News 28 Jan 2020

Portimao WorldSBK test timesheets topped by Razgatlioglu

Image: Supplied.

Heading to Phillip Island as the man to beat, Toprak Razgatlioglu piped Scott Redding on the final day of 2020 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) testing from Portimao.

Despite numerous incidents bringing out several red flags, nothing and nobody could stop Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) from hitting the top of the standings in Portugal, with Yamaha’s new recruit the man to beat heading to Australia.

Beavering away frantically in the last testing day before jetting off to Phillip Island in Australia, it was Pata Yamaha who featured prominently on the final day. Toprak Razgatlioglu was on top at lunch as he worked his way towards a better front end set up, whilst also adapting his style towards the 2020 R1 Yamaha. He set quick laps on both of his bikes to finishing top overall, whilst teammate Michael van der Mark was also right up at the sharp end too, placing fourth and looking to conserve tyre life more ahead of Phillip Island.

Having led the way on day one at Portimao, Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) placed at the front again, saving his pace until the final ten minutes to initially deny Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) top spot, before being pipped himself by Turkish star Razgatlioglu. Redding focussed on tyre life and especially grip, with Portimao offering the perfect opportunity to do so ahead of the equally as fast Phillip Island, with the Brit second overall. Teammate Chaz Davies was outside of the top ten in the later afternoon, eventually ending in fifth after a late charge.

At Jerez, he was quick but Baz was a stand-out performer at Portimao, proving that the wet weather in the south of Spain was absolutely no fluke. The 26-year-old was right on the money in Portugal and continued his back-to-back testing with the 2019 and 2020 Yamahas. He was third at the end of testing, with fellow Independent Yamaha riders Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) and his teammate Garrett Gerloff impressing in ninth and 10th respectively.

There were more positives for Team HRC, who continued their work, keeping their cards close to their chest throughout Portuguese testing. Leon Haslam once again led the charge from the Japanese manufacturer, setting a faster lap time than he managed throughout racing action at Portimao to go sixth. Alvaro Bautista was less prominent and was down in 15th place ahead of the trip to Australia in a few weeks’ time.

German manufacturer BMW were inside the top five at Portimao on the second day, with Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) enjoying plenty of positives at Portimao. Sykes was relentless and was continuing to focus on set-up, whilst Laverty enjoyed an incident-free day on day two. Sykes was seventh, whilst Laverty concluded his action in eighth.

Outside of the top 10, there were plenty of positives carried forward for Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN) in 11th, whilst Leandro Mercado (Motocorsa Racing) was 12th. Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 13th ahead of Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance), whilst Sandro Cortese (Barni Racing Team) was 16th, having suffered a crash at Turn 7 this morning.

News 27 Jan 2020

International Challenge win goes to Australia at Island Classic

Image: Russell Colvin.

Australia has successfully defended the International Challenge winning the three-nation battle at he Island Classic, with the locals’ 704 point haul securing victory over rivals America with 691 points and the UK third with 423 points.

Albury’s Alex Phillis was the star performer – claiming two wins, a second and a third across the four six-lap races – to lead the Australian effort and be awarded the best individual performer on the grid aboard his Suzuki 1260. He won the Ken Wootton trophy with his 157 point haul.

Just behind was Melbourne polesitter Jed Metcher who produced four podium places on his Yamaha FJ to amass 155 points, racing at the front of the pack throughout the meet to make a major contribution to the Australian victory.

But it was far from an easy Australia Day victory, with the Americans taking it to the Aussies in every race. Their major nemesis was Californian ace Josh Hayes – a multi AMA champ – who at 43, still possesses the speed and competitive grit that has seen him amass 83 career wins across many classes over a brilliant motorcycling career.

Hayes had his work cut out from him for the literal start – thanks to engine issues in qualifying relegating him to grid position seven for each race and a testing third row start.

Saturday’s front-runners continued to dominate with Australia’s Alex Phillis winning race three on his Suzuki ahead of Jed Metcher, with America’s Josh Hayes in third.

Polesitter Metcher won the start and while struggling somewhat with the front end of his Yamaha, led for the first four laps, while the melee settled behind him.

Phillis on the other hand, had a lousy start off the front-row and was pushed back to sixth by the end of the first lap. In front of him lay Metcher, former enduro champ Steve Martin and the formidable American trio of Larry Pegram, Josh Hayes and Michael Gilbert on their Mojo Yamahas.

Despite gearbox problems and some light rain mid-race Phillis slowly ticked them off, and by the end of lap three it was a Metcher/Phillis battle at the front with Hayes in pursuit.

Phillis took the lead going into turn three, with Metcher biting back to once again take control. Phillis though had the top speed advantage, and took the lead on Gardner Straight to head the final laps to the flag and cross 0.077s in front of Metcher and seize 40 points for the Australians .

With no sign of rain, race four was an epic final battle in the sun. Metcher won the start and led at the end of lap one. Rather than Phillis who was struggling with gearbox issues, it was Metcher and Hayes that set the pace.

Hayes took the lead on lap two, and despite the badgering of Metcher and Phillis, added the race four victory to his race one win and to finish the weekend with two victories, a third and a fifth.

Phillis, son of multiple Australian champ Robbie Phillis, claimed the individual Ken Wootton win, as well as the national victory for the Rex Wolfenden led team.

Detailed results

News 25 Jan 2020

Team Australia leads USA after Saturday’s Island Classic action

Image: Russell Colvin.

Only three points separate Australia and Team America after day one of racing in the three-nation International Challenge at the Island Classic, with California’s multi-AMA champ Josh Hayes scoring victory in race one and Melbourne’s Alex Phillis winning race two.

Aboard his 1980 Suzuki 1260, 26-year-old Phillis was the player of the day, taking second in race one and winning race two to lead the Ken Wootton Memorial Trophy battle on 79 points – with Melbourne’s Jed Metcher (Yamaha) clocking 3-2 finishes to finish second overall on 77 points.

American gun Hayes just a point behind with his race one victory and a fifth place in race two aboard the Mojo Yamaha. Other solid performances came from America’s Larry Pegram (4-3), Michael Gilbert(7-6), Taylor Knapp (8-9) and Jordan Szoke (11-8) to bolster the US tally.

Team Australia also saw good point hauls for 2019 winner, Steve Martin (5-4) and Beau Beaton(9-11). 2018 winner and Australian hope, Adelaide’s David Johnson, struggled with brake problems to return a sixth in race one but retired to the pits in race two.

The UK team saw Brendan Wilson lead the British charge. He sits in 12th position overall with compatriot Roger Gunn, the second best performer, in 15th with the team amassing 213 points overall.

International Challenge action did not start so well when a lap one crash at Southern Loop saw UK riders Michael Neeves and Brendan Wilson and Australia’s Scott Webster, John Allen and Craig Ditchburn go down, with Ditchburn’s 1978 Yamaha on fire.

The race was red-flagged, and only Wilson managed to make the restart while the others retreated to the pits for hasty repairs to machinery in an effort to make race two.

At the restart it was Phillis who led the field with locals Metcher and Martin, but Hayes showed his class from the word go. Despite starting from position seven after engine issues in qualifying, he was sitting fifth by the end of lap one and bearing down on the front-runners.

By lap two he was in second and then it became a battle between the young Phillis and the experienced Hayes, with the Californian taking the lead on lap four to the flag to pip the Aussie at the post. Behind was Metcher in third, Pegram in fourth, Martin in fifth and Johnson in sixth.

In race two, Phillis took charge at the start, but the battle intensified mid-race with Metcher and Hayes both taking the lead before the American pulled a false neutral going into turn four and then ran off the track. Phillis took the race two flag in front of Metcher, with Martin third, Pegram fourth and Hayes fifth.

The International Challenge continues tomorrow with two six-lap races to determine the crown for best nation and individual competitors. Now in its 16th year, Australia has won the Challenge on 12 occasions and is the defending champion.

Detailed results