Sykes the man to beat after Phillip Island testing Phillip Island (Australia), Tuesday 21 February 2012: Tom Sykes was ultimately the man of the moment in two days of Superbike testing at Phillip Island, the Kawasaki man holding onto the top slot in today’s warmer afternoon session that saw only two riders improve. Sykes’s time of 1 minute 31.648 seconds remains the benchmark as the riders now gear up for the opening round of the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship this coming weekend. Tom Sykes: “We were fast this morning and also this afternoon in hot conditions, improving our time compared to yesterday. Overall we did a bit more testing today and certainly stumbled across a couple of good things, and at the end we did 14 laps on race tyres and it was very consistent, with the times coming easier than they were doing with previous settings. Kawasaki has made a massive effort over the winter period and there is no doubt the latest Ninja ZX-10R racebike has improved a lot from last year’s feedback so this year it was only natural to progress.” Second place overall went to 2011 champion Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati), who ended up just a whisker behind. The Spaniard set the quickest time of the warmer afternoon session and then packed up for the rest of the day. Carlos Checa: “We finished our job this morning and we just were testing a little bit more to confirm different things, and once I had confirmed that the ‘war’ was over. I feel comfortable, finally, with the last settings. We used the large tyre and the small tyre, and we worked out which settings to use for each one, and we just wanted to save the bike and the engine for the weekend, when the conditions will probably be a bit different and we will need to know which tyres will come for the race. Our base set-up is comfortable, this track is good for Ducati and I believe we did a good job from the first test until now.” Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) was third on another Ducati 1098R, not far off the pace of the top 2, while Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike) was the only other rider to get into the 1 minute 32 seconds bracket. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) showed remarkable consistency as he took the fifth slot, while Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad) failed to improve on day 2 and his time set yesterday was good enough for sixth. Superbike rookie Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati) crashed harmlessly for the third time in this test but was impressive enough for seventh, while Leon Camier (Crescent Suzuki) completed the top 8. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad) will undergo an operation Thursday to have two screws put in his right tibia fracture, then a decision will be taken as to whether or not he can race this weekend. After five days of testing private and official the Superbike teams and riders now have a chance to wind down before opening round action begins on Friday. Times (Monday-Tuesday): 1.Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’31″648; 2. Checa (Ducati) 1’31″652; 3. Smrz (Ducati) 1’31″800; 4. Rea (Honda) 1’31″913; 5. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1’32″034; 6. Melandri (BMW) 1’32″232; 7. Giugliano (Ducati) 1’32″319; 8. Camier (Suzuki) 1’32″320; 9. Guintoli (Ducati) 1’32″347; 10. Haslam (BMW) 1’32″397; 11. Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1’32″540; 12. Fabrizio (BMW) 1’32″605; 13. Canepa (Ducati) 1’32″746; 14. Aoyama (Honda) 1’32″910; 15. Berger (Ducati) 1’32″911; 16. Badovini (BMW) 1’32″948; etc. Superbike records at Phillip Island Fastest Lap: Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 1’31″826 (2007) Superpole: Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1’30″882 (2011) Best Lap: Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1’30″826 (2011) World Supersport Australian Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) ended up at the top of the results sheet after two days of World Supersport testing with a time of 1 minute 34.585 seconds. On aggregate over four sessions on Monday and Tuesday Parkes was able to finish ahead of the Kawasakis of Kenan Sofuoglu (Deltafin Lorenzini) and Fabien Foret (Intermoto Step). Britain’s Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) also put in a good overall run, after going quickest in the morning session. The final session saw the red flags come out for Russian rider Vladimir Leonov who suffered a few cuts and bruises to his right elbow and left ankle in a crash but the Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha man will make the race on Sunday. The championship warm-up threw up a number of surprises. The first was 23-year-old Frenchman Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda), who has moved over from the mid-class GP category this year, and who was fifth quickest. The second was Vittorio Iannuzzo, back up amongst the front-runners once again with sixth quickest time on a three-cylinder Power Team by Suriano Triumph. Times (Monday-Tuesday): 1. Parkes (Honda) 1’34″585; 2. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) 1’34″604; 3. Foret (Kawasaki) 1’34″866; 4. Lowes (Honda) 1’34″957; 5. Cluzel (Honda) 1’35″131; 6. Iannuzzo (Triumph) 1’35″362; 7. Morais (Kawasaki) 1’35″701; 8. Quarmby (Honda) 1’35″824; etc. Supersport records at Phillip Island Fastest Lap: Fabien Foret (Honda) 1’34.941 (168.485 km/h) – 2011 Best Lap: Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1’33.847 (170.512 km/h) – 2010 More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: TEAM ALTHEA RACING CONCLUDES OFFICIAL TESTING AT PHILLIP ISLAND AND IS READY FOR THE OPENING RACE OF THE 2012 SBK SEASON! Phillip Island (Australia), Tuesday 21st February 2012: team Althea Racing concluded final testing at Phillip Island this afternoon with some very positive results. The team is satisfied with the programme of work completed and both Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano are ready and prepared for the opening race of the 2012 World Superbike championship, taking place at the same track this coming weekend. This morning, on a cooler track (28ËšC), nearly all of the Superbike riders were able to improve on their best times set yesterday, Carlos and Davide included. While Carlos recorded a best of 1m31.6, which left him in second position overall behind Sykes (a 1m31.6 for him too), Giugliano managed to improve on his personal best by just over a second, to close in seventh place with a fastest lap of 1m32.3. Later on in the afternoon session, with a track temperature now at 51ËšC, the two Althea Racing riders continued with their tyre test, making the most of this final sessions to make final tweaks to their Ducati 1198 bikes. Checa made the quickest lap of the session (1m32.0), though the morning’s times were the quickest overall. Both Carlos and Davide maintained good pace on the hot track which augers well for Sunday’s races. The first round of the 2012 championship opens this Friday, when the Superbike riders will be on track for the first practice and first qualifying session of the new season. Carlos Checa: “We were able to complete our work programme with some very satisfying results and this is what counts, more than the times. We worked with both the 200 tyres and the 190 tyres and I must say I prefer the setting we have with the 200. I’m feeling happy with the bike and the setting that we have but now we must wait to see how the track conditions, temperature and tyres will be this weekend. We know that this is one of the best tracks for the Ducati and so we want to make the most of this opportunity. I will focus, do my best and we’ll see what this can bring us on Sunday.” Davide Giugliano: “I am pleased with what we got done today. I am gradually getting to grips with my bike and with the new track and today we’ve seen some more positive results. Testing has gone well, we’ve tried many different things and the team has worked extremely hard, sharing with me all of their knowledge and experience. I’ve improved on yesterday’s times but the important thing is that we have maintained a good pace, especially in this afternoon’s hot conditions. There’s still a lot of room for improvement of course but I feel that we’ve done our best as far as preparation is concerned and I’m feeling fairly confident ahead of this weekend’s races.” Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager of Althea Racing: “These two days have been extremely useful, giving us the chance to better understand many things that will help us in our future work. Carlos has impressed us with his times even though we realize that there will be stiff competition as always. We’ve seen that the extra 6kg are difficult to manage and limit us particularly when it comes to braking and manageability. The extra weight also means that the tyres wear more quickly but we count on Carlos’ experience to overcome this significant handicap that the new regulation has given us. I’m happy and had no doubts about Davide and the progress he has made. Today he was able to ride with more confidence and his lap times confirm that, even though he’s young, he has begun to understand that this is a man’s game. His objective, naturally, is to learn all of the tricks of the trade but he will be a strong rival for many. We all have confidence in him and will work hard to give him all the support he needs.” FINAL TIMES: 1. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1’31.6; 2 Checa (Ducati) 1’31.6; 3. Smrz (Ducati) 1’31.8; 4. Rea (Honda) 1’31.9; 5. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1’32.0; 6. Melandri (BMW) 1’32.2; 7. Giugliano (Ducati) 1’32.3; 8. Camier (Suzuki) 1’32.3; 9. Guintoli (Ducati) 1’32.3; 10. Haslam (BMW) 1’32.3…. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: Rea and Aoyama ready for SBK2012 Honda World Superbike Team riders Jonathan Rea and Hiroshi Aoyama have declared themselves ready for this weekend’s (24-26 February) opening round of the 2012 World Superbike championship at Phillip Island in Australia. The Honda pairing completed a two-day official test at the picturesque 4.448km Phillip Island circuit this afternoon on their 2012 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades, marking the start of a year of 20th anniversary celebrations for Honda’s iconic sportsbike. The test, arranged by championship organiser, InFront Motorsport, was conducted in fine, warm conditions, with track temperatures increasing in the afternoon sessions, as both Honda riders took the opportunity to further test a number of components for their machines, including electronics, chassis and suspension settings and a new swingarm. The World Superbike paddock will reassemble for the 2012 campaign and the first of 14 rounds this Friday 24 February with the first free practice session scheduled to begin at 11.45am local time. Superpole qualifying will follow on Saturday, with the two 22-lap first-round races on Sunday. Jonathan Rea best time 1m31.913s It’s been really good to get out on track with our rivals at this test because during our winter testing in Qatar in December and here last month we’ve been on our own. We’re where we kind of expected to be and we know that to win here is going to be a very big task. Carlos [Checa] is riding very well and consistently but we’re still changing things on the bike because I’m still not 100% satisfied with the set-up. It’s been really good just be on track with the others though, and I’m really enjoying riding bike. I can really feel what the bike’s doing and the electronics are working really well. I’m looking forward to a couple of days off now before we go into Friday’s sessions. We found a bit of a direction with a harder rear and, although the tyre choice in this test has been clear, the race weekend is going to be different again. We played around with springs towards the end of that final se ssion and I was able to lap OK with a harder spring, even when the tyre was worn. That’s a positive and so it’s what we’ll take into Friday morning and move into the new season from there. Hiroshi Aoyama best time 1m32.910s These two days I have learned a lot more and one thing in particular: that this is a very tough championship! We have been working more on the bike and it’s been good to get more laps and try some set up changes. We’ve found some positive things, especially on corner exit, but other things have not been so good. So we have concentrated on the positive and worked on that to move things forward. At the moment, there is a gap to the top riders, so I hope to catch up a little bit during this first race weekend because I believe there is still some space to improve. It seems that when the conditions and temperatures change here, the feeling with the bike is a little different and, because I don’t have so much experience on the bike, this has been a little difficult. It’s something that is helped not only by changing the setting I must adapt, too, and I am learning to do this but I still need some more time. We weren’t able to do so many long runs during this test but we have still found out some ways to improve the tyre life here. Now we just need to get a better lap time. Pieter Breddels technical co-ordinator We’ve made some steady progress during this test and Jonathan is right there on the pace. It’s difficult to make big steps forward with him but, saying that, he’s up there with the fast guys and we believe he’ll be in a position to fight for the podium in the opening races this weekend. With Hiroshi we believe that we’ve made progress, and even if the lap time is not spectacular, there has been an improvement on the set-up problems we had with the bike during the test here in January. We’re certainly looking forward to going into the race weekend with him. We’ve still got some steps forward to make with Hiroshi’s electronics, too, but we concentrated more on set-up changes during this test. We’re more familiar with Jonathan’s set-up so his electronics are, of course, quite different. All in all, it’s time to go racing and I think we’re ready to see the potential that’s been shown in all this testing. Official times two-day aggregate: 1 Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki 1m31.648s 2 Carlo Checa (ESP) Ducati 1m31.652s 3 Jakub Smrz (CZE) Ducati 1m31.800s 4 Jonathan Rea (GBR) Honda World Superbike 1m31.913s 5 Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia 1m32.034s 6 Marco Melandri (ITA) BMW 1m32.232s 7 Davide Giuliano (ITA) Ducati 1m32.319s 8 Leon Camier (GBR) Suzuki 1m32.320s 9 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Ducati 1m32.347s 10 Leon Haslam (GBR) Ducati 1m32.397s 11 Joan Lascorz (ESP) Kawasaki 1m32.540s 12 Michel Fabrizio (ITA) BMW) 1m32.605s 13 Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Ducati 1m32.746s 14 Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Honda World Superbike 1m32.910s 15 Maxime Berger (FRA) Ducati 1m32.911s 2012 World Superbike championship, round one Phillip Island, Australia weekend schedule (local times) Friday 24 February 11.45-12.30 Free practice 15.30-16.15 Qualifying 1 Saturday 25 February 09.45-10.30 Qualifying 2 12.30-13.15 Free practice 15.00-15.14 Superpole 1 15.21-15.33 Superpole 2 15.40-15.50 Superpole 3 Sunday 26 February 09.20-09.35 Warm-up 12.00 Race 1 (22 laps 97.970km) 15.30 Race 2 (22 laps 97.970km) More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Phillip Island, 21st February 2012. On Tuesday Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport finished the final day of pre-season testing at Phillip Island with only Marco Melandri (ITA) riding the RR. Leon Haslam (GBR) left for Melbourne in the morning for further consultation with doctors specialised in professional sports injuries. Marco Melandri: Best overall lap time: 1:32.232 (2nd session Monday) Marco’s crew evaluated a different set-up in the morning in order to improve Marco’s confidence with the front of the bike. The set-up changes worked pretty well in cool conditions, but not as well as expected when the track temperature rose over the lunch time. The crew also worked on several front and rear damping settings. Marco also compared the new custom created tyre solutions Pirelli brought to Phillip Island in the final hour of the test. Overall, the Infront test was positive, as the team made a step forward in improving Marco’s feeling for the front of the bike compared to the previous week’s test. There is still a gap to the front runners on both race pace and a single quick lap. Marco: “Overall, I am not very happy with the result of the test. Up to now we have not really fixed the vibration at the front. We made a step up yesterday and we have an idea what way to go, but we could not make further improvements today. The changing track conditions didn’t help in fixing this issue. Nevertheless, the people here and back home in the factory are very motivated, and they are all working very hard. Thanks to all of them. We knew already before the season that the start in Australia would be tough. I really hope Leon is fit very soon and able to jump back on his bike. All the best to him.” Leon Haslam: Best overall lap time: 1:32.397 (1st session Monday) After an initial diagnosis on Monday showed a fracture in Leon’s right tibia, further examinations on Tuesday in Melbourne confirmed that he had a fracture and two cracks in his tibia, a crack in his left heel and a small crack in his right little toe. Leon will undergo surgery on Thursday in Melbourne in a specialist clinic, which is well known for fixing sports injuries in the leg and ankle areas. The plan is to insert two screws to fix the tibia fragment in its original place. The prognosis on what will happen after surgery is not yet known, so a decision as to whether he will compete in this weekend’s races will be made later. The team wish Leon all the best for the surgery on Thursday and a quick recovery. Leon: “I am a bit frustrated looking at the times everyone was doing today. Last week we had similar conditions and my times would have been good for fighting for the top three places. But that’s racing. I am very happy to have found a good surgeon in Melbourne in Dr. Blackney. He will operate on me on Thursday morning and insert two screws to fix my tibia bone. I’ve got a small crack in the right heel and a small crack in my left little toe. Hopefully I will be back at the track on Thursday afternoon and able to jump on the bike on Friday.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Sykes And Kawasaki On Top As New Season Dawns WSBK, Phillip Island, Australia, 21 February 2012 Tom Sykes took his Kawasaki Racing Team machine to top spot on the combined testing sheets at Phillip Island, heading up all his rivals with mere days to go until the start of the new 2012 SBK season. Like many of his fellow SBK riders Sykes had tested at PI last week, and used that knowledge to help his set fast lap times and set them with a high degree of consistency at this test, in cool or hot track conditions. In the final analysis of the time sheets Sykes set the leading 1’31.648 lap time in the morning session today to stay above Carlos Checa and Jakub Smrz in the rankings. Joan Lascorz was happy with his race pace on the second official Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R and in setting a personal best of test 1’32.540 lap time he was 11th out of 23 riders on show. The Spanish star is confident he can improve on that when the racing starts for real on Sunday 26th February. Pedercini Team Kawasaki regular David Salom had a tough test after confirming that he had broken his wrist in a recent test crash, only riding for a short time in each morning session over these two days to save himself for the start of the season proper on Friday 24th, in the first official practice session of the year. Local star and regular Pedercini Superstock force Bryan Staring rode the other Pedercini Kawasaki Superbike in these tests, as he will in replacing the injured Leandro Mercado for the opening race weekend itself. He finished 20th on the timesheets but knows more is to come in true race trim. The 14-Round/28-race SBK season kicks off with two races on Sunday 26th February. The 4.445km long Phillip Island circuit is a popular starting point for the season as the race weekend is held in the Australian summer months. So far ambient conditions have varied between mild and firmly hot and a repeat of the recent dry weather would make for a perfect start to the season for all involved. Tom Sykes: “We were fast this morning and also this afternoon in hot conditions and we even improved our time compared to yesterday’s hot track conditions. Overall we did quite a bit more testing today and certainly stumbled across a couple of good things. At the end of the sessions we did 14 laps on race tyres and it was very consistent, with the times coming easier than they were doing with previous settings. Honestly speaking, this is not one of my favourite circuits, in fact it is one of my least favourite ones, so I am happy that we are towards the front at this track because I know that the performance should increase at the other circuits. I do not want to get too carried away because I like to keep my feet on the ground, so we’ll keep working and see what happens on race weekend.” Joan Lascorz: “We have a good rhythm but to do faster single laps is a little more difficult. I can put in a new tyre but lap times are the same. I think it is a lot of things together, but every time we try anything else we come back to the same kind of settings. The bike works best in small, slower corners, in the fast corners and over the bumps it feels very hard. It turns very well in the slower corners but the line in the fast corners is critical. The plan for the first practice in Friday is more gas! But seriously, we will make a plan to find out the best settings for race weekend.” Bryan Staring: “I am happy with it in general but I wanted to put in a bit better lap time. Some of the guys have been here testing for three days last week but I was not. The real important day is next Friday. I am happy with the motorbike but we can still improve a couple of small things. It is only on the one flying lap that I have not been able to do so well, but we put in a reasonable time. I think we are in a bit better position than the timesheets suggest. It is a good motorbike and I think we can do a pretty good job with it, I just hope to get a strong lap time out of it on Friday.” David Salom: “The problem is that I have had an pain-killing injection to allow me to ride this morning, but after an hour the pain came back and it was too much. I did not try this afternoon. It is not necessary to try for another good lap time today but save myself for first practice on Friday. For the race I can run with the injections in my wrist but I am not sure how things will be. I hope for the best and aim for the best. After Phillip Island it is possible to have an operation on my wrist but it is not decided yet as I already have a pin inside the scaphoid from an old crash.” More, from another press release issued by Kawasaki: Sofuoglu On Fine Form As New Season Approaches At Increasing Pace WSS, Phillip Island, Australia, 21 February 2012 With only a few days to go until the beginning of the 2012 Supersport World Championship top Kawasaki runners like DeltaFin Lorenzini rider Kenan Sofuoglu have enjoyed good test showings. Kenan, riding for Kawasaki in WSS for the first time this season, was second quickest after two days of intense track action at Phillip Island in Australia, while sharing track space with the entire field of 2012 riders. Sofuoglu feels confident that he can shoot for the race win even at the first weekend of the season and he is not the only seasoned campaigner in this class to show strong form even before the first points come up for grabs. Kawasaki Intermoto Step rider Fabien Foret was third quickest overall while DeltaFin Kawasaki rider Sheridan Morais took some time to learn the secrets of a circuit he had never seen before these tests, and he finally jumped up to an impressive seventh. Kawasaki Team GOELEVEN rider Joshua Day was 20th in the combined times in his rookie WSS test, while Foret’s team-mate Romain Lanusse was 23rd. Now all the WSS competitors look to the opening race of the season, on Sunday 26th February, as the first chance to score points in what is shaping up to be a closely contested championship, with Kawasaki riders looking set to be fighting up front once again. Kenan Sofuoglu: “It was very good at this test because until this morning I tried many different set-ups and rear shocks, maybe six or seventh different ones, so on the last run we put all the best stuff together in the last half an hour and I gained about seven tenths. That took me to the top of the time sheets right away. Another rider came along and went a little faster but it does not matter as these tests were only about being ready for the race weekend. The bike has the potential to win the race and I have the potential to win the race and I am very hungry to win again. For one and half years I have not won a Supersport race so now it is time to win again.” Sheridan Morais: “We ended up in a good position. I was a bit lost this morning but we reached a point where I had to find set-up and I wanted to go faster but I was not able to this morning. After the first session we sat down and compared my laps with Kenan’s and there were three turns where I was losing all my time. Once we had sorted that out I went just over a second quicker than this morning’s times. We have worked hard and did about 133 laps, which is a lot. Tyre-wise, I still had two tyres left and I managed to do race distance runs twice, so I am happy for the forthcoming race, in fact I am really looking forward to it.” Fabien Foret: “When you are not first you are never completely satisfied but I have to admit that after a long break from riding and a new bike, new team and everything, it is not too bad. I would have been happy to know that we could have finished testing third and be riding at a reasonable pace. For me speed-wise it is not amazing at the moment but the base is really not too bad and we have two more days of practice before the race which will be useful as we ran out of time at these tests. We have had a pretty positive test so close to the start of the year.” More, from a press release issued by Bogdanka PTR Honda: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’S Sam Lowes was the fastest this morning and the only man under 1 minute 35 seconds before ending the second day of the official World Supersport test at Phillip Island in fourth position and ready for a podium challenge in Sunday’s season opening race. RSA’s Mathew Scholtz also made the most of the perfect weather conditions in Australia to complete solid preparation work ahead of his World Supersport debut this weekend, finishing the test in 12th overall after gelling perfectly with his new bike and team. Bogdanka Honda PTR’s Pawel Szkopek put in a great effort to end the test in tenth position, just a second from Sam’s time, with his all-Polish team quickly finding the right base setup to suit his style. The first World Supersport race of the season starts on Sunday at 3:15AM CET after practice and qualifying on Friday and Saturday. Sam Lowes: “The test was really good. We tried many things and started the week very well. I had a small crash with 20 minutes to go which set us back a bit but I ended the test in fourth position and I’m feeling really good on the bike so I’m looking forward to the weekend. Our race pace is really good. We’ve got a few things to put together to challenge for the win on Sunday but I’m confident we can do that.” Mathew Scholtz: “The test went really well for me. We tried a lot of things and I’m really positive ahead of the weekend. On the first day we focused on learning the bike, the circuit and finding the best setup. Today we were fine tuning it and trying different things and step by step we’ve been making good progress. Phillip Island is very fast and flowing so I really enjoyed these two days and now it’s definitely one of my favourite tracks. I want to learn more and go faster over the weekend and be inside the top 12 again in the race itself.” Pawel Szkopek: “I’m really happy to be working with Damian and Marek this year. We speak the same language and Damian really believes in my riding style and feedback which is bearing fruit already. PTR prepared a great bike for us for and during the test we managed to fine tune the settings to suit my style. We changed the geometry a bit to give me more confidence going into the corners, which is something I’ve been missing a bit last year. That allowed me to go inside the top ten today and it makes me feel really confident ahead of the weekend. We have some more ideas to try on Friday but I’m feeling very good already.” Overall test times: 1. Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1’34.585 2. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’34.604 3. Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’34.866 4. Lowes S. (GBR) Bogdanka PTR Honda Honda CBR600RR 1’34.957 5. Cluzel J. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1’35.131 6. Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 1’35.362 7. Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’35.701 8. Quarmby R. (RSA) Honda CBR600RR 1’35.824 9. Nemeth B. (HUN) Honda CBR600RR 1’35.873 10. Szkopek P. (POL) Bogdanka Honda PTR Honda CBR600RR 1’36.009 12. Scholtz M. (RSA) Bogdanka PTR Honda Honda CBR600RR 1’36.217 More, from a press release issued by Performance Technical Racing: BOGDANKA PTR HONDA’S Sam Lowes and PTR Honda’s Jules Cluzel finished fourth and fifth overall in the official World Supersport test at Phillip Island in Australia, both of them within touching distance of the fastest lap time. The opening race of the 13-round 2012 World Supersport Championship takes place at Phillip Island this Sunday, February 26th, with practice and qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday. Sam (Bogdanka PTR Honda): “To be fair I crashed at the end and lost my chance at a fast lap. I made a small mistake, hit bumps and lost the front but thankfully I am unhurt. My ideal lap time is second so I am not too worried. Our race pace looks really strong and we have bits and a direction to keep improving. I had a good run in the last session and I am really happy. The PTR team’s working fantastic with everyone getting on good; as a team we feel a lot stronger than last year. We have more work to do over the weekend but right now I am looking forward to a couple of days off and chilling.” Mathew (Bogdanka PTR Honda): “The test went really well for me. We tried a lot of things and I’m really positive ahead of the weekend. On the first day we focused on learning the bike, the circuit and finding the best setup. Today we were fine tuning it and trying different things and step-by-step we’ve been making good progress. Phillip Island is very fast and flowing so I really enjoyed these two days and now it’s definitely one of my favourite tracks. I want to learn more and go faster over the weekend and be inside the top 12 again in the race.” Jules (PTR Honda): “I am happy as I didn’t expect to be fifth. I think the PTR Honda Supersport bike is quite nice. For me I have good points such as the traction control, braking strategy, chassis and the engine’s power. I improved every session and I think it is normal because I did not know the bike before Monday. I am happy with the PTR team; it has a lot of experience, so I did not try to improve the bike, I tried to improve myself. For me everyone is relaxed and this is a good way to work.” Ronan (PTR Honda): “The test was good; we basically tried to get the best set-up for race distance. On the first day we didn’t get the times we wanted. Then on Tuesday morning we went really well and I was fastest at the beginning of the session. Chris (Chief Mechanic) worked on the bike set up so I could feel comfortable. I am just out of top five and feel comfortable with a really good race set up and am looking forward to Friday.” Martin: (Riders PTR Honda): “Everything is heading in the right direction but I am still massively riding my PTR Honda like a Superbike and I need to get my head round how to ride it like a 600. I am squaring corners and powering out when I need more corner speed. My confidence is high and on Friday we will get on with it. Every time I go out I learn every lap – I am on a steep learning curve and enjoying it.” Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “It’s been a really good test. Sam and Jules have the ability to fight for victory, Ronan has improved a lot and so has Mathew; there is more to come from both of them. Martin is still adapting his style from Superbike and has four more sessions before the race, so will improve.” Final Test Times 1: Parkes, Honda 1:34.585 2: Sofuoglu, Kawasaki 1:34.604 3: Foret, Kawasaki 1:34.865 4: LOWES, BOGDANKA PTR HONDA 1:34.957 5: CLUZEL, PTR HONDA 1:35.131 8: QUARMBY, PTR HONDA 1:35.824 12: SCHOLTZ, BOGDANKA PTR HONDA 1:36.217 21: JESSOPP, RIDERS PTR HONDA 1:37.140 More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Today was the last day of the official two-day test session for the Pedercini racing team at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. In today’s first session David Salom and Bryan Staring consolidated yesterday’s solid results. Salom (1’33″385) obtained seventeenth place while Staring (1’33″418) followed just behind his teammate in eighteenth. To be able to finish the full session Salom had to use an anaesthetic on his injured right wrist. The Spanish rider decided not to take part in the afternoon session as he wanted to avoid causing further damage to his wrist. In the final session, on a hotter track, Staring was unable to improve on his lap time and in the overall combined results he finished in twentieth position. During the second day the team mainly focused on extensive testing of the electronic settings. Both riders were able to continue with the planned work as well as concentrate on testing tyres ahead of the first two races of the championship, taking place the coming weekend at the same Australian track. First session : 1) Sykes (Kawasaki) 2) Checa (Ducati) 3) Smrz (Ducati) 4) Rea (Honda) 5) Biaggi (Aprilia) “¦”¦”¦.. 17) Salom (Kawasaki) 18) Staring (Kawasaki) Aggregate results : 1) Sykes (Kawasaki) 2) Checa (Ducati) 3) Smrz (Ducati) 4) Rea (Honda) 5) Biaggi (Aprilia) “¦”¦”¦.. 19) Salom (Kawasaki) 20) Staring (Kawasaki) Bryan Staring: “I’m pretty satisfied with this second day of testing. This morning I worked hard with my technicians, keeping in mind the upcoming races, and we improved with regard to the times. In the afternoon, we tested some new components. I was not able to improve on my morning’s best lap time because it was too hot, but I’m happy because it was my first time on this bike, we almost finished all of our planned work schedule and I’m feeling quiet confident for the first race of the championship. I want to thank team Pedercini for their hard work and now I’m looking forward to Friday.” David Salom: “In general I’m happy with this second day of testing even though I unfortunately had to sit out the afternoon session so as not to worsen the condition of my injured wrist. During the first morning session I used an anaesthetic on my wrist and was able to finish 25 laps working with my team on my bike set up. The guys did a very good job this morning and I’m satisfied with my bike. I hope the condition of my wrist will improve over the next two days, but the only thing I can really do now is rest and wait for this weekend’s races.” More, from a press release issued by Pro Ride Motorsports: Positive first day at the World Superbikes for the Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda Phillip Island Monday 20.02.12 For the Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda is good to be back home. We missed the paddock at the World Superbikes, after a long period out of it but also so much investment in a racing structure that can bring us results and finally allows us to develop a long-term project. New team, new bike, new rider. The team project for 2012 has become a real thing in a few weeks and at the end we are at the doors of the first round with the target of using these 2 precious days of official tests at Phillip Island to “assemble” all the package for next Sunday: rider+bike+team staff. Easy job. But we like challenges. And the more this challenge is hard and difficult, the more we like it. However, at the end of the day, for our joy, everything found its right position faster than we expected. Raffaele de Rosa was not riding since the Valencia Moto2 round last year (November the 6th) and had never rode a 1000cc bike before in his life. E quickly at his first day, with the ordinary anxiety that is part of the start-up of any challenge, has found himself quite well with his Fireblade. When we see him coming back from the first laps, we see a young man that smiles. He’s having fun. And so are we. For his it is a new class, for the team it is the restarting of a job that was unfortunately and surprisingly stopped a couple of years ago. The team, together with the talent of De Rosa, got a good first working day: that kind of day with so much homework and with so much will of working hard. Raffaele De Rosa, rider: “It was nice feeling riding a 1000cc, so much power, I had never rode a bike like this before, so powerful. The most for me until now was a 600cc and honestly I thought that the bike weight would be more evident, but actually it isn’t something that one feels quite a lot. Of course one feels that the bike is really big, but this is not an obstacle, actually it was very nice, I enjoyed riding it and had a lot of fun. The idea today was making laps, but I was not riding for some time and I got a bit tired, mainly because some muscles you work only when you ride, and today I felt them again. Concerning the bike, we started working on it, but there are a lot to test and to work on. However the important is to go step by step and at the end it is what we are doing. I liked the bike a lot, we didn’t have any problem and then we could use properly and effectively all the time we had today. Usually this is something that doesn’t happen when the team is new, the usual would be facing some trouble, but it didn’t happen. I’m happy.” Marco Nicotari, technical director: “I am quite impressed with Raffaele’s performance, taking into account that he had never rode a 1000cc until today and it is from Valencia last year Moto2 round that he didn’t ride. He didn’t knew what he was about to face today and the result was much better than what I was expecting. We had also to deal with some rust for the time we were out of the Superbikes, there was more than a year since I worked on a Superbike configuration for the last time. So I am happy for what we could accomplish today. But there are for sure so much work ahead, we are very far from our aim, and tomorrow we must find a better lap time. I think that if we can improve a second, we may be able to even fight for some points at the races. The situation is clear: Raffaele has made a great job and we still need to cut some sharp ends of this bike to give him more confidence. And I guess we can do it.” More, from a press release issued by Crescent Fixi Suzuki: Team Crescent Fixi Suzuki upbeat ahead of round one Team Crescent Fixi Suzuki ended the first official tests of the year in an upbeat mood and are now looking forward to the upcoming race weekend at Phillip Island. Leon Camier ended eighth fastest over the two days, just three tenths of a second behind Tom Sykes, and is happy with the progress he and the team have made during the tests. Josh Brookes, standing in for the injured John Hopkins, continued to work on his understanding of the Crescent Fixi GSXR and is looking forward to further improvement at the start of this weekend’s race. Leon Camier – 129 laps, best 1:32.320 Generally I am pretty happy because we’ve tried a lot of different things and made a lot of progress during these tests. We’ve collected a lot of data and we’ll analyse this over the next day or so to get ready for the race weekend. At the moment, I’m just missing out a little in just one sector of the track and if we can sort this out, I know I can lap quite a bit quicker. The track is always very hard on tyres, but this year it is much bumpier than ever before and that is causing a few problems. Nevertheless, I’m very happy with my lap times because I have gone half a second quicker than ever before here. Considering that this is a new bike for me and a new team, I think that’s a pretty good start and very encouraging for the future. I feel very comfortable on the bike. It is very rider friendly and doesn’t do anything crazy. I’m going to have a couple of days off now, but I’m already really looking forward to Friday and the first practice. Josh Brookes – 112 laps, best 1:33623 I am disappointed not to be further up the order, but I guess that’s only to be expected when you consider that today was only my third day on the bike and my third day with the team. I always knew that jumping on this bike wasn’t going to be easy and that’s the way it has been. We’ve progressed for sure, but I would’ve liked more progress, more quickly. These tests have been mentally draining, because there’s so much to take in, and I want to thank the whole Crescent Fixi Suzuki crew for all their hard work and patience. I’m a little sore from my crash yesterday, when I hit my hip quite hard and opened up an old scar. I had four stitches, but I can honestly say that the crash has had no effect on my riding today. At the moment my biggest problem are the bumps and so we’ve being doing a lot of work to get the GSXR to absorb the bumps and stay stable. Once we’ve done that, I’ll be able to go a lot faster for sure. Jack Valentine – Team Manager I am pretty content overall. It’s been a pretty tough test for us all, but we knew beforehand that it wouldn’t be easy. I am reasonably happy with what we’ve achieved, but would’ve been even happier if we had sorted out Leon’s third sector because that would’ve pushed him quite a bit further up the standings. We’ll look at all the data and try and sort it out in Friday’s practice sessions. Leon’s happy on the bike and it shows. Josh is definitely improving every time out and although there’s still work to be done I am confident that he can do it. The weekend ahead is going to be tough, but I’d be more than happy with some solid performances and some top six finishes. Overall best lap times: 1 Sykes 1:31.648, 2 Checa 1:31.652, 3 Smrz 1:31.800, 4 Rea 1:31.913, 5 Biaggi 1:32.034, 8 Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) 1:32.320, 21 Josh Brookes (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) 1:33.623 More, from a press release issued by Honda: FIM SUPERBIKE / SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 01 SUNDAY FEBRUARY 26 PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA PREVIEW REA IN COMPETITVE PRE SEASON FORM AS HONDA RIDERS GET READY FOR LIFT-OFF Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) enjoyed a strong showing in a two-day official organisers’ pre-season test at Phillip Island, just a few days before the season gets underway for real on Sunday 26th February. Rea was a few tenths from the fastest man in these sessions and appears to be in podium capable form in terms of race pace over a long distance. He ended up fourth on the combined final testing sheets while still working towards finding an ideal race set-up, rather than concentrating a single quick lap. Rea and his team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) tested In Qatar in December, at Phillip Island last month, as well as joining their peer group at these tests on 20th and 21st February. Each is now happy that they will start the important business of gathering championship points just as fully prepared as they can be. Rea and Aoyama will start the season on the latest model of the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, which sports new suspension and electronics advances compared to the 2011 model, plus a host of other small modifications. Raffaele De Rosa (Pro Ride Motorsports Honda) is the only other full-time Honda rider in SBK this season and this was his first ever test on a Superbike, having been a GP rider in the smaller classes until recently. He was enthused by the power and speed of his new bike, especially at a fast and flowing circuit such as Phillip Island. The 4.445Km circuit, located close to the Bass Straight off Australia’s southern coast, is both a historic motorsport venue and a modern classic. Fast corners then combine with two hairpins and the circuit changes elevation frequently, sometimes dramatically. A firm favourite on the SBK calendar, it boasts corners called Honda, Doohan and, of course, the downhill Gardner Straight. PARKES AND THE HONDA HORDES ARE ALL READY FOR NEW BATTLES With only a few days to go until the first practice sessions of the opening FIM Supersport World Championship round get underway most of Honda’s strong entry enjoyed two days of fine weather at the official IMS test sessions at Phillip island in Australia. A perfect way to prepare for the imminent new season, the tests featured 14 Honda riders and there will be even more when the championship reaches Europe for round two at Imola. In all, 28 riders made it to Australia for testing and then the race on Sunday 26th February. In a last minute push to set a strong lap time, after two days spent working on race set-up, seasoned WSS campaigner Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) hoisted his name to the top of the official time sheets at his native circuit. Fourth quickest was Briton Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) who returns in the same team as last year, but with different title sponsors. Another of many PTR supported or supplied riders, former GP star Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) had a great introduction to the class by going fifth fastest and he is already feeling that Supersport should suit him just fine. Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda) enjoyed a return to Honda machinery in the tests and feels anything will be possible in 2012. Back for more in the same set-up he rode in last year talented young Hungarian Balazs Nemeth (Racing Team Toth Honda) reached his top ten placing at the tests, while changes to his set-up compared to 2011 allowed Polish rider Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka Racing Honda) to burst into the top ten after testing a position he will try to keep when the action starts for real in a few days. On the entry list for the first round and the rest of the year are South African Mathew Scholtz (Bogdanka PTR Honda), Hungarian Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda) and Czech rider Ondrej Jezek (SMS Racing Honda). Roberto Tamburini (Team Lorini Honda) made a decent transition to Honda power at the Phillip Island tests, going 17th, and two places behind Lukas Pesek (PRORACE Honda). Martin Jessopp (Riders PTR Honda), Andrea Antonelli (Team Lorini Honda) and Thomas Caiani (KUJA Racing Honda) round out the Honda entry for the first race of a 13-round season. HONDA RIDER COMMENTS: Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) “Last year at this time I was riding injured and I am glad to have avoided that. I am really happy with what has been done on the bike over the winter and we are certainly closer than last year especially at a circuit that favours the twin cylinders. We are not getting carried away with lap times and the team is pushing me to work for a race set-up, but it is very hard at an official test with transponders fitted to the bikes and screens in the garage, not to look at the lap times, but we worked away with our own thing. In the last run of the tests we tried a different shock, but we keep coming back to a sort of base setting. The shock and forks from Öhlins have been a big improvement and we used them at the last test here. Electronically the bike is really good. Now sometimes I come into the pitlane and the guys ask me if I have too much engine braking and I say I cannot get the bike to ‘back-in’ to corners at all. So that will make the bike much easier to pass people with. I can dart to the inside and it all seems OK. We are where we, kind of, expected to be and we know that to win here is going to be a very big task. It’s been really good just be on track with the others though and I’m really enjoying riding bike. The smaller, sharper bodywork on the new bike helped us to be third fastest in the speed trap today, which was great.” Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) “These two days I have learned a lot more and one thing in particular: that this is a very tough championship! We have been working more on the bike and it’s been good to get more laps and try some set up changes. We’ve found some positive things, especially on corner exit, but other things have not been so good. So we have concentrated on the positive and worked on that to move things forward. At the moment, there is a gap to the top riders, so I hope to catch up a little bit during this first race weekend because I believe there is still some space to improve. It seems that when the conditions and temperatures change here, the feeling with the bike is a little different and because I don’t have so much experience on the bike, this has been a little difficult. It’s something that is helped not only by changing the setting I must adapt, too, and I am learning to do this but I still need some more time. We weren’t able to do so many long runs during this test but we have still found out some ways to improve the tyre life here. Now we just need to get a better lap time.” Raffaele De Rosa (Pro Ride Motorsports Honda) “It was a nice feeling riding a 1000cc, as there is so much power. I had never ridden a bike like this before. The most for me until now was a 600cc and honestly I thought that the bike weight would be more evident, but actually it isn’t something that you feel a lot. It feels big, but this is not an obstacle. It was very nice and I had a lot of fun. The idea today was making laps, but I was not riding for some time and I got a bit tired, mainly because some muscles you work only when you ride and today I felt them again. Concerning the bike, we started working on it, but there are a lot to test and to work on. However the important is to go step by step and at the end it is what we are doing.” Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) “In general I am very happy. I have not ridden a bike for four months and we sort of rolled in here, having only just put the deal together in the past three weeks. Yesterday we worked well and today we just fine tuned the bike to suit my style and every time we went out we went quicker and quicker. At the end we saved a couple of tyres to do a fast lap after we did some race runs, but now we will go into the weekend working on our race set-up.” Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) “Having a test so close to the first race weekend is always good. We were the fastest in the morning of the final day of the tests and then fourth overall, so that was positive. I had a crash and that held us back a bit when I was going to try for a fast lap. We also worked a lot on race pace and I think we are basically there. We have a lot of time to go until Sunday’s race, but I think race pace wise we are pretty much there already. The team has done a mega job and the bike is pretty good. The winter was too long for me so I just want to get underway now.” Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) “It was my first time on the bike in these tests and also in Supersport so I am happy because I feel OK on it. It is easier compared to the Moto2 bike; also the traction control and the engine braking are nicer and I prefer that. I am happy with this style of bike and I did not expect to be fifth after the first test, and close to the fastest lap time. I think we can make a battle for the podium at the first race and this is not so bad because I want to try to improve on every exit out of pitlane. This test worked out that way.” Ronan Quarmby (PTR Honda) “Our tests went well and I think the tests were mainly based on finding set-up for this race weekend coming, We had a bit of a bad first day because the generator had an issue on the bike, but the second session on Monday went well. On day two every single time I came in we tried a new setting to find one that was perfect and we found a really good one. I went out there and did ten laps on the same tyre and still did consistent times. It’s great to be on a Honda in this championship, the bike is just an easier bike to ride than some, and we will be on it for the weekend I’m sure.” Balasz Nemeth (Racing Team Toth Honda) “We will make some changes to the bike and I think we can gain some time still, but I am happy to be inside the top ten after the last test of the pre-season. We should be good for the race. We had so many problems here last year, but this test has gone well and we found a good setting early on. I think our race settings are working and in the race I should just concentrate on doing the lap times. I think we can in the top regularly so that is our aim, and to get as many points as possible.” Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka Racing Honda) “We changed the bike position compared to last year, and now we found more grip in the rear wheel. I have better speed in the corner and I felt safer, more stable, on the brakes. Our improvements in performance are due to just this, the bike geometry change. I have more confidence into the corners. And we found a good tyre set-up, so it all worked pretty well today as I am in the top ten. We know our direction for the race so maybe we will get better and better over the first race weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Effenbert Liberty Racing Team: TEAM EFFENBERT LIBERTY RACING Riders work hard in last preparation 2-day official Infront test provided a lot of important data. Official World Superbike test saw the whole line-up of all top riders of this championship get out on their bikes in last preparation for the actual start of the season 2012 that takes place now in no more than a few days. The Effenbert Liberty Racing Team worked hard to prepare all three riders with competitive bikes and to gather important data for the entire season. No rain and decent weather conditions, air 24° and track 45°, helped to call this test an overall success. Jakub Smrž managed to solve some different problems and found a good feeling with the bike. He did many laps finishing 3rd with 1.31.800. “Race tyres are working very well and I’m also very satisfied with the new suspension. The set-up seems to have improved a lot, “he said. Sylvain Guintoli, who is still not feeling 100% due to the virus, had to visit the mobile clinic on several occasions during the test. He is hoping to be back in full shape for the race. Although fighting with an illness, he didn’t call it a day and was out riding to collect some important data. He finished 9th with 1.32. 347. “Physical strength is coming back so I’m hoping everything will be ok for the race. I found a good balance on the bike and we also tried the new engine. It was a lot of hard work and it gave us a lot of information, “said Guintoli. Maxime Berger didn’t fall behind and worked hard to find many improvements. He was struggling in the second split of the circuit but managed to find a good feeling and gather overall confidence. He finished 15th with 1.32.911. Nicola Manna, the sport director commented in conclusion: “We reached all objectives that we had aimed for. The crew co-operation is outstanding. We know two riders very well and they did a great job. My rider, Maxime Berger, has been very professional and there is still a big potential to improve even further.” Now the team is ready for a strong start. Riders will fight this weekend for their first championship points, because a good start means confidence and can show a lot of potential. However, the season is long and no one can firmly predict, what is going to happen. That’s why this sport is so fascinating. Everyone is on the countdown for this first 2012 race weekend to start!