Checa sits on top after first day of testing at Phillip Island
Privateer Ducati rider Carlos Checa set the quickest time of the first day of track action at the official tests in Phillip Island, taking his Althea Ducati to a 1’31.959 lap time. His pace was less than one second slower than the track best in this class, 1’31.050, which was set in qualifying for the 2009 race; but while the Spaniard blazed the track the four Australians in the field focussed on set ups rather than super quick laps, and finished the first day out of the top ten.
The official Ducati Xerox machine of Michel Fabrizio was second quickest in the opening sessions, 0.390 seconds behind the flying Checa around the 4.445km circuit in Victoria. Twenty four world superbike riders tested today, making the most of more than 4 ½ hours of track time in sunny and warm conditions.
Both top riders set their best times in the afternoon session, when track surface temperatures reached, 46°C, but in the slightly cooler morning session Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) was still fast enough for third in the combined times, with Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) fourth.
Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) pushed his machine to fifth place, just over half a second behind leader Checa, while another British rider, Shane Byrne (Ducati Althea) was sixth.
After suffering many injuries in 2009, Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) proved himself fast and focused on day one, going seventh, heading off Max Biaggi, on the leading Aprilia Alitalia machine. A top day for the private Ducatis in general saw Jakub Smrz ninth on his Pata B&G Racing 1098R, while DFX Ducati rider Lorenzo Lanzi rounded out the top ten.
Leading Yamaha rider was James Toseland (Sterilgarda Yamaha) 11th quickest while the top Kawasaki lap was set by Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), 13th fastest of 23 riders.
Top local rider proved to be Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and the local favourite was also the highest ranked BMW competitor, in 14th.
with a best lap of 1m32.299 s ; while the Sunshine Coast’s Chris Vermeulen was 17th fastest with a 1m33.648s lap on his Kawasaki set in the afternoon session.
Kempsey’s Andrew Pitt also improved in the latter outing, with a 1m33.699 s time putting the Team Reitwagen BMW 18th on the leader board, while Sydney’s Josh Brookes (called up this week to replace an injured Broc Parkes – see story below) on the ECHO Honda was 19th fastest with a 1m33.71 s time on what was his first day on the bike.
The world superbike teams have two further sessions tomorrow with nearly five hours of on track time scheduled. The 2010 Yamaha Phillip Island opening round of the Superbike World Championship is next weekend Feb 26-28. For tickets..www.phillipislandcircuit.com
Carlos Checa: “A very good start, quite positive. We didn’t expect this performance this early and especially not at this track, which is not easy. But we know that the Ducati can work quite well here and we arrived in Phillip Island after a quite good job in testing at Valencia. The team’s understanding of the bike is good, and also they helped me a lot to understand how to ride this bike in the right way. The feeling on the bike is special and so far it is a good experience to ride it.”
Michel Fabrizio: “We went quite well but the pace of Carlos Checa was very, very fast. I have a new engineer and we are working well. We made things better as we changed more and more on the bike but we just ran out of time in the afternoon session. We did not so bad, and I am sure we can improve tomorrow if the conditions remain good.”
Troy Corser: “It is always nice to come to Phillip Island as it is my home race. The bike is quite different to when we came here last year. Today we were testing different tyres and worked on the balance of the bike. We tried to find grip and made adjustments step by step. We are now using Nissin brakes. Their initial power is really aggressive. You actually cannot just grab the brake lever, you have to squeeze it carefully. Once you have the right setting and feel confident, the brake power is an advantage.”
Chris Vermeulen: “We actually had a lot of improvement today, mainly in the chassis and suspension side of things. We are a bit behind the regulars as we don’t really have a base setting, so we didn’t have any time to test tyres and push us up the time sheet. Then we had a small issue electronically this afternoon, which meant we lost a bit of track time. But our time is not that far out of the top eight, and I am still focussed on finishing in the top five this weekend.
Andrew Pitt : “I need a massage. We made some progress but it’s still a bit of a beast and we’re overworking the typres a bit. We’re just trying to find that elusive balance, still guessing a bit, trying to find the right direction.”
Phillip Island Official Test – Superbike 1st day Aggregate (Feb 21)
1. Carlos Checa (Spain) Ducati 1098 R 1’31.959
2. Michele Fabrizio (Italy) Ducati 1098R 1’32.349
3. Leon Haslam (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1’32.484
4. Nori Haga (Japan) Ducati 1098R 1’32.518
5. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1’32.544
6. Shane Byrne (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1’32.671
7. Max Neukirchner (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1’32.735
8. Max Biaggi (Italy) Aprilia RSV4 1000F 1’32.832
9. Jakub Smrz (Czech) Ducati 1098R 1’32.912
10. Lorenzo Lanzi (Italy) Ducati 1098R 1’32.979
14 Troy Corser (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’33.299
17 Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’33.648
18 Andrew Pitt (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’33.699
19 Joshua Brookes (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1’33.710
World Supersport’s Kenan Sofuoglu back in the mix at full pace
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Kenan Sofuoglu proved the fastest Supersport World Championship rider on display on the first day of Phillip Island testing, thanks to his morning time of 1’34.691. He was very close to his own track best of 1’34.320 with his opening day time, and has one more day to try and improve his pace even more.
Katsuaki Fujiwara’s 1’35.042 was enough for second overall, and also enough to hold off his team-mate Joan Lascorz.
Although Lascorz was the fastest rider in the afternoon session, it was run at a slower pace than the morning outings.
Michele Pirro was displaced to fourth by Lascorz’s late improvement, but he was still ahead of Fabien Foret, Eugene Laverty and two-times champion Sebastien Charpentier. ‘Seb’ was fastest Triumph BE-1 rider today, as he makes a comeback to the class in 2010.
Triumph BE1 rider David Salom improved to eighth, Miguel Praia jumping up to ninth on his Parkalgar.
Times: 1 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1’34.691; 2. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’35.042; 3. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’35.385; 4. Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1’35.536; 5. Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’35.608; 6. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1’35.641; 7. Charpentier S. (FRA) Triumph Daytona 675 1’35.735; 8. Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 1’36.344
Sydney’s Josh Brookes replaces Broc Parkes at Phillip Island world superbike opener
Australian representation in the 2010 Yamaha Phillip Island opening round of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island on February 26-28 has now returned to its original quota of four, following the announcement that Josh Brookes will deputise for injured countryman Broc Parkes.
Brookes will take the reins of Parkes’ Echo CRS Honda CBR1000RR, on a circuit where he was a prolific winner during his domestic racing years, and also where he won the 2004 world supersport round as a wildcard after a stirring battle against fellow Australian Kevin Curtain.
Brookes now competes in the British Superbike Championship, where he was fourth as rookie in 2009.
“I got the call up by the Echo-CRS team to replace Broc after he got injured so I got straight in touch with the HM Plant Honda team and asked if I could do the race and they said yes,” said Brookes. “So from then on it’s been a mad rush trying to get things organised.
“I am at Phillip Island for the test which is great because I don’t know a single thing about the bike or the team.
“This test will allow me to get to know the bike and the guys I will be working with before the race weekend.
“I’m excited to be in WSBK again, but I really don’t know what to expect just yet because history tells us that jumping on someone else’s bike at the last minute doesn’t always make a good race result.
“I always try my best and I have had great success at Phillip Island before so you just never know what will happen.
“Also to ride in front of the Aussie fans again will be amazing. I have lots of support here at home and they obviously haven’t been able to come and watch me race at the track when I am in the UK so they have been missing the JB action recently.”
Brookes hasn’t wasted any time in getting up to speed on the Echo CRS Honda and was the second fastest Aussie in this morning’s test session at Phillip Island, just 0.2secs behind dual world champion Troy Corser on his factory BMW.
In 2004, Brookes was the first rider to win the Australian superbike and supersport double, and he was third in the 2008 world supersport title, which included a victory at Donington.
— Yamaha Report
British riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow completed their first day of testing on the Phillip Island circuit in Australia today. The day was without incident barring a small crash by Crutchlow in the afternoon session. This was the first outing for the riders on the 2010 bike, both Toseland and Crutchlow focussed with their team on setting up the machine ahead of next week’s season opening race.
James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (11th 1’33.1)
“A steady day for us today. We’ve been focussing on getting the new chassis set-up right, so not been trying to break any lap records, just solid track time to fine tune the bike. I’m looking forward to getting back out tomorrow and improving on today.”
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (15th 1’33.4)
“Not the fastest day I’ve had, it doesn’t feel natural to be that low on the times, but I know we’ll improve on that tomorrow. It’s only our first day on the new bike so we’re really working hard to get the set up right so we can hit the ground running.”
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“Today was our first running in session for the new bike. The riders have been working to dial in the chassis for the Phillip Island circuit, and we will continue to do so tomorrow. We received valuable feedback from both James and Cal through both sessions and will use that to fine tune for tomorrow. Cal had a small crash this afternoon, but luckily received no injuries so can carry on as normal.
— Ducati Report
In very warm conditions (air temperature 26°, track 34°), the Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio made the most of the track time during this, the first of two days of testing before the championship opens here next weekend.
In the first of the day’s sessions both riders were immediately comfortable, setting some very fast lap times right from the start. The team worked with Noriyuki and Michel to find a strong race pace and understand which tyres will work best in the Australian heat. Having completed more than 40 laps each in the morning, Noriyuki and Michel closed that particular session with the second and third fastest laps respectively, followed by the three private Ducatis of Checa, Lanzi and Byrne.
The Superbike riders returned to the track at 3.30, the asphalt having reached 41°. Despite the heat, both riders continued to make fast laps and towards the end of the session Michel was able to improve on his best time set this morning to close day one with the second fastest time overall. Nori spend the second part of the session testing Pirelli’s different solutions, and finished today in fourth place, just two tenths of a second behind his team-mate.
Noriyuki Haga
“It’s been a positive day. We tried various things, making changes to the rear suspension setting and testing the different tyres on offer. The problem is being able to identify a direction during these test days that will also work next Sunday, it’s difficult to predict how the conditions will be in a week’s time. Anyway we’ve worked hard today and made some good progress.”
Michel Fabrizio
“It hasn’t gone badly today. We’ve worked mainly on tyres, trying to find a good race pace. We’re not quite there yet but we’ve made a good start and know what there is to do tomorrow. It’s very hot but after our recent cold and wet tests in Portimao and Valencia we can’t complain!”
— BMW Report
Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport today focussed on the basic set-up of Troy Corser’s (AUS) and Ruben Xaus’ (ESP) BMW S 1000 RR. With the first World Championship race weekend just ahead, the riders spent a lot of time out on the track. During the second session, Ruben crashed in turn 10, but was able to return to the team garage and to continue testing. The team did not face any technical problems.
Troy Corser: Bike: BMW S 1000 RR Test kilometres today: 347 (78 laps)
Fastest lap free practice 1: 1:33.766 min / Fastest lap free practice 2: 1:33.299 min
“It is always nice to come to Phillip Island as it is my home race. The bike is quite different to when we came here last year. Today we were testing different tyres and worked on the balance of the bike. We tried to find grip and made adjustments step by
step.”
Ruben Xaus: Bike: BMW S 1000 RR Test kilometres today: 316 (71 laps)
Fastest lap free practice 1: 1:34.246 min / Fastest lap free practice 2: 1:33.498 min
“Compared to last year’s season start, the bike feels a lot better. We found a lot of grip. I fell off the bike in turn 10 today. However, I was able to bring the bike back to the garage and we could improve our lap time later. So it was not a big issue.”
— Althea Ducati
Althea racing team riders Checa and Byrne started their final training for the 2010 World Superbike season at the Phillip Island circuit today, the same venue that serves as the championship kick off on Friday February 26. Althea racing team riders faced a dry track and warm temperatures today on the Australian circuit. In the morning sessions Checa reached fourth place (1,32,952). The Spanish rider was able to finish 44 laps, while Shakey completed 38 laps, ending in sixth position (1,33,147).
During the afternoon session, Checa with an excellent performance scored the best lap time of 1,31,959. Byrne was also able to improve his best lap time of 1,32,671 reaching sixth position. Althea racing team riders worked extremely hard today with their teams. First day of testing here in Phillip Island proved to be very positive for both of the riders. They still have a very full schedule to follow during the tests but are very satisfied with the improvements on the set-up of their bikes.
Carlos Checa :”It’s really surprising for me to score the best lap time here in Phillip Island in my first day of testing with my new bike and my new team. I also reached first position in Valencia, but doing it here is more significant to me because I’m a bit tired due to jet lag. In Portimao I wasn’t able to take advantage of the soft tire, but today I understood how to use my Ducati with a softer rear tire. I want to thank all of my technical staff because they helped me immensely with their elevated experience and know-how with Ducati bikes. Tomorrow I’ll be testing some new components and I’ll definitely try to improve my race pace”
Shane Byrne :”I think today was really a very good day. At the beginning everything was fine while in the middle we struggled just a little bit, but in the end the team finished by doing a very good job. Compliments to Carlos for his very impressive lap time. In the last few minutes we tried a softer tire only on the rear wheel without changing the front tire, and I was not able to improve my best lap time as much as I hoped to do. But overall, I’m really pleased because this morning I was in sixth position, but this afternoon I ended up in fourth position (the second session) and this means I’m close to the top positions. Tomorrow I’ll continue working with my team to improve my bike’s set-up and performance.
Genesio Bevilacqua – General Manager :”I’m extremely satisfied not only because of Carlos’ best lap time, but also because today we had a very good day of testing here at Phillip Island and we are pleased on how the bikes are progressing. Our riders are both very strong and I’m convinced that we are definitely in a good position to start the championship. Tomorrow’s test session is needed to finalize last important details before next week’s races.”
— Suzuki Report
Briton Leon Haslam ended the first day of the Infront Motor Sports Phillip Island World Superbike tests with the third fastest lap just behind Carlos Checa (Ducati) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati).
Despite missing his flight due to a snowbound Birmingham airport, and only arriving in the early hours of this morning, Sylvain Guintoli managed to stay awake all day and finished a very creditable 12th.
Leon Haslam – 3rd, 1:32.484: “I am really happy because we got through a lot of stuff and also managed to work through some of the tyres that we may use in next weekend’s race. I feel we’ve got a good bike set-up and good ideas which directions to take tomorrow and it has all been very positive so far.
“Phillip Island is always hard on tyres because there are so many left-handers, so you really have to choose your tyres carefully. The teamwork today has been very good and we are all getting along great. Tomorrow we’ll set up the two bikes the same and then do a back-to-back test using different tyres.”
Sylvain Guintoli – 12th, 1:33.190: “I felt fine in the morning session, but the afternoon one was a bit of a struggle towards the end. My flight was cancelled because the airport was more or less closed and so I only arrived this morning. But, I like this track and I like riding this bike at this track, so I enjoyed myself despite the jet-lag. I felt very comfortable on the bike today and now I just want to race it!”
