One of the biggest talking points ahead of the test and, undoubtedly after, is the return to action of Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team). After breaking his scaphoid near the end of the winter break, the Spaniard was forced to sit out Sepang and lose valuable time on the Honda, but now he’ll be able to get another three days of familiarisation under his belt as he joins new teammate Marc Marquez on track. Marquez himself is also a talking point but this season not just for win rate – the reigning Champion put in a much lower lap load in Malaysia that he often has at testing in the past, and although he was pretty quick, he said his shoulder is still not 100% and he’s not riding in his usual style. How much further along will the seven-time World Champion be in his recovery by the Qatar Test and, after that, the race weekend?
Looking for technical clothing that doesn’t look like an experiment in science and color? The Aether Mojave jacket is an excellent three-season traveling buddy.
Back in Ireland, Tony has held a number of different positions within his own national federation, the MCUI, covering road racing and off road competition. Having served as a board member in MCUI from 1990 to 2003, he has always enjoyed a close working relationship with his colleagues back home who have been supportive of him throughout his FIM career.
A 33-year-old rider has died after hitting a cow early on Tuesday morning (February 19, 2019), prompting a call for mandatory reflective ear or tail tags for cattle as used in Scotland.
Beef farmer Terry Moody of Upper Clarence Combined Landcare says it’s a major safety issue that has been exacerbated by an increase in Black Angus cattle which are harder to see in low-light conditions.
The rider hit the cow on Eltham Rd near Lismore before 5am.
Police say a report on the fatality will be prepared for the Coroner and Richmond Police District officers are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“The number of times I’ve nearly hit black cows is ridiculous,” Terry says.
Terry says the number of Black Angus cattle has increased 30% in the past 10 years because of the McDonald’s promotion of Angus Burgers.
Black Angus
Cattle warning
Terry says he is not a rider, but he recently ran his truck into an “invisible herd” of the black cattle on a major highway, narrowly missing several cattle.
“I came over the hill on a state highway doing 100km and at the last second saw a herd of black cattle right in front of me,” he says.
“They are getting loose because there is no rain, so they are madly trying to find feed and breaking out of paddocks on to the road.”
Terry says it is the land holder’s responsibility to keep cattle fenced in.
“I’ve spoken to a couple of the tag manufacturers and they say they are having trouble getting them to work but they do in Scotland” he says.
“For the sake of someone developing a decent reflective tag, more motorists could die.”
“We’re hearing of a lot of crashes in country areas, usually after 3pm and on a weekend you are at the biggest risk,” he says.
“These B roads aren’t as well managed by local councils, they don’t have the vision of A roads and they have more access to farms and properties,” he says.
“If the fences are down, the animals can get out.
“I’ve heard that if they are hungry or thirsty cattle will work their way through fences if they see water or feed.
“With the current drought conditions, it’s a bigger problem for motorcyclists.
Wagner and Maxwell complete the top three as Liminton tops Supersport category.
Image: Russell Colvin,
DesmoSport Ducati’s Troy Bayliss has opened proceedings with the fastest time in practice at Phillip Island’s first round of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).
The three-time world superbike champion set a blistering 1m32.478s time, finishing comfortably ahead of Aiden Wagner (Yamaha) on the timesheets, who concluded practice with a 1m32.873s lap.
The top three was rounded by Wayne Maxwell’s (Team Suzuki Ecstar Australia) 1m33.09s lap-time ahead teammate Josh Waters in fourth with a 1m33.131s lap, as 2018 Supersport champion Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) was fifth after recording a best-lap of 1m33.360s.
Daniel Falzon (Yamaha Racing Team) was just outside the top five in sixth, followed by Mike Jones (Kawasaki), Bryan Staring (BCperformance Kawasaki), Glenn Allerton (Maxima BMW) and reigning champion Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing).
In the Supersport category, Nic Liminton topped the times with a flying 1m37.411s after completing 15 laps, edging out Callum Spriggs (Yamaha) and Aiden Hayes (Yamaha), who wound up with 1m37.844s and 1m37.921s times respectively.
Fourth and fifth were credited to Reid Battye (Team Suzuki Ecstar Australia) and Ty Lynch (Yamaha), while title favourite Tom Toparis (Landbridge Transport Yamaha) opted out of the session as he takes on double duties this weekend, landing a wildcard opportunity in WorldSSP.
Max Stauffer (Yamaha) was quickest in the Supersport 300 class, edging out Senna Agius (Kawasaki) and Locky Taylor (Yamaha), as the the top five was completed by Harry Khouri (Yamaha) and Seth Crump (KTM). Bikes will return to the circuit tomorrow for the opening day of racing, along with the opening session of the FIM Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK).
Motorcyclists can now use more bus lanes in Melbourne indefinitely under an extension to an already six-year bus-lane trial.
The Victorian Government started a “six-month trial” in Hoddle St in 2011 allowing riders to use the bus lane in peak periods. The trial was extended in 2017 with the Fitzgerald St bus lane added, but still no report has been issued.
Now the trial will be expanded to include the Eastern Freeway inbound from the Chandler Highway to Hoddle Street, and Victoria Parade between Hoddle Street and Brunswick Street.
It is believed the trial bas been extended to five years but calls to VicRoads and the government could not clear up the time period.
Three-year battle
Victorian Motorcycle Council media spokesman John Eacott says they have battled three years to get the trial extended.
“I fronted one of the senior VicRoads guys at the Minister’s Motorcycle Expert Advisory Panel after he said they were unsafe,” John says.
“I tackled him about using statistics from outside the bus lane times and he was sent away to do further research.
“At least we’ve now got this.”
However, John is concerned that the trial is being funded by the Motorcycle Safety Levy to which the VMC has long objected.
“No other section of the road-using public has to fund their own safety. It’s appalling,” he says.
Bus lanes
Riders can use bus lanes in London
Riders can only legally ride in bus lanes in NSW and the ACT in Australia. In most states, only bicycles, taxis, limousines and emergency vehicles can use these lanes.
However, in several major cities around the world, including London and Tel Aviv, riders are allowed to use bus lanes.
Western Australia also started a one-year trial for motorbikes and taxis in bus lanes in South and Beaufort streets, Perth, from March 2015. There has been no official report issued since.
If there are concerns about safety, why are cyclists allowed to use these lanes in most states?
Surely they are far more vulnerable because of the speed differential with motorised transport and their smaller profile on the road.
Levy package
The Victorian Government says the bus lane trial is part of a $1 million road safety package for motorcyclists funded by their levy.
They also include:
A learner and novice rider pack will be developed containing tips, resources, a high-visibility vest and other “safety” equipment;
VicRoads surveillance officers will be trained and equipped to better identify road imperfections and other potential hazards for motorcyclists; and
The MotoCAP motorcycle protective clothing star rating system will be “further promoted to help riders make better choices when it comes to buying safety gear”.
The Motorcycle Safety Levy was introduced in October 2002 to provide specific funding to reduce motorcycle-related road trauma.
Motorcycle Riders Association Victoria spokesman and former MEAP member Damien Codognotto says MEAP was ignored in this “government million dollar PR stunt”.
“The whole thing is aimed at the rider being to blame for all or most of the 2019 rider casualty rate,” he says.
ASBK Superbike competitors started getting down to business this afternoon at Phillip Island with a 30-minute opening practice session ahead of this weekend’s season opener. Competitors will be out on track again Friday morning for a shorter 15-minute FP2 session before a 15-minute qualifying session at 1355.
The opening Kawasaki sponsored ASBK Superbike race of season 2019 is slated to get underway at 1130 on Saturday morning with the second 12-lap bout scheduled for 1615 Saturday afternoon, immediately after the opening 22-lap World Superbike race.
The third 12-lapper will get underway after the World Superbike and Supersport warm-up sessions on Sunday morning at 1030.
Aiden Wagner was the first man in to the 1m32s this afternoon with a 1m32.873 but Troy Bayliss then went and dropped in a 1m32.478 with only a few minutes remaining in the session.
A scorching time to the three-time World Superbike Champion who this weekend continues on the 1299 Panigale R Final Edition, as the DesmoSport Ducati squad have yet to find the time to adapt the new V4 R into a competitive package over a race distance, thus have instead elected to stick with what they know for the season opener.
The current ASBK Superbike pole record stands at 1m32.274 and was set by Wayne Maxwell on a Suzuki in 2013. The current race lap record also belongs to Maxwell, when he was on a Honda in 2009 he set a 1m32.316 to set the race lap benchmark around the circuit. Today Maxwell was third quickest on 1m33.098 and was closely followed by his Suzuki teammate Josh Waters on 1m33.131.
Cru Halliday was the quickest of the YRT duo on 1m33.360 ahead of Falzon on 1m33.587 while the quickest Kawasaki punter today was Mike Jones. The Queenslander just managed to pip Bryan Staring out of seventh by a whisker.
Glenn Allerton was ninth quickest today ahead of defending champion Troy Herfoss, the Honda man putting in the least amount of laps of any rider during the session.
Aruba.it Racing – Ducati talent 14th at Phillip Island test.
Image: Supplied.
Chaz Davies admits he’s still not quite there with the set-up of the all-new Ducati Panigale V4 R following this week’s final pre-season FIM Motul Superbike World Championship test at Phillip Island.
Heading into the weekend’s season-opener, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider has remained unsettled on the direction he wants to pursue, sampling a number components before returning to his initial configuration.
Gathering all the data, the British talent, who was 14th on the timesheets, is banking on making gains in tomorrow’s practice sessions in hope of setting himself up for a strong start to the world championship.
“We’re not quite there yet to be honest,” Davies admitted. “We made some strides this morning and I was quite happy with that. In the afternoon we wanted to change a few things but we ended up going back to this morning’s setting because everything we tried didn’t give me the right feeling.
“We have to put all the data together in the next two days and hopefully on Friday we’ll turn up with a better setting. The good news is that last year we also had a difficult test, but then I raced a lot better than I did at the tests. We’ll take the weekend as it comes and prepare for the race in the best possible way.”
Davies teammate, WorldSBK newcomer Alvaro Bautista, topped the times on both days of testing, concluding Tuesday’s outing 0.236s ahead of the field.
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.”
Factory Yamaha rider adamant he’s in a better place than what the times indicate.
Image: Supplied.
Alex Lowes has described pre-season testing at Phillip Island as strange ahead of this weekend’s 2019 FIM Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) opener at the Australian seaside venue.
Lowes completed this week’s test in P9, 0.843s off pace-setter and WorldSBK newcomer Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), which is a contrary position to the top three pace he displayed at the official tests in Jerez and Portimao.
Despite just making the top 10, the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider is adamant he’s entering the weekend with a positive feeling in his YZF-R1, stating he’s in a better position than what his times indicate.
“The feeling is quite good going into the first race after the test here at Phillip Island,” Lowes explained. “It’s always a strange test here, as it’s fairly easy to do one fast lap, but it’s the last half of the race that is critical at this track.
“So we spent a lot of time at the test working to improve tyre endurance, trying not to work the rear tyre in particular too hard, with positive results. The second day in Australia was interrupted by what was a bit of a strange crash at turn one, which I was lucky to walk away from but, overall, preseason testing has gone really well.
“There are still a couple of areas in which we can improve but we’re in a much better position going into this weekend than our lap times from the second test day would indicate. Now we just need to keep working, especially with the tyres, if we are to start the season with good results here in Australia.”
Practice for the WorldSBK and WorldSSP categories kicks off tomorrow, while the opening round of the Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), which will run in conjunction with the world championship this weekend, commences today with the initial practice sessions.
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