2020 WorldSBK
Round One – Phillip Island
Free Practice Three

With Chris Plumridge

Scott Redding (Aruba.IT Ducati) has once again topped the time sheets in Free Practice 3 for the Yamaha Finance Round of the 2020 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship. His lap of 1m29.896 under Alvaro Bautista’s lap record pace of 1m30.573 last year, and only four-tenths off the all-time best lap set by Jonathan Rea in Superpole here last year.

Overcast and cool conditions greeted WorldSBK riders on Saturday but there was thankfully no rain on the radar despite some very dark patches of cloud looming on the horizon… Sure enough, with four short minutes until pit lane opened, the message comes through: rain in Sector 1. Aah, Phillip Island!

With the weather now threatening a number of riders looked to get out there and get some track time before the weather hit – in addition to the time lost to the weather yesterday and the fact that this practice was only 20 minutes lent the session extra importance. Jonathan Rea took the Kawasaki out for one lap and then brought it straight back in, clearly unhappy with the changes made to the bike overnight.

Alex Lowes (KRT) was straight into the 1:31’s, his 1:31.648 put him fastest of the first round of laps. Yesterday’s fastest Scott Redding (Aruba.IT Ducati) was picking up where he left off, 1:32.124, while Lowes then put the first serious time in, 1:30.484.

Leon Haslam (HRC) lost the front end under brakes at Turn 4, he and the bike went tumbling into the gravel and out of the session- he was two thousandths up on Lowes at the first split and was pushing hard.

Already a quarter of the way through the allotted 20 minutes and it was only Loris Baz (Ten Kate Yamaha) and Leon Camier (Barni Racing Ducati) yet to post a time. Rea was back out on the track with his problem apparently rectified, his 1:30.550 good enough for second behind teammate Lowes. Plenty of the riders were pushing hard, Michael van der Mark sideways into the pitlane for a quick stop and then straight back out again.

Jonathan Rea then straight to the top with a 1:30.286, and Loris Baz was out of the pits and straight on it- his first flying lap was 1:30.569 and good for second behind Rea. Not wanting to be left out, Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA Yamaha) was sideways into MG on the brakes and slotting into third fastest, 1:30.518.

Toprak’s team-mate Michael van der Mark was in line for the perfect tow behind Rea for a 1:30.025 to catapult himself to the top of the timesheets and oh-so-close to breaking the minute-30 barrier. Jonathan Rea then decided to reverse the positions but would not improve- meanwhile Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha) was off in the gravel at Turn 4 and resuming.

With four laps to go Alvaro Bautista (HRC) was still yet to set a meaningful time from his six laps, his best of 1:31.232 still not good enough to crack the top 10. Questions have been arising around Bautista’s ability to adapt from the V4 of the Ducati to the in-line 4 of the Honda. Only time will tell, but we haven’t seen Bautista bother the leaders too much just yet.

As the clock wound down Redding did it again – coming from sixth to set a 1:29.896 and topping the session after the chequered flag for the second time in a row. Van der Mark was then bumped back to second fastest, with Rea, Baz, Lowes and Razgatlioglu filling out the top six. The two BMWs in Sykes and Laverty were seventh and ninth, split by Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).

World Superbike continues today from Phillip Island as part of the Yamaha Finance Round of the 2020 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship. The Tissot Superpole session starts at 1215 followed by Race 1 at 1500 AEDT.

2020 WorldSBK
Round One – Phillip Island
Free Practice Three Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

2020 WorldSBK
Round One – Phillip Island
WorldSSP Free Practice Two

With Chris Plumridge

MV Agusta have gone fastest in Free Practice 2 for the FIM Supersport World Championship Yamaha Finance Round at Phillip Island, with Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher beating Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Yamaha) and Krummenacher’s team-mate Raffaele De Rosa to claim the top of the leaderboard.

After a red-flag interrupted session took us late into the afternoon, Krummenacher claimed fastest time after the chequered flag, stealing P1 from Locatelli at the death. The session took place in vastly different conditions to this morning’s rain interrupted FP1, with sunshine and warm temperatures allowing riders to unleash.

As the session opened there was a veritable stampede to get out on track, with everyone except Krummenacher (MV Agusta) and Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) waiting at the end of the pitlane for the green light- the two stragglers were out on track not long after. Clearly everyone was keen to make up for lost time spent waiting for the rain to clear this morning, though finding the space to get a clear lap in might be a challenge. Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing Yamaha) was off the track at Honda Corner on his second lap, but resumed – no harm done.

As the riders posted their first round of lap times, Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Yamaha) emerged at the front of the field (1:34.220), two-tenths up on Krummenacher in second. Half the field was looking like a Supersport 300 field as this stage- a pack of bikes all drafting each other down the straight while the others preferred to try and find some clean air.

Locatelli (1:33.901) advanced the mark further, while Krummenacher improved his time to a 1:33.914 in his debut on the MV Agusta. Krummenacher had said at the 2020 World Superbike launch that adapting to the MV Agusta would be a challenge, so to be on the pace at this early stage was impressive. Further through the field, Oli Bayliss was clearly giving it a red-hot crack, evidenced by his 1:35.667, good enough for 12th and a wild moment over Lukey Heights.

Having completed their first stint most of the field disappeared back into the pits as quickly as they appeared, leaving only six riders still circulating. Isaac Vinales (Kalio Racing) had only done two-laps until this point but he was back out of the pits with half an hour still to go.

A few more practice pitstops were happening at this point too, teams preparing for the flag-to-flag conditions for tomorrow where riders would complete a mandatory one-minute-18-second pit-stop to change tyres. No big position changes were taking place at this point, save for Vinales who was now in eleventh spot and making up for his absence earlier (1:32.222).

Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) had just moved from ninth into fourth spot with a 1:34.002, when a pair of Cape Barren geese decided that they’d like to get a closer look at the bikes- red flag. A not uncommon occurrence at the Island! While the riders took the opportunity to chat to their engineers, quick work from one of our hard working volunteer Boundary Riders soon had the geese looking for a safer vantage point and we were ready to go again. So ready, in fact, that again the riders gathered at the end of pit-lane hoping to squeeze in every second of track time they could.

As the field got up to speed again, Krummenacher was straight down to business, a 1:33.701 taking him to the top. A problem with Cluzel’s bike through Turn 12 saw the engine go up in smoke- the resultant oil laid down into Turn 1 and 2 saw oil on the circuit and Odendall and Soomer hit the deck when they encountered it. Red flag once again, and no quick re-start this time. This would be a lengthy clean-up job.

After a huge clean-up job by the officials, we finally got back underway at 1710 in the afternoon (the session had an original scheduled finish time of 1645), to finish the last 22-and-a-half-minutes of the practice session. Soomer’s team had time in the break to put the bike back together and get him back out there, however Odendaal had not yet re-emerged. Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta), having not set a time in the morning session, didn’t appear to be hampered by his lack of morning running with a 1:33.995 to lock him into fourth behind Locatelli, Krummenacher and Odendaal, 2017 WorldSSP champion Lucas Mahias was now fifth (1:33.996).

Locatelli had lowered his best to a 1:33.337, and Randy Krummenacher was now on a charge after Locatelli’s time. His 1:33.496 not good enough to catch the Italian but the best effort by anyone else so far. Our red flag culprit Cluzel was also back out on track and sitting seventh fastest.

With five minutes to go there were a few more riders looking to improve their times, De Rosa running wide at Turn 4 onto the escape road. A number of riders led by Can Alexander Oncu (Turkish Racing Kawasaki) were sitting up at Turn 11, looking for a clear lap, but with Locatelli further lowering the mark to 1:33.264 that seemed like it might be a moot point. But Krummenacher was on a charge as the chequered flag came out, three tenths up at the final split and closing on a heap of traffic looking to time their run for the line. It didn’t matter, the Swiss rider on top of the leaderboard with a 1:32.894 to top the session.

Australian Wild Card Oli Bayliss ended the session in 18th, posting a 1:35.191.

The Yamaha Finance Round of the 2020 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship continues until Sunday (1 March) from Phillip Island.

WorldSSP Free Practice Two Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

2020 WorldSBK
Round One – Phillip Island
Free Practice Two

With Chris Plumridge

Scott Redding (Aruba.IT Ducati) has showed just how quickly he can adapt to World Superbike, topping the time-sheets in Free Practice 2 for the Yamaha Finance Round of the 2020 FIM Superbike World Championship.

In conditions that couldn’t have been more different from what the riders experienced this morning, the World Superbike stars enjoying a near-perfect Phillip Island in blazing sunshine this afternoon.

Redding put in a late 1:30.436 to show his rivals that he intends to run at the front this season.

FP2 Report

As the session opened it was a Kawasaki setting the early pace but not the green bike you expect. Alex Lowes was the first rider to find the pace in the first two laps with a 1:31.336. But before too long the field was dipping into the 1:30s, Haslam (HRC) the first to bite with a 1:30.936. Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA Yamaha) was making amends for missing most of the morning’s session, his 1:31.145 put him into second spot. Tom Sykes (BMW) was another tenth further back at that stage.

With just under 40 minutes to go the session was red flagged to remove a piece of debris from between Turns 1 and 2. Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s bike appeared to have a problem at that time too as he was straight back in the pits.

Xavi Fores was looking good in fourth fastest with 1:31.265 after returning from British Superbike for 2020.

Jonathan Rea, down in 8th, moved himself up the standings to third with a 1:31.185 after some time in the pits while rival Alvaro Bautista (HRC), having done ten laps, was still outside the top 10.

Bautista’s best of a 1:31.840 putting him in 12th. Chaz Davies (Aruba.IT Ducati) fared even worse out of his ten laps, 1:31.967 only good enough for 14th.

With just under half-an-hour to go in the session, Haslam was fastest, Razgatlioglu two-tenths back, Rea two-and-a-half tenths behind and Tom Sykes (BMW) only an extra two-hundredths off that. Loris Baz, hero of testing for Ten Kate Yamaha had only done six-laps and was ninth (1:31.589). Not many riders appeared to be opting for super long runs at this stage, with everyone in and out of the pits looking to perfect their set-ups. Slow motion television shots showed the rear of Bautista’s bike squirming through Turn 3 – he was pushing hard.

Rinaldi was back out and circulating, his problems now sorted and he was sitting tenth quickest (1:31.620).

In terms of speed trap numbers down the front straight, the two Hondas were fastest as they had been during testing earlier in the week: Bautista clocking 319 km/h down the straight.

With 13-minutes to go Alex Lowes had his hand up as he slowed through Honda corner, looking down near the rear swingarm. Clearly all was not well with the Kawasaki.

The times at the top had still not changed – Haslam was quickest, from Razgatlioglu, Rea, Sykes and Fores.

Baz injected some spice into the session with just over 10-minutes to go, clocking a 1:30.973 and planting himself in second position. Fellow Yamaha rider Michael van der Mark had a brief excursion through the gravel but returned to the track, he was still in eighth.

Razgatlioglu had a big moment through the Hayshed and lost time, but his next lap was quick – 1:30.854.

Scott Redding though had him beat – a 1:30.436.

Now the pace was really hotting up, van der Mark up to third and flying, only to fall back through the final sector and finish the lap half-a-second off of Redding.

When the chequered flag came out Redding’s marker was still good enough for P1, followed by Razgatlioglu, van der Mark, Haslam, Baz, and Rea.

Bautista was eighth (1:31.201), and Davies struggled in 13th (1:31.478).

The Yamaha Finance Round of the 2020 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship continues until Sunday (1 March) from Phillip Island.

WorldSBK FP2 Results

Source: MCNews.com.au