Kawasaki men 1-2 as Phillip Island WorldSBK Test wraps up
By Trevor Hedge
Hot conditions at Phillip Island today prevented many riders from bettering their times set in cooler conditions on Monday.
Video Highlights from Phillip Island WorldSBK Test Day Two
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One thing that rang true across both days however was that the Kawasaki Racing Team pairing of Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes are again the men to beat in WorldSBK 2016.
Tom Sykes set the fastest time on Monday and that 1m31.097 remained top dog after riders struggled with 38-degree ambient temperatures effectively roasting the 4.45km Phillip Island blacktop today, and in turn cooking the Pirelli rear hoops worn by the entire WorldSBK field.
Tom Sykes
“There were a lot of stoppages for red flags over the course of two days but I think we are in a very good situation. We are fast with the cold conditions, warmer conditions, and also with some laps on the tyres. We have finished our two days of testing in a strong way, at a track that has been one of our limits in the past. Everything is definitely heading in the right direction and we have gathered some great information. I am happy to head into the race weekend now having completed a successful test. All we have to do now is get our heads together, have a brief summary of what we have done but on the whole we have made some key changes and put ourselves in a better position for the opening race weekend.”
Marcel Duinker, Tom Sykes’ Crew Chief
“We did not get all the time we should have had for the many red flag interruptions but we came here with a good base bike from the winter tests. We made some key adjustments for this track and they worked out. Initially Tom showed good speed and also good speed over distance. Now we have two days to analyse all the steps we have made, which we will use on Friday for the first free practice session. Let’s go racing.”
Today’s honours went to Jonathan Rea, a 1m31.249 today not quite as quick as the 1m31.239 he managed yesterday, but still good enough to top Tuesday’s timesheets and confirm a Kawasaki 1-2 at the top of the combined results.
Jonathan Rea
“We got pretty much everything done. It was challenging at times because the red flags came out while we were making a constant effort with some items but in general the two days have been pretty good. We had two different conditions; one cooler one on day one and then one very hot one with really high wind. That wind made getting across from turn two to turn three so difficult. All things considered, we ticked all the boxes we needed to and we managed to do a race simulation this morning. We are ready to go into the race weekend with a package I feel comfortable on. I am just super-excited because even though it is not that long a winter in WorldSBK it feels like forever since the final race of last year in Qatar. I just want to see the lights go out and get stuck in for 22 laps at one of the best circuits in the world.”
Pere Riba, Jonathan Rea’s Crew Chief
“We tried many different things with engines and chassis in the winter tests and we built our base bike. I guess we did a good job because since the first laps yesterday the base was working well and Jonathan was already there, running at a good pace. Because we have a new bike we still had some points to confirm here. In the end we reached the target. It was good that this morning was a little bit cooler because we made a long run and really understood a lot. In the afternoon, with the very high temperatures, there was less grip in the track – but we were able to ride with a similar lap time that we had with a lower temperature. This means we made a step forward. It seems to be positive and we will keep working.”
Ducati’s Davide Giugliano obviously didn’t mind the conditions too much as the Italian dropped nearly half-a-second today to claim third quickest overall with a 1m31.400 this morning.
Davide Giugliano
“In general, I’m pretty happy about these tests. Especially, about the competitiveness shown this morning, when the climate conditions were similar to those that we should find during the race week-end. We just lack a bit of grip in the center of the corner. Unfortunately, I could not do a long-run in the afternoon because of the weather. The extreme heat does not suit a flowing riding style such as mine, and there were so many crashes and red flags that I preferred not take risks. Still, I managed to do 22 laps on the same tyre with a competitive pace.”
Michael Van Der Mark and Nicky Hayden both proved that there is still plenty of spark left in the Fireblade. The Dutchman was the quicker of the two with a 1m31.458 placing him fourth quickest while Nicky Hayden’s 1m31.558 yesterday proved good enough for seventh overall. The Honda pairing also put in the largest number of laps across the two days, 123 for Van Der Mark and 116 for Hayden. It looks as though consistency and reliability might be the ace up their sleeves for season 2016.
Michael van der Mark
“I’m really happy with how the test went. With the cooler conditions encountered yesterday we were able to be both fast and consistent and we’re really happy with that. This morning I was fast again but then we changed something on the bike and lost a bit of direction as the temperatures increased. We tried a race simulation that wasn’t perfect but towards the end of the day we made some further adjustments and the bike felt much better. I now know that we can be fast in both warmer and cooler conditions and this makes me confident for the opening round here.”
Nicky Hayden
“The test started really well and I was able to get up to speed quite quickly, despite the different behaviour of the tyres compared to the ones I used on this track in the past. We made few further adjustments that proved to be positive and the overall feeling wasn’t too bad. This afternoon I struggled a lot because of the high temperatures and we tried to make a long run, but it was really too hot; there is definitely some work to do in understanding the bike and the tyres in these conditions. It hasn’t been the perfect test for us because of yesterday’s rain and all the red flags today which messed up my rhythm. The team has worked amazingly hard, and they all did a great job. Hopefully we can make good use of the next two days to analyse the data and finalise the preparation for the weekend.”
Pieter Breddels – Honda WorldSBK Technical Manager
“It has been a positive test despite the conditions and many stoppages. Michael performed really well and no doubt he had a very good test. He quickly got up to speed and stayed in the top positions over the course of the two days. He went through a lot of settings and configurations and that gave us valuable information – especially on tyre behaviour. When it got really hot today we tried some electronic configurations to preserve the tyres and we did a long run as well. Michael is definitely ready for the weekend. Nicky needed more time to get to grips with the track on this bike and to get some much needed experience on what is still a new type of tyre for him. At the end of the first day he put together a fast lap that was kind of a breakthrough and only 1/10th of a second off Michael’s best, while on the second day he had a bit of a harder time due to the extreme conditions encountered in the afternoon. Overall we are confident for the weekend ahead and we are looking forward to it.”
Sylvain Guintoli’s 1m31.473 from yesterday placed the new Yamaha YZF-R1 pilot fifth on combined times, the Frenchman suffering a fall this afternoon.
Jordi Torres was the fastest BMW rider on both Monday and Tuesday. The Spaniard’s 1m31.526 on Monday good enough for sixth on combined times but a fall today leaves the team with plenty of repairs to do ahead of this weekend.
Jordi Torres
“Yesterday we completed many laps and were able to learn a lot thanks to the information that the bike gave us. It was a solid test day that I finished in third position overall (1’31.526). Today the track conditions were very different to yesterday and we had a lot of work to do. It was hotter, there was less grip and in the end I crashed – we still need to understand how that happened. When you’re getting to know a bike, you test things step by step and look for the limit… And sometimes a crash is how you find that limit! Anyway, I got back on the bike for session two and closed the test in sixth place overall. With regard to one race on Saturday and another on Sunday, I’m not sure how it will go, having a night between the two. It’s a new experience and we’ll deal with it. All I know is we have one less session that would have been useful to me. I liked having both races on a Sunday, but we’ll see how this new formula works.”
Alex Lowes was eighth quickest behind Nicky Hayden. Lowes 1m31.62 from Monday afternoon good enough to just keep out Xavi Fores, the Ducati rider having to settle for ninth on combined times ahead of Chaz Davies. All three of those riders failed to improve today.
Chaz Davies
“In the morning I focused on getting back the feeling and confidence on the bike after crashing out towards the end of yesterday’s session. I also did a race simulation, whose results were quite good. Our gap from the leaders has been reduced, and honestly I think I could have pushed more, both myself and the Panigale R. In the afternoon it was impossible to improve the lap times, as the temperature went through the roof, but today the general goal was simply to verify the competitiveness of our package without crashing, so I feel confident ahead of the race week-end.”
Marcus Reiterberger just missed out on the top ten, today the German could not get near the 1m31.928 he set on Monday afternoon.
Marcus Reiterberger
“Yesterday was my first experience at this track and I quickly got to grips with the layout. It’s easy to learn but not so easy to go fast right away, in the end I was down in eleventh but the gap from first place was only 8 tenths (1’31.928). Today was a difficult but important day, because we learned a lot testing new technical solutions on the bike, particularly in terms of electronics and chassis. The setting was not right but it allowed us to understand which path to take. I didn’t expect to crash and afterwards I didn’t feel very comfortable; then we changed the suspension and I closed the second session in fifth place and this has given me a morale boost ahead of the race weekend.”
Josh Brookes failed to make any significant steps forward as the Milwaukee squad adapts to the BMW S 1000 RR in 2016 after Brookes took the British Superbike Championship crown in 2015 when the Shaun Muir managed squad campaigned Yamaha machinery. Hopefully Brookes and the squad at least now know the wrong direction and thus have a good grasp on the right direction to take this weekend when the WorldSBK season opener plays out at Phillip Island.
Nevertheless the 1m32.714 from Monday morning still made Brookes the fastest Aussie ahead of Mike Jones, who suffered some technical issues with his Ducati today, and also failed to improve on his Monday time. Jones’ 1m33.051 on the Ducati yesterday marginally quicker than he managed last year on his ASBK specification Kawasaki ZX-10R. Jones put in a 1m33.05 yesterday backed up by a best of 1m33.42 this morning and then 1m33.24 this afternoon. One of his machines has been plagued by electronic problems thus a lot of the time Jones has been running without traction control, wheelie control or engine braking control. Thus despite the lack of an improved time, due to the extreme heat and technical issues today, it is likely the 21-year-old and the Troy Bayliss backed DesmoSport Ducati squad still made significant progress in the set-up of their machine.
Josh Hook had a fall today as he gets to grips with the ZX-10R, the Taree youngster is riding a 2015 model Kawasaki and could not match the times he set on the Team Honda Racing Fireblade during the WorldSBK support races last year. He certainly was trying though, perhaps a little too hard as he fell at turn two and broke his shoulder. The 23-year-old is seeing a specialist in Melbourne tomorrow morning but is unlikely to race this weekend. As is par for the course, Hook will still need clearance from the circuit’s Chief Medical Officer later in the week to be allowed to compete in the weekend’s two 22-lap races.
Video Interview with Josh Hook before his crash this afternoon
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This shot of Hook was taken this evening, broken shoulder and all, putting on a brave face after being diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder and “greater tubercle fracture” (a small fracture in shoulder).
Fabio Menghi suffered a fall at the fast turn 11 and was taken to hospital after possibly suffering fractures to both his pelvis and shoulder.
Top Speeds
Impressive lap-times for the new YZF-R1 but the Yamaha still appears to be down a little on top end horsepower. The fastest Yamaha through the traps today registering 311.2km/h, equal to the Ducati pairing of Davies and Giugliano, but a long way shy of the 320.5km/h of the BMW ridden by Jordi Torres. The Aprilia of Alex De Angelis was second quickest through the traps at 318.6km/h ahead of Rea’s ZX-10R which stopped the beams at 318.6. Next fastest were the two BMW S 1000 RR machines of Reiterberger and Abraham while the two Honda men registered identical 315.8km/h trap speeds.
World Superbike 2016 – Phillip Island Test – Combined Times – Monday/Tuesday
- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki 1m31.097 (Mon)
- Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki 1m31.249 (Tue)
- Davide Giugliano – Ducati – 1m31.400 (Tue)
- Michael Van Der Mark – Honda – 1m31.458 (Tue)
- Sylvain Guintoli – Yamaha – 1m31.473 (Tue)
- Jordi Torres – BMW – 1m31.526 (Mon)
- Nicky Hayden – Honda – 1m31.558 (Mon)
- Alex Lowes – Yamaha – 1m31.620 (Mon)
- Xavi Fores – Ducati – 1m31.661 (Mon)
- Chaz Davies – Ducati – 1m31.678 (Mon)
- Marcus Reiterberger – BMW – 1m31.928 (Mon)
- Roman Ramos – Kawasaki – 1m32.478 (Tue)
- Lorenzo Savadori – Aprilia – 1m32.587 (Tue)
- Leon Camier – MV Agusta – 1m32.702 (Tue)
- Josh Brookes – BMW – 1m32.714 (Mon)
- Mike Jones – Ducati – 1m33.051 (Mon)
- Sylvain Barrier – Kawasaki – 1m33.147 (Mon)
- Fabio Menghi – Ducati – 1m33.251 9Mon)
- Alex De Angelis – Aprilia – 1m33.323 (Tue)
- Josh Hook – Kawasaki – 1m33.792 (Mon)
- Karel Abraham – BMW – 1m34.062 (Tue)
- Dominic Schmitter – Kawasaki – 1m34.664 (Tue)
- Al Sulaiti – Kawasaki – 1m34.942 (Tue)
- Peter Sebestyen – Yamaha – 1m35.541 (Tue)
- Imre Toth – Yamaha – 1m36.150 (Tue)
World Superbike 2016 Round One at Phillip Island this weekend
The WorldSBK riders will now take two days off before round one kicks off on Friday. The 22-lap WorldSBK races will be held at 3:00pm on Saturday and Sunday, and the world supersport race starts at 1:30pm on Sunday.
There will also be back-to-back support racing in Aussie superbikes, supersport and Moto3/125GP, as well as historics.
For information on this weekend’s (Feb 26-28) opening round of the 2016 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship, Yamaha Finance round, at Phillip Island GP circuit go to www.worldsbk.com.au Tickets on sale via www.ticketek.com.au till Wednesday Feb 24 at 4pm; then at gate.
World Superbike 2016 – Phillip Island Test – Day Two Times
- Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki – 1m31.249
- Davide Giugliano – Ducati – 1m31.400
- Michael Van Der Mark – Honda – 1m31.458
- Sylvain Guintoli – Yamaha – 1m31.473
- Nicky Hayden – Honda – 1m31.585
- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki – 1m31.885
- Chaz Davies – Ducati – 1m31.938
- Alex Lowes – Yamaha – 1m31.958
- Xavi Fores – Ducati – 1m32.109
- Jordi Torres – BMW – 1m32.202
- Marcus Reiterberger – BMW – 1m32.272
- Roman Ramos – Kawasaki – 1m32.478
- Lorenzo Savadori – Aprilia – 1m32.587
- Leon Camier – MV Agusta – 1m32.702
- Josh Brookes – BMW – 1m32.903
- Sylvain Barrier – Kawasaki – 1m33.314
- Mike Jones – Ducati – 1m33.420
- Fabio Menghi – Ducati – 1m33.622
- Josh Hook – Kawasaki – 1m33.850
- Alex De Angelis – Aprilia – 1m33.882
- Karel Abraham – BMW – 1m34.062
- Al Sulaiti – Kawasaki – 1m34.942
- Dominic Schmitter – Kawasaki – 1m35.038
- Peter Sebestyen – Yamaha – 1m35.541
- Imre Toth – Yamaha – 1m36.150
Pirelli choose solutions for Phillip Island WorldSBK race weekend
Following the data and information received from the riders, Pirelli has decided to confirm for the race weekend all of the solutions that were used during testing, in addition to other development solutions that Pirelli will provide.
Specifically in the Superbike class the riders, on top of the intermediate and rain tyres that are always present in all rounds in the event of adverse weather conditions, will have six slick solutions, two front and four rear. The front options, both also used during testing, are the development SC1 S1699, much appreciated by the riders as well as being the front solution most used in 2015, and the standard SC2, the medium compound option that appeals to many riders who prefer a compact tread strip as well as greater solidity, stability and precision when driving and entering curves.
With regards to the rear options, they are all SC1 developments: two were on track during the tests while two are completely new options for the riders. Those used in the tests are the T1105, the reference solution of 2015, and the S1867, the other option used last year. The alternatives not present in the tests are represented by the U0794 and the U1147: the first is a further development of the T1105 compared to which it presents a compound able to ensure greater stability with particularly high temperatures, while the second is still a development of the T1105 but, in this case, more suitable for average temperatures.
In addition each rider who makes it to the second Superpole session will be able to use one rear qualifier tyre.
In Supersport riders can count on two front and three rear solutions. At the front the standard SC1 and SC2 already present in the test will be available, for the rear the options are all in SC1 compounds: in addition to the standard SC1 and the development SC1 U1148 which were already seen in action during the tests, there will be a third option, the U1149, which like the U1148 is in the increased 1
