead of riding this time. It was fun to coach him along on an unfamiliar track and show him the differences between the dirt and tarmac.”

After visiting Laguna Seca last weekend, the WorldSBK now heads into an extended European summer break, resuming on 6-8 September at Portimao in Portugal.

Image: Russell Colvin.

It’s been confirmed Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit will continue to host the opening round of the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) in 2020, with the Yamaha Motor Finance-backed event scheduled to unfold on 28 February-1 March.

The 2020 edition at Phillip Island will set a new record, as it will become the 30th round to be held at the Australian venue, becoming the first track in the world that has hosted as many WorldSBK rounds.

Continuing with the ‘triple-treat’ format introduced in 2019, the WorldSBK race weekend will run from Friday to Sunday, with the first two sessions of free practices dominating the schedule for day one.

Saturday will see the Tissot Superpole taking place in the morning followed by the first main race in the afternoon, while Sunday will begin with the now traditional 10-lap Tissot Superpole race, which decides the new grid for Sunday’s race two.

Alongside WorldSBK, the outstanding battles of the FIM Supersport World Championship will return into action on the fast and flowing 4.445km of the famous Australian venue guaranteeing plenty of spectacular racing for all the Australian fans.

“We know fans love the summer weather of world superbikes,” said Phillip Island circuit general manager David Bennett. “It’s a perfect time for camping at the circuit and enjoying a weekend away with mates or family at Phillip Island.

“And of course, with 30 years of world superbikes, we have plenty to celebrate so it will be a special round. It’s time to put the date in your diary and start planning a getaway.”

Gregorio Lavilla, WorldSBK executive director, added: “It is now a tradition for the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship to kick-off the new season down-under and we are delighted to return in 2020.

“The Australian round at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is one of the most awaited rounds of the year, not just because it is the first on the WorldSBK calendar, but for the beautiful venue and the warmth of the Australian crowds. Their true enthusiasm for motorsports makes the entire round an even more unique event.”

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British ace Tom Sykes has praised the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team as the world championship heads into the European summer break, declaring the squad’s progression from round one as ‘impressive’ in what has been the manufacturer’s return season to WorldSBK.

Sykes has delivered an array of strong results in recent rounds, landing on the box in the Superpole race at Laguna Seca’s ninth round over the weekend in America, which he paired up with a 4-5 scorecard in races one and two.

His recent stride of form, a major result of further development with his BMW S 1000 RR, is contrasting to his results throughout the early rounds of the series, where he battled to be a top 10 regular.

“We’ve come away again with a bag full of top five finishes, including a podium in the sprint race,” Sykes explained. “Overall it was a very productive weekend for the whole BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team.

“The bike seems to be not getting the best from the tyres at the moment but we got a lot of information this weekend, having said that it was a complete different story at the end of that race two, we had a lot of pace and I closed the gap to Alex Lowes so that’s certainly positive to take with us.

“We now have the summer break coming up so it’s just cool that at the right time we got a lot of information at the weekend and hopefully now the guys in the team can put this to good use. There are still areas to work on but overall the whole package is quite promising and having three podiums at the last three rounds is not too bad against these experienced manufacturers.

“I’m enjoying riding, have a great relationship with the team and BMW and it’s needless to say that we are heading in the right direction. I think everybody has seen that the progress we’ve made from the opening round until now has been quite impressive.”

Sykes is currently ranked eighth in the championship standings, as the series is set to resume on 6-8 September at Portimao in Portugal.

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Kawasaki Racing Team’s Leon Haslam has revealed he battled pain in his wrist during Sunday’s pair of races at the ninth round of the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) in America, which came as a result of crashing during race one on Saturday.

Despite the injury, Haslam pushed on for a duo of strong performances in the Superpole race and race two, notching up a 5-6 scorecard, granting the British ace a haul of solid points while allowing him to hang onto fifth in the championship standings.

“I felt we had good pace today and we were there for that podium pace,” said Haslam. “I could catch Tom Sykes and Alex quite comfortably but in the end I just struggled with myself, not the bike. Especially braking into left hand corners – and there are a fair few of them here.

“I was disappointed with the crash yesterday and I have suffered all day today with my wrist and the pain transferred into my shoulder because I was not riding as freely. I can’t be too unhappy as it was my mistake when we crashed in Race One, but we have had a fifth and sixth today and were not far off the podium pace.”

The WorldSBK now heads into an extended European summer break, resuming on 6-8 September at Portimao in Portugal.

Image: Supplied.

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Chaz Davies has highlighted the significance of his breakthrough victory in race two at Laguna Seca’s ninth stop of the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), which marked his first win in 15 months and his first-ever aboard the new Panigale V4 R.

Davies had gone winless since Aragon’s WorldSBK in 2018, and since the transition to the Panigale V4 R in 2019, he’s seemingly struggled to deliver the performances he’s become known for.

The British ace rode strongly all weekend long in America, pulling through with a 2-2-1 scorecard while advancing to seventh in the championship standings.

“This win really means a lot to me, because it’s been a long hard season so far,” Davies explained. “The last time I won was almost a year and a half ago and it gets to a point where you wonder whether you can still win or not. It’s just proof that if you keep plugging away and working hard then the results sooner or later will come and today was that day.

“Finally, we got it right, my team did an excellent job, in particular at the end of the FP1 session on Friday morning when we made a big change to the bike’s set-up. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I had the pace to win though, because Johnny’s pace in race one was strong and consistent while I chose the wrong tyre.

“Even so I wasn’t sure if this tyre would make the difference. I’m very happy and thrilled to get this result going into the summer break and we will all certainly celebrate tonight!”

The WorldSBK now heads into an extended European summer break, resuming on 6-8 September at Portimao in Portugal.

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Four-time defending champion Jonathan Rea admits a minor set-up change following the Superpole race made an adverse impact on his feeling with the Ninja ZX-10RR for the final outing, denying him the chance to complete a perfect weekend at Laguna Seca’s ninth round of the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK).

Rea captured victory in race one before setting a new lap record on his way to winning the Superpole race, although he was unable to challenge Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for top honours in race two, settling for second after discovering a less than ideal feeling with the front-end.

“I would never have believed you if you told me I would come here and set a new lap record, win two races and take the overall, so it has been a great weekend,” said Rea. “We made a very small change to the bike between the Superpole race and race two. My feeling was completely different, which we did not expect.

“There was a lot of front movement, whereas all weekend before that we had been strong with the front. I had a few small warnings, just enough for me to roll it back a bit, think about finishing and we got it done. I am just super-satisfied with this weekend and I did the best I could in race two. I am looking forward to the summer break now.”

Rea was able to capitalise on a poor weekend by championship rival Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), extending his points lead out to 81.

Image: Supplied.

Overcoming a wrist injury sustained just three weeks ago, it was a technical problem that ultimately marred Michael van der Mark’s weekend at Laguna Seca’s ninth round of the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), prompting him to retire just four laps into race two.

Despite battling the injury, the Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK contender lodged a 7-10 scorecard in the opening encounter and Superpole race, allowing him to hold down fourth in the championship standings.

“We made some changes for the Superpole race that didn’t quite work as we were expecting, which meant I missed out on the top nine by just one place and had to start race two from the fifth row of the grid,” van der Mark explained. “I had a really good start, made some early passes and was up to ninth at the end of the first lap.

“I felt so much better with the bike, a lot more confident and I could see the group ahead weren’t pulling away from me like they did yesterday. Once I managed to get past Loris Baz, I was feeling pretty comfortable and confident of gaining more places, but then we had a technical problem with the bike and I had to retire.

“It’s a big shame, because I was feeling better on my R1 than I had all weekend and we lost quite a lot of points. Anyway, we have a fairly long break now, of course including the 8hr race which is always a big challenge, and I’m sure we’ll be back really strong in Portimão – I love the track and I want to be fighting again to win.”

The WorldSBK now heads into an extended European summer break, resuming on 6-8 September at Portimao in Portugal.