RESULTS FROM THE PHILLIP ISLAND TESTS THIS NEW 2023 SEASON
Day one
The opening day of the official test and final pre-season of WorldSBK at Phillip Island, Australia, before the season truly kicks off next weekend, was consistently interrupted by red flags, crashes, and often the presence of wildlife on the track.
Despite these inconveniences, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon) managed to recover from a slow start and a crash to achieve the fastest lap time of the day with 1:30.674. His teammate Andrea Locatelli had been the fastest rider after the first session, but would end his day in fifth place, without improving his morning time in the sunny afternoon.
The last red flag interruption of the first day came with 10 minutes to go in the final session, but those last moments allowed Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba Ducati) to move into second place overall, with his teammate Álvaro Bautista finishing third.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) ultimately finished fourth, 0.215 seconds behind Razgatlioglu. Both Rea and Bautista had minor crashes today at T4.
With Locatelli in fifth, the best independent rider was Philipp Öttl (Go Eleven Ducati) in sixth place, on a 2023 bike with a 2022 engine. He will ride on the last day of testing.
Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha) finished seventh on the first day at his local circuit, and the top BMW rider was American Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) in eighth place.
The top 10 was completed by rookie Dominique Aegerter (GRT Yamaha) with Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad). 10º . Iker Lecuona ha sido el mejor piloto de Honda HRC, en la 11ª posición.
The best testing plans of all were ruined due to the late delivery of a container full of the latest Pirelli tires, which are expected to arrive at the track at the end of the second day of testing. The tires that the teams have had to be used carefully on the first day to ensure they had enough for both days.
MundoSSP
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Ducati) was the fastest rider on the first day of official WorldSSP testing at PI, followed by Stefano Manzi of Ten Kate Yamaha. Local rider Oli Bayliss (D34G Ducati) took an impressive third place, followed by the crashed Federico Caricasulo (Althea Ducati) who emerged unscathed. Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was fifth and his former teammate, Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Ducati), sixth.
Day Two
Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) stamped his authority on the two days of testing that will soon give way to the first round of the WorldSBK championship at Phillip Island, Australia. The reigning World Champion was just ahead of the second-placed rider, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team), but his race pace was so strong and consistent that some of his rivals had already said he will be on a different planet when the racing itself arrives.
The third fastest rider was the evidently improved Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team). The Turkish rider was still working hard on fine-tuning his machine in the last pre-season track sessions, but everyone expects him to show his strength in the races, including Bautista.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), with an improved Ninja ZX-10RR to ride, but without much additional engine power, finished fifth and yet still looks to fight for podiums on race weekend.
Dominique Aegerter (GRT Yamaha), the strong rookie and two-time WorldSSP champion from Switzerland, was sixth, ahead of another strong German-speaking independent rider, Philipp Öttl (Team GoEleven Ducati).
Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) was a disappointed eighth fastest and the best Honda rider, saying that his bike did not inspire confidence as soon as they got underway at PI.
Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha), the 2023 rookie, was ninth in his hometown, one place ahead of regular rider Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati). Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) was taken down by Bassani on the final day, smashing the Barni bike's swingarm. Petrucci escaped with a painful pelvic impact but no serious injuries.
Michael van der Mark (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finished 12th and thus the best BMW rider, leading Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW), Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), and in 15th overall, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team).
Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda), Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) y Oliver König (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) completaron el top 20 de pilotos.
Hafizh Syahrin Bin Abdullah (MIE Racing Honda Team) and Eric Granado (MIE Racing Honda Team) were the last riders in the test rankings.
"I think from the first day with this bike I felt good. We didn't have to make big changes on the bike, just small details," said Bautista about his tough testing experiences on a modified Panigale V4R for 2023. "Today we focused more on the tires and getting the maximum feeling with the tires. I did a lot, a lot of laps in this test. Yesterday 88 and today I think I did 80."
All the riders had limited levels of tires to use in this test, after one of Pirelli's shipping containers was delayed, but Bautista said he preferred it that way as it made him work with used tires more than any normal test. "For me, I prefer this because you can work more specifically for the race and less than the time trial."
MundoSSP
The fastest rider on the first day was Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Ducati) and he again topped the times on the second day of WorldSSP testing. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Yamaha) was 0.446 seconds behind in second place and Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished third. Those three are the possible world champions picked by people, but anything can happen in WorldSSP.
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