A new era is here in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, as 2024 promises to be a season like no other before. With huge rider line-up changes, various upgrades across numerous manufacturers and new faces ready to upset the established guard, big numbers and historic moments could all be reached in our first weekend of the season.
333.3km/h – The highest top speed at Phillip Island is 333.3km/h, set in 2023 by Danilo Petrucci.
116/119 – Yamaha are at their fourth match ball to equal Honda for wins. Yamaha are on 116, Honda 119, the latter in the third all-time place. The first two belong to Ducati (420) and Kawasaki (178).
115/116 – Toprak Razgatlioglu is just one podium shy of the 3rd all-time spot, held by Noriyuki Haga. The first two in this ranking are Jonathan Rea (263) and Troy Corser (130).
75 – Ducati have collected no less than 75 podium finishes at Phillip Island: that is the third highest value in history for a manufacturer on any track after their own 95 Misano podiums and 84 at Assen.
70 – Phillip Island holds the record for most WorldSBK races run (67) and will be the first to reach 70.
39 – If Alvaro Bautista wins a race this season, he’ll become the 5th rider to win at 39, the first since Max Biaggi set the all-time record at the Nurburgring in Race 1, 2012 at 41 years, 2 months, 14 days.
32 – Ducati is the most successful manufacturer at Phillip Island with 32 wins. They won the last five races run here thanks to Alvaro Bautista.
23 – Australian riders have won here 23 times, the last was in 2008 with a double from Troy Bayliss.
18 – Phillip Island is the home for close finishes: 18 races were decided by less than 0.1 seconds.
14.983s – In 2019, Alvaro Bautista made a stunning debut in WorldSBK, winning his maiden race with a gap of 14.983 seconds over Jonathan Rea, the largest winning margin in a dry race at Phillip Island.
13 – The last rider who won at Phillip Island starting outside the top ten on the grid was Noriyuki Haga; from 13th in 2009 Race 1, he was P2 after Lap 1. He took the lead after just four laps.
8 – Last year, Bautista became the most successful rider in Phillip Island with eight wins.
7 – Seven riders have claimed their first win at Phillip Island: Bautista in 2019, Leon Haslam in 2010, Ben Spies in 2009, Garry McCoy in 2004, Anthony Gobert in 1994, Kevin Magee in 1991 and Rob Phillis in 1990. The two most recent, Bautista and Spies, went on to take the crown.
3 – If Rea or Razgatlioglu win for their new team, they will join the list of winners for three manufacturers (Troy Corser, Chaz Davies, Anthony Gobert, Eugene Laverty, Stephane Mertens), with the record at four (Marco Melandri, winner for Aprilia, BMW, Ducati and Yamaha).
2 – If Razgatlioglu (27 years old) wins for BMW, he will be the 2nd youngest winner for the manufacturer after Chaz Davies (26 years old in Aragon, 2013), whilst Rea (37) will be the oldest for Yamaha, whose oldest winner so far is Fabrizio Pirovano (33 years old in Estoril, 1993).
1-2 – The last six races here have been won only from the first two spots of the grid.
1 – Only once in WorldSBK history, the podium was composed by riders starting outside the top ten grid spots. That was in Phillip Island 2009, Race 1. Noriyuki Haga won from 13th, Max Neukirchner was second from 14th and Yukio Kagayama was third from 11th.
0.004s – The closest finish in WorldSBK history happened in 2010 at Phillip Island in Race 1, as Leon Haslam won by 0.004s ahead of Michel Fabrizio.
SHORTHAND NOTEBOOK
2023 race winners:
- Alvaro Bautista (Ducati, Race 1, Superpole Race and Race 2)
Last three polesitters at Phillip Island:
- 2023: Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) 1’29.400
- 2022: Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) 1’29.815s
- 2020: Tom Sykes (BMW) 1’29.230s
Manufacturer podium places (and wins) in WorldSBK at Phillip Island:
- Ducati: 75 (32)
- Kawasaki: 40 (13)
- Honda: 27 (4)
- Yamaha: 26 (6)
- Aprilia: 15 (6)
- Suzuki: 6 (5)
- BMW: 3
- Bimota: 1 (1)
Key gaps from Phillip Island in 2023:
- Front row covered by: 0.235s
- 1 second in Superpole covered… the top 13: 0.988s
- Closest race gap between 1st and 2nd: 2.462s (Bautista 1st, Rinaldi 2nd, Superpole Race)
- Closest podium: 3.060s (Bautista 1st, Rinaldi 2nd, Locatelli 3rd, Superpole Race)
- Closest podium of all time: 0.041s (Razgatlioglu 1st, Lowes 2nd, Redding 3rd, Race 1, 2020)
Manufacturer top speeds at Phillip Island in 2023:
- Ducati: Petrucci – 333.3 km/h, Superpole Race
- Honda: Vierge – 332.3 km/h, Superpole Race
- BMW: Gerloff – 330.2 km/h, Superpole Race
- Kawasaki: Rea – 326.2 km/h, FP1
- Yamaha: Razgatlioglu – 321.4 km/h, Warm Up
A NEW ERA BEGINS: follow it all in style with the WorldSBK VideoPass!
Source: WorldSBK.com