Bautista tops Friday WSBK practice at Phillip Island

2019 WorldSBK
Round One – Phillip Island
Friday

Despite a concerted time attack from Jonathan Rea towards the end of FP2, it was Alvaro Bautista that remained atop the timesheets when the 50-minute session came to a close just after 1550 this afternoon at Phillip Island.

Bautista’s benchmark was a 1m30.327 to Rea’s 1m30.341.  KRT’s Leon Haslam was also right there with a 1m30.482.

While Bautista put in plenty of very fast laps it would be a brave man to bet against the KRT duo when it comes to race pace over a 22-lap race distance come tomorrow.

Tom Sykes heads the second row as the fastest BMW rider alongside Alex Lowes (Yamaha) and Leon Camier (Honda), which makes it five different manufacturers across the front two rows of the grid.

Wildcard entrant Troy Herfoss is obviously still not comfortable with this WorldSBK spec’ bike, lapping more than a second slower than he managed only an hour earlier on his ASBK Superbike spec’ Fireblade.

FP3 is scheduled for 1000 on Saturday, before Superpole qualifying at 1215 and then the opening 22-lap race at 1500.

1. Alvaro Bautista – Ducati 1m30.327
2. Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki 1m30.341
3. Leon Haslam – Kawasaki 1m30.482
4. Tom Sykes – BMW 1m30.664
5. Alex Lowes – Yamaha 1m30.783
6. Leon Camier – Honda 1m30.792
7. Sandro Cortese – Yamaha 1m30.850
8. Markus Reiterberger – BMW 1m30.862
9. Michael Van der Mark – Yamaha 1m31.049
10. Toprak Razgatlioglu – Kawasaki 1m31.125
11. Jordi Torres – Kawasaki 1m31.146
12. Michael Rinaldi – Ducati 1m31.238
13. Marco Melandri – Yamaha 1m31.259
14. Chaz Davies – Ducati 1m31.334
15. Eugene Laverty – Ducati 1m31.403
16. Leandro Mercado – Kawasaki 1m31.545
17. Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda 1m31.790
18. Alessandro Delbianco – Honda 1m32.669
19. Troy Herfoss – Honda 1m34.314

World Supersport

Compulsory pit-stop introduced for Phillip Island race

It has been announced that the first race of the FIM Supersport World Championship season will take place under flag-to-flag rules, with a mandatory entry to the pits to change tyres for all bikes.

After speaking with the teams and based on the information gathered during the official two-day test here at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, FIM and Dorna WSBK Organization have decided to implement this format for Sunday’s race, adding a new challenge for the 24 riders set to line up on the grid.

Riders are free to choose when to do their pit-stop, under the condition that no tyre is used for more than 10 laps. Race distance has also been shortened to 16 laps.

This decision does not affect any of the three World Superbike races, which are scheduled to be run in regular conditions as more flexible regulations for teams ensure that proper safety conditions will be met.

Gregorio Lavilla
WorldSBK Executive Director of Sporting & Organization

“Due to specific track conditions seen at Phillip Island since Monday and some concerns regarding tyre life in race conditions, we decided that the best way to fully guarantee the safety of the WorldSSP riders and avoid any problems would be to do a flag-to-flag, which is in compliance with WorldSSP rules. This is unfortunate, but we believe that it is the best course of action and will guarantee an exciting race this weekend”.

1. Krummenacher – Yamaha 1m32.777
2. Gradinger – Yamaha 1m33.150
3. Caricasulo – Yamaha 1m33.166
4. Cluzel – Yamaha 1m33.208
5. De Rosa – MV Agusta 1m33.257
6. Mahias – Kawasaki 1m33.521
7. Okubo – Kawasaki 1m33.631
8. Barbera – Yamaha 1m33.809
9. Perolari – Yamaha 1m33.885
10. Fuligni – MV Agusta 1m34.098
11. Vinales – Yamaha 1m34.218
12. Soomer – Honda 1m34.459
13. Sebestyen – Honda 1m34.547
14. Herrera – Yamaha 1m34.585
15. Toparis – Yamaha 1m34.658
16. Cresson – Yamaha 1m34.754
17. Danilo – Honda 1m34.854
18. Van Sikkelerus – Honda 1m34.937
19. Coppola – Honda 1m35.076
20. Badovini – Kawasaki 1m35.159
21. Calero – Kawasaki 1m35.183
22. Ruiu – Honda 1m35.232
23. Hartog – Kawasaki 1m35.276
24. Van Straalen – Kawasaki 1m35.362

Tickets and on-circuit camping for the Yamaha Finance-sponsored WorldSBK round are available at Ticketek or at the gate. Gates open 8am Saturday and Sunday. On-circuit camping open 24/7 for arrival and check in at any time… via gate 2.