JUST TWO DAYS TO GO ON THE $99* THREE DAY TICKET DEAL
World superbike week kicks off today with the final official pre season test for the world’s leading world superbike and world supersport teams today and tomorrow, ahead of Australia’s opening round of the 2014 Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island this weekend (Feb 21-23).
Bike fans keen to save should book today with just two days to go on the deal of the decade – a $99* THREE day general admission pass. The deal closes on Wednesday at 2pm local time from when gate prices come into play. All children 15 and under, accompanied by an adult, are FREE. Trackside camping is $80* for four nights per adult, with children 15 and under, accompanied by and adult, FREE.
Tickets are available now on www.worldsbk.com.au or by calling the hotline on 1300 728 007.
FINAL, OFFICIAL PRE SEASON TEST
In the final official pre season test, sorld superbike teams are on track at 11am and 3.30pm Monday; while world supersport takes the early 9am slot, and returns for a second session at 1.30pm. Testing continues Tuesday, before a lay day Wednesday, media day Thursday, and Australia’s QBE round one from Friday to Sunday.
Today’s test sessions will give a good indication of early season form and will feature all eight world superbike marques competing at Phillip Island including world champion Tom Sykes on the Kawasaki, Marco Melandri joining Sylvain Guintoli at Aprilia; and the new Suzuki pairing of Eugene Laverty and British superbike champion Alex Lowes.
Honda continues with their squad of Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam; while Ducati moves forward with Brit Chaz Davies and Sylvain Barrier flies the flag for BMW with an EVO spec BMW S1000 RR.
New to the grid for 2014 will be the legendary grand prix marque, the Italian bike MV Agusta, with Claudio Corti at the helm; and American brand, Erik Buell Racing, with two Buell bikes campaigned by Geoff May and Aaron Yates.
Much attention will be focussed on the new Superbike EVO sub class, which will combine superbike-spec chassis with superstock-spec engines, and will become standard across the entire world superbike field in 2015.
In world supersport, Australia’s Bryan Staring will be on track on the Rivamoto Honda, as well at Aussie wildcards Melbourne’s Ryan Taylor (Yamaha) and Adelaide’s Billy McConnell (Triumph).
Australia’s fast flowing Victorian circuit on Phillip Island is a rider favourite, and after its 2012 resurfacing, produces the fastest average speed lap on the world superbike and MotoGP calendar. Phillip Island is the most visited circuit in world superbike history, and this weekend signals the 24th running of the event at the island.
Tickets are available now on www.worldsbk.com.au or by calling the hotline on 1300 728 007. *plus processing fee
EVENT SCHEDULE WSBK Phillip Island, Australia 21 – 23 February 2014
Thursday February 20th
11.00 / TRACK SAFETY INSPECTION
12.00 – 13.00 / RIDERS TRACK FAMILIARISATION
13.30 – 14.00 / AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC FREE PRACTICE 1
14.05 – 14.35 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERSPORT FREE PRACTICE 1
14.40 – 15.10 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE/PROSTOCK FREE PRACTICE 1
15.15 – 15.45 / AUSTRALIAN JUNIORS FREE PRACTICE 1
15.30 / WSS RIDERS BRIEFING
15.50 – 16.20 / AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC FREE PRACTICE 2
17.15 / WSBK RIDERS BRIEFING
17.30 – 19.00 / WSS TECHNICAL/SPORTING CHECKS
Friday February 21st
08.00 – 08.10 / RACING TRACK SYSTEM TEST
08.20 – 08.40 / AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC QUALIFYING 1
08.45 – 10.15 / WSBK TECHNICAL/SPORTING CHECKS
08.45 – 09.00 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERSPORT FREE PRACTICE 2
09.05 – 09.20 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE/PROSTOCK FREE PRACTICE 2
09.30 FIM TRACK INSPECTION
10.00 – 10.45 / WSS FREE PRACTICE 1
10.55 – 11.10 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERSPORT QUALIFYING 1
11.15 – 11.30 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE/PROSTOCK QUALIFYING 1
11.45 – 12.30 / WSBK FREE PRACTICE 1 (TIMED FOR QUALIFYING)
12.40 – 13.10 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERSPORT QUALIFYING 2
13.45 – 14.30 / WSS FREE PRACTICE 2
14.40 – 15.00 / AUSTRALIAN JUNIORS FREE PRACTICE 2
15.30 – 16.15 / WSBK FREE PRACTICE 2 (TIMED FOR QUALIFYING)
16.20 – 16.50 / PIT WALK
16.25 – 16.45 / AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC RACE 1 (5 LAPS)
16.55 – 17.25 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE/PROSTOCK QUALIFYING 2
17.30 – 17.50 / AUSTRALIAN JUNIORS QUALIFYING 1
Saturday February 22nd
08.00 – 08.10 / RACING TRACK SYSTEM TEST
08.25 – 08.30 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERSPORT WARM-UP
08.35 – 08.40 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE/PROSTOCK WARM-UP
08.50 – 09.15 / AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC RACE 2 (6 LAPS)
09.25 / FIM TRACK INSPECTION
09.45 – 10.30 / WSBK FREE PRACTICE 3 (TIMED FOR QUALIFYING)
10.45 – 11.30 / WSS FREE PRACTICE 3
11.40 – 12.05 / JUNIORS RACE 1 (6 LAPS)
12.30 – 13.00 / WSBK FREE PRACTICE 4 (NOT TIMED FOR QUALIFYING)
13.25 – 13.45 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERSPORT RACE 1 (10 LAPS)
13.55 – 14.15 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE/PROSTOCK RACE 1 (12 LAPS)
14.15 – 14.45 / PIT WALK
14.15 – 14.40 / STUNT RIDER
15.00 – 15.15 / WSBK SUPERPOLE 1
15.25 – 15.40 / WSBK SUPERPOLE 2
15.55 – 16.40 / WSS QUALIFYING
16.55 – 17.20 / AUSTRALIAN HISTORIC RACE 3 (6 LAPS)
17.35 – 17.55 / AUSTRALIAN JUNIORS RACE 2 (6 LAPS)
Sunday February 23rd
08.00 – 08.10 / RACING TRACK SYSTEM TEST
08.35 – 08.40 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERSPORT WARM-UP
08.45 – 08.50 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE/PROSTOCK WARM-UP
09.00 / FIM TRACK INSPECTION
09.20 – 09.35 / WSBK WARM-UP
09.45 – 10.00 / WSS WARM-UP
10.10 – 10.35 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERSPORT RACE 2 (10 LAPS)
10.45 – 11.00 / AUSTRALIAN JUNIORS RACE 3 (5 LAPS)
11.05 – 11.20 / 2 SEATER RIDES
11.05 – 11.30 / PIT WALK
11.20 – 11.35 / ALFA ROMEO LAPS EXPERIENCE
12.00 / WSBK RACE 1 (22 LAPS KM 97.790)
13.10 / WSS RACE (18 LAPS KM 80.010)
14.40 / WSBK RACE 2 (22 LAPS KM 97.790)
15.50 / AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE/PROSTOCK RACE 2 (12 LAPS)
2014 Superbike World Championship Round One Phillip Island Statistical Smorgasbord
- Three podiums out of six races run in Phillip Island for Marco Melandri, one in each season: he was second in Race 1 in 2012 behind Max Biaggi and third in Race 2 both in 2011 and in 2013. Melandri retired here only last year in Race 1, when he was hit by Checa: in all his other races, he always finished in the first six, albeit never starting from the front row (his best grid result here is a fifth, posted last year).
- Sylvain Guintoli won the opening round of the Championship last year here in Phillip Island, finishing second in Race 2. He counts another podium finish, a third in Race 1 in 2012. In 2011, the year in which he obtained his best grid spot here, third, he fell in Race 1 fracturing his right hand and his left ankle, being thus forced to miss the second race. In 2010, at his first Superbike races on this track, he was sixth and fourth, in his second WSBK race weekend.
- Sylvain Barrier is at his second World Superbike race weekend: last year BMW, as a present for his birthday and his Championship-winning campaign in Superstock 1000, fielded a bike for him in Jerez. Sylvain never raced in Phillip Island.
- One podium out of ten races run here for Tom Sykes: second in race two in 2012. A hard-earned podium, as he overtook Jonathan Rea only in the last lap. Sykes’s results here are though remarkable: he missed on a points finish only once, in 2010 in race two, when an o’ring in his steering damper broke. Since 2011 he always finished in the first nine, being twice fifth last year. The regning WSBK Champion started from pole here in 2012. In all the seven races he finished here since 2010, Sykes was always the best-classified rider for Kawasaki.
- Four Superbike races for David Salom in Phillip Island: at his debut in the championship, back in 2009, he was 25th and 21st, while in 2012 he managed a 14th in Race 1, retiring in Race 2. He started from pole the 2011 Supersport race, finishing fourth behind Luca Scassa, Broc Parkes and Sam Lowes: the four were separated only by three tenths of a second under the chequered flag.
- Loris Baz last year was sixth in Race 1, while he had to retire in Race 2, hit by Chaz Davies at the hairpin.
- Four World Superbike races so far for Alex Lowes, in 2011: Brno and Silverstone, as a replacement for injured Jonathan Rea. He saw the chequered flag only once, in Brno in Race 1 (15th): he then retired three times (2 falls). Lowes is the reigning British Superbike champion.
- Eugene Laverty last year scored the same results of his team-mate, Sylvain Guintoli: second and first. In Race 1 he was passed by Guintoli, managing to contain Michel Fabrizio, while in Race 2 he followed Sylvain up to the penultimate lap, when he overtook him for the win. These are his only podium finishes in Phillip Island: in 2012 he was suffering from a fracture, the result of a fall in the testing sessions held here; he retired in Race 1 and was eighth in Race 2, while in 2011, despite taking the lead in Race 1, he was fourth at the flag and was only fifteenth in Race 2, after suffering from a false neutral which resulted in an off-track excursion while he was running fifth.
- Ten Superbike races in Phillip Island for Jonathan Rea, but not a single podium placement. Interestingly, Rea finished fourth here three times (2010 Race 1, 2011 Race 2 and 2012 Race 2). His results here are remarkable: always in the points and nine times out of ten in the top-10. The only time that he missed on a top-10 spot here was in 2011 in Race 1, when he was suffering from a fall in testing (dislocated wrist). This is one of the few tracks in which Jonathan raced but didn’t manage a podium finish, the others being: Aragon, Monza, Moscow, Valencia and Losail. During his career, Rea climbed on the podium in eleven different tracks, winning in seven of them.
- Leon Haslam lived here in 2010 a magic weekend: maiden pole and win (in Race 1, with only 0”004 seconds over Michel Fabrizio) and second in Race 2, pipped on the finish line by Carlos Checa. Haslam counts two more podium finishes here: a third, taken from Fabrizio on the last lap in Race 2 in 2009, and a third in 2011 in Race 1. Last year he was seventh and tenth.
- The last race in Phillip Island for Toni Elias dates back 2012, when he was 18th in grid and 12th in the Moto2 race. Elias never climbed on the podium here in his MotoGP and Moto2 years: his best result here is from his 125cc. days, when he was third in 2001 behind Youichi Ui and Manuel Poggiali. In 250cc. he was fifth both in 2002 and 2004.
- Niccolò Canepa was seventh in grid in his only Superbike weekend here, the 2012 one: he wasn’t lucky in Race 1, when an off-track excursion on the second lap put him in last place (he eventually finished 20th), while in Race 2 he finished tenth. In the 2009 MotoGP weekend, Canepa wounded his right elbow in free practice and had to undergo surgery.
- The only experience for Luca Scassa in Phillip Island dates back 2009, when he was 20th in both races. At the time he was at his second Superbike weekend after his debut in Portimao.
- Sheridan Morais comes back to the World Championship since his 2010 races in his home country, South Africa. Morais raced here two Supersport races, finishing sixth in 2012.
- Michel Fabrizio is about to start his seventeenth and eighteenth Superbike races in Phillip Island: in the previous sixteen he managed four podiums, the last one last year in Race 1, third from third on the grid. Sadly, that was his only podium finish of the season: in the rest of the championship he never managed to equal his Phillip Island results (he was also fourth in race two). Michel was very close to a win here in 2010 in race one, when he was second at the flag for only 0”004 seconds, alongside Leon Haslam.
- Three World Supersport races for Imre Toth in Phillip Island: his best result was a fifteenth in 2011. Peter Sebestyen will be the youngest starter in 2014: 20 years younger than Foret, the oldest. Peter raced in the 125cc World Championship, but never in Phillip Island. Toth e Sebestyen will be the first Hungarian riders to take part in World Superbike races outside Europe. The last Hungarian rider in grid was Viktor Kispataki, in Brno, 2012.
- Last year Chaz Davies was the first BMW rider in race one, in fourth, while in race two everything went wrong: he hit Baz at the hairpin, puncturing his tyre and in the ensuing pit-stop, more than three mechanics worked on his bike, incurring in a penalty, finishing only 17th. In 2012 he had to withdraw from the races after fracturing his left wrist in qualifying.
- The best result for Davide Giugliano in his four races run here was a sixth in race two last year.
- Only two races for Fabien Foret in Phillip Island in the eni FIM Superbike World Championship: in 2006, when he retired in Race 1 and was 18th in Race 2. No less than thirteen Supersport races for him here, culminating in his win from pole in 2007. At the time Foret was able to take a Kawasaki Supersport bike on the top step of the podium after a four-year drought. The last Supersport podium for Foret here came two years ago, when he was second to Kenan Sofuoglu for only 0”078 seconds. Jeremy Guarnoni, coming from the Superstock 600 and 1000 championships, never raced in Phillip Island.
- The last race for Claudio Corti in Phillip Island, came last year, when he was 17th in MotoGP. Claudio was fourth in the 2011 Moto2 race.
- Aaron Yates will be the only rider of the 2014 field which raced in the World championship in the ‘90s. He was a wild card in Laguna Seca in 1997 and 1998. Aaron Yates and Geoff May will be the first American riders since 2012, when John Hopkins was a works Suzuki rider. The United States are in second place for wins in Superbikes, together with Australia, at 118 wins, behind Great Britain (133).
TEAMS
- Aprilia is the team to beat this year in Phillip Island, not only because they scored a double with their works riders in both races, but also because in race one they locked the podium with Guintoli-Laverty-Fabrizio. Aprilia racked up ten podium places here, while their pole count is at two, scored in the 2000-2001 period, by Troy Corser.
- In the last three seasons BMW managed one podium finish in each year: Leon Haslam was third in Race 1 in 2011, Marco Melandri was then second in Race 1 in 2012 and third in Race 2 last year.
- Ducati won 22 times out of 45 races run in Phillip Island, the last one two years ago with Carlos Checa. Last year they hit trouble as Checa (on pole) and Badovini, both injured themselves, so that at the start of Race 2 there were no works Ducati and the only privateer, Neukirchner, finished eleventh.
- Honda is second to Ducati for podium finishes in Phillip Island: 25 to 51. Their last top-3 finish however dates back 2009, when Leon Haslam was third in Race 2. In the last four years, only Jonathan Rea was able to take a Honda close to the podium, finishing fourth three times (2010 Race 1, 2011 Race 2 and 2012 Race 2). The last of the four Honda wins here came in 2007, Race 2, by James Toseland.
- Kawasaki lived their best period here in the nineties, taking five wins and thirteen podium places in the 1990-1997 timespan. Recently the Japanese manufacturer added only one top-three finish, when Sykes was third in Race 2 in 2012 starting from pole.
- Four wins and thirteen podium placements for Suzuki in Phillip Island: the last Suzuki rider to climb on the podium here was Leon Haslam, winner in Race 1 in 2010 and second in Race 2. Since then, Suzuki missed on a top-5 placement both in qualifying and in the races.
MILESTONES IN PHILLIP ISLAND
- 1990, Race 2: first win for Rob Phillis. In the same weekend Peter Goddard recorded his only pole position;
- 1991, Race 1: first win for Kevin Magee;
- 1994: first win and first podium for Anthony Gobert in race 1, he doubled up in race 2;
- 2000: first win and first fastest lap for Aprilia by Troy Corser in Race 2;
- 2004: first win for Garry McCoy (in Race 2), first podium for Chris Vermeulen (in Race 1);
- 2005: first pole for Yukio Kagayama, first podium for Max Neukirchner in Race 2;
- 2008: 250th fastest race lap for Ducati, scored by Max Biaggi (Race 2);
- 2009: Ben Spies scored his maiden pole in his debut race (seventh in history) and won Race 2.
- 2009:Maiden fastest lap for BMW. Excluding the first race of the Championship (Donington 1988), it was the first time a manufacturer was able to set the fastest lap in its maiden race.
- 2009:Win number 275 for Ducati in race two by Noriyuki Haga.
- 2010: first pole, win and fastest lap for Leon Haslam, maiden fastest lap for Sylvain Guintoli;
- 2011: first podium for Marco Melandri.
- 2012: 80th win for an Italian rider in Superbike, thanks to Max Biaggi. Max, at his seventeenth win, reached Frankie Chili as the most successful Italian rider in history, a record he will eventually improve, closing his career with twenty-one wins.
- 2013: 10th pole position for Carlos Checa, 100th race for Jonathan Rea;
Stats by Michele Merlino
Provisional Phillip Island World Superbike Entry List
1 33 Marco Melandri ITA Aprilia RSV4 1000 Factory Aprilia Racing Team
2 50 Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia RSV4 1000 Factory Aprilia Racing Team
3 52 Sylvain Barrier FRA BMW S1000 RR EVO BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team
4 1 Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki ZX-10R Kawasaki Racing Team
5 44 David Salom ESP Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO Kawasaki Racing Team
6 76 Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki ZX-10R Kawasaki Racing Team
7 22 Alex Lowes GBR Suzuki GSX-R1000 Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
8 58 Eugene Laverty IRL Suzuki GSX-R1000 Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
9 65 Jonathan Rea GBR Honda CBR1000RR PATA Honda World Superbike Team
10 91 Leon Haslam GBR Honda CBR1000RR PATA Honda World Superbike Team
11 24 Toni Elias ESP Aprilia RSV4 1000 Factory Red Devils Roma
12 59 Niccolò Canepa ITA Ducati 1199 Panigale R EVO Althea Racing
13 21 Alessandro Andreozzi ITA Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO Team Pedercini
14 23 Luca Scassa ITA Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO Team Pedercini
15 32 Sheridan Morais RSA Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO IRON BRAIN Kawasaki SBK Team
16 84 Michel Fabrizio ITA Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO IRON BRAIN Kawasaki SBK Team
17 10 Imre Toth HUN BMW S1000 RR BMW Team Toth
18 56 Peter Sebestyen HUN BMW S1000 RR EVO BMW Team Toth
19 7 Chaz Davies GBR Ducati 1199 Panigale R Ducati Superbike Team
20 34 Davide Giugliano ITA Ducati 1199 Panigale R Ducati Superbike Team
21 9 Fabien Foret FRA Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO MAHI Racing Team India
22 11 Jeremy Guarnoni FRA Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO MRS Kawasaki
23 71 Claudio Corti ITA MV Agusta F4 RR MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich Motorsport
24 20 Aaron Yates USA EBR 1190 RX Team Hero EBR
25 99 Geoff May USA EBR 1190 RX Team Hero EBR
Provisional World Superbike Phillip Island Entry List
1 54 Kenan Sofuoglu TUR Kawasaki ZX-6R MAHI Racing Team India
2 16 Jules Cluzel FRA MV Agusta F3 675 MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich Motorsport
3 65 Vladimir Leonov RUS MV Agusta F3 675 MV Agusta RC-Yakhnich Motorsport
4 26 Lorenzo Zanetti ITA Honda CBR600RR PATA Honda World Supersport Team
5 60 Michael van der Mark NED Honda CBR600RR PATA Honda World Supersport Team
6 21 Florian Marino FRA Kawasaki ZX-6R Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
7 99 Patrick Jacobsen USA Kawasaki ZX-6R Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres
8 88 Kev Coghlan GBR Yamaha YZF R6 DMC Panavto-Yamaha
9 161 Alexey Ivanov RUS Yamaha YZF R6 DMC Panavto-Yamaha
10 67 Bryan Staring AUS Honda CBR600RR Rivamoto
11 11 Christian Gamarino ITA Kawasaki ZX-6R Team GO Eleven
12 44 Roberto Rolfo ITA Kawasaki ZX-6R Team GO Eleven
13 24 Marco Bussolotti ITA Honda CBR600RR Team Lorini
14 84 Riccardo Russo ITA Honda CBR600RR Team Lorini
15 4 Jack Kennedy IRL Honda CBR600RR CIA Insurance Honda
16 7 Nacho Calero ESP Honda CBR600RR CIA Insurance Honda
17 5 Roberto Tamburini ITA Kawasaki ZX-6R San Carlo Puccetti Racing
18 61 Fabio Menghi (1) ITA Yamaha YZF R6 VFT Racing
19 14 Ratthapark Wilairot THA Honda CBR600RR Core PTR Honda
20 35 Raffaele De Rosa ITA Honda CBR600RR Core PTR Honda
21 89 Fraser Rogers GBR Honda CBR600RR Com Plus SMS Racing
22 9 Tony Coveña NED Kawasaki ZX-6R Kawasaki Ponyexpres Intermoto
23 19 Kevin Wahr GER Yamaha YZF R6 Team RS Wahr by Kraus Racing
Wild Card
24 52 Ryan Taylor AUS Yamaha YZF R6 Oz Wildcard Racing
One Event
25 3 Billy McConnell AUS Triumph 675 R Smiths Triumph
26 81 Graeme Gowland GBR Triumph 675 R Smiths Triumph
