Phillip Island WorldSBK Test
Rider Quotes
Toprak Razgatlioglu – P1
“I have to admit that I was really scared before I came here because this is not a track that suits my style. In addition, it was the first time for me to ride here with the BMW M 1000 RR. But I tried to do my best in every session. On this track, you need more grip to ride the bike. The old surface did not offer so much grip but on the new one, I was feeling too much grip and the bike was feeling really good. It was working really well and we made a very good lap time with the SC0 tyre. In general, the bike is working really well with the SC1 tyre and we found a very good set-up. I am happy, but that was just testing and in the last ten minutes, everyone pushed for good lap times, including me. We did a very good one, we finished in P1. This is good but I am focused on the race because I am working for the race and we will see. It looks like it could be a flag-to-flag race because the tyre is destroyed after ten laps, but we will see – in general, I am happy!”
Nicolò Bulega – P2
“I am very satisfied and I think this is my best day of testing in the whole preseason. Both at Jerez and Portimao I was very fast, especially on the time attack, while today the feeling was great also on the race pace. We have worked well so far and I can’t wait to get back on track on Friday.”
Andrea Locatelli – P3
“So, it was an interesting day! Unfortunately, it was just one day of testing – it is not easy to do everything but we were working well this morning and especially during this afternoon to understand which was the best rhythm to do on the race tyre. Everything was working well, my confidence on the R1 feels amazing – I was fast in every run, so this is something positive for us. In general, I am really happy – I can’t wait to start the weekend and I am really excited to start the first race here in Phillip Island. The track was changing a lot, with the new surface grip is quite high, so let’s see what we can do. We have some days to check the data and try to improve a little bit more, but we did really well today. Our target is the podium, we are here for this – and maybe try to win.”
Andrea Iannone – P4
“It was nice to get back on track at Phillip Island after a long time, it’s always a very pleasant and fun track. We worked but we need to understand the tyre situation better. We still have to analyze the datas in depth to make more specific assessments but certainly in some aspects we have a good feeling, but on some others I’m still struggling a bit. However, the balance is positive, we’re off to a good start.”
Alex Lowes – P5
“The test was good. The new surface is really fast, so it feels like a different track to the one we used in the past. We worked really hard on trying to make the used tyres last and it is going to be interesting to see what the organisers do. For me, the tyres were OK, even after 18-19 laps. But for some people after six or seven laps, they are struggling. I was using the SC2 in the front, trying to make the bike work well over the longer distance. So, if we make a pitstop some of today’s work will not be relevant. The bike felt nice to ride around the track, and there is so much grip that every corner you have your elbow on the floor. I guess it is about 1.5 seconds per lap faster than the past, so it is hard to get your head around it. The lap times are so, so close between around 15 riders, if we have a shorter race then the guys with a lot of power and more top speed will not have to look after their tyres as much. We will wait and see. The guys in the team did a really good job. We had no issues and I think we did 90 laps, which is a good day’s work. I am now looking forward to race weekend.”
Alvaro Bautista – P7
“Since the start of pre-season, this is the first day I’ve been able to focus on working to improve my feeling with the bike without having to worry about my physical condition. This makes me very happy even though there is still a lot to do to be in the best condition. Anyway, I am looking forward to getting on track from Friday to work on the details that need to be fixed to be competitive during the weekend”.
Scott Redding – P8
“I am happy that obviously we were able to get the tyres here and actually do some testing because the track surface is quite a lot different so it was good for us to see what is the limit of the tyres, which is quite complicated for everybody at the moment. I’m sure Pirelli and WorldSBK will do the best job they can to make it good for the race weekend. From my side, I enjoy the circuit now with this surface. I really love this track but last year with the track surface and the tyres it was not enjoyable, it was quite scary, but now you can relax and really enjoy the track, which is nice. We did not try too many things, we just worked on bike set-up for me to get confidence and feeling. That was the main goal, just to try and enjoy the bike which I am doing much more now. I am happy. I feel that we’ve got a good enough base that we can fine tune in the race weekend. Now we will go into the first round and see how it goes.”
Remy Gardner – P9
“It was a strange day, but in the end we managed to find our way so I’m happy overall. We worked really hard and even though we had a challenging start, we understood what we needed and we found a positive path to follow. There’s still something to work on, but I feel we are ready for the race weekend and I’m looking forward for the beginning of the season.”
Axel Bassani – P10
“The test I think was good. We tried a lot of things and every time we made a little step forward. We started to be near to the top five. It was not easy because now the level is incredible. Today, for two tenths or three tenths, I was tenth or 11th. Incredible, a crazy situation. But we did, I think, a really good job. At the end of the day we started to push to set some fast laps. I made a mistake in the first sector of my best lap, so I think it was possible to be higher up the order without that mistake. Looking to the race weekend, I think our pace over race distance is not bad. All the riders seem to have a problem with the tyres after ten or 12 laps, so we will see what happens. At the moment, for me, it is better to divide the long races in two, but we will see what they decide.”
Danilo Petrucci – P12
“We worked a lot, and in the afternoon, we found a solution that paid off. I set a good time at the beginning of the race simulation, in a 20-lap long run, which gives me great confidence for the race. Unfortunately, the final ranking doesn’t reflect the true values because when we put on the qualifying tire, we can’t take full advantage of it and slip back. With the new asphalt, there is a lot of grip, and the rear ‘pushes’ a lot during braking. We are considering some minor setup adjustments, and I need to change something in my driving style to be fast with the SCQ. We were fast, but you have to be fast in the single lap to start at the front.”
Dominique Aegerter – P13
“I was a bit nervous, I didn’t know how my body would be as I have not ridden in four months and with the infection, not trained properly in the last month. For sure I needed some laps to get used to the bike again. My body is a little bit stiff now after this long day, so thankfully we’ll have 2 days of recovery. Sure, we’d like to be in a different position but with the virus infection I had we couldn’t test and we missed some track time. The weekend starts on Friday and from Saturday we get points, so we’ll work hard to be more ready and more in front to achieve good results. Thanks to the doctors, the team, the sponsors and all the fans who are supporting me, I cannot wait to start.”
Michael van der Mark – P14
“It was nice to finally get out on track here. It is always great to ride this track. I am really enjoying it. The new surface gives a lot of grip and we feel also that the bike has improved a lot over the year. Our main focus was to work on the basis of the bike which is very good. Now Phillip Island is all about tyre life so we tried to find some solution to make the tyre last. It’s not’s easy but we are working on it. At the end of the day I tried to push for a time attack but I had a red flag on my lap. The final position in the standings is not where we want to be but we were on a good lap. I am looking forward to the race weekend, I think that we are quite strong and as I said, it is all about managing the tyres and that what is we have to do.”
Jonathan Rea – P15
“It’s been a difficult day – I feel comfortable on the R1, but really pushing on the limit and understanding how to push the bike to the maximum is still coming. The outright pace at the front is incredibly fast, so when you go chasing that ultimate lap time it can feel a million miles away but to be honest, the rhythm for me is not actually too far when we put everything together. Step-by-step, the plan is to just work with the guys over the next couple of days to understand how to ride the R1 in the best way possible around here and also get the set-up a bit closer to what I need, and I believe we will be more competitive come the weekend. I have a lot of bruising from the crash early this afternoon, but we have a few days rest now before Friday and I expect by the weekend I will be 100%.”
Xavi Vierge – P16
“Luckily, we were able to complete the test by changing the schedule. We completed many laps, and I must say that the level of grip the new asphalt offers is amazing, which has helped us address some of our weaknesses. We’ve found a good setup for this track, and the feeling with the bike is positive right now. Our race pace isn’t bad, though we’ve again struggled a bit with the soft tyres. While testing the ‘0’ tyre this afternoon, I made a small mistake in the last corner and that really cost me. If we compare our feeling at this track to last year, we’ve improved, and although we haven’t reached our ultimate goal yet, at least the feeling is positive. We have a couple more days to try to make further progress before the races. We’re heading in the right direction anyway, and once the real action gets underway on Friday, we’ll be able to better assess our position and build on it.”
Garrett Gerloff – P18
“I was really looking forward to ride here around Phillip Island but it has been a tough final test day for us. We had some technical issues that cost us a lot of time and we could not use the test as we had planned. It’s frustrating when you have to sit in the garage while the others are doing their laps, but better we have these issues now and can solve them than if they come at the race weekend. Now we have a couple more days to work and prepare and then we are ready to kick off the season. We have seen that the BMW M 1000 RR can be fast here at Phillip Island, and that makes me confident that we can be back stronger on Friday when we open the weekend with FP1.”
Iker Lecuona – P19
“As I’ve said before, the target is to try and find a way forward with the current base and fully exploit the bike’s performance, and so that’s what we set out to do today. At a certain point, we put in a new tyre and, after making a few modifications to the bike, things were feeling good, much better in fact. But then unfortunately I suffered quite an unexpected and fast crash mid-way through turn 11. I hit my left shoulder hard when I fell and I couldn’t continue riding during the afternoon. On Thursday afternoon, I will have another assessment with doctors at the medical centre to see whether I’m passed fit to compete this weekend. I want to apologise to the team because it’s not the start we wanted of course. It’s also frustrating because I really love competing at this track, but I will follow the doctors’ advice and do all I can to improve my physical condition.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Prometeon Yamaha
“After the enforced late start to the test here, there was a lot to cram into one day today! We had a tale of two very different test experiences across the team. For Loka it was a very smooth day, the test went very much as planned – he was able to be fast over race distance and also make a very impressive lap time at the end of the test on the SC0 rear tyre. A good start to the race season for Andrea, together with his crew he is pretty much ready to start the race weekend and we’re looking forward to seeing that “next step” we know he is capable of taking. For Jonathan, we had a couple of technical issues which hindered the test programme in the morning. Sometimes when things aren’t going smoothly, the world has a way of making things more challenging – and a Turn 11 high-side didn’t make things any easier. JR is a fighter and did very well to get back to the bike and keep working, even if the laps he did were very limited this afternoon. Ultimately, we are thankful that his injuries were not any worse and that he will be able to compete at the weekend. We now have two days for him to repair and recover as much as possible and for us to find some solutions so that JR can use all of his undoubted speed and talent.”
Shaun Muir – ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team Principal
“It’s been a real battle over the last months to get Toprak and Michael ready for the first race weekend here in Phillip Island, Australia. A lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes with all of the preseason tests in Portimão, Jerez, Valencia and here in Phillip Island, Melbourne have been absolutely vital but now we’re ready to go racing. Toprak spent a lot of his time this morning getting up to speed and this afternoon focused on race simulations, finishing in a very strong P1 position which we’re very happy with. Michael was comfortably in the top six for most of the day, but just lost touch at the very end as he didn’t get a good run on his two softest tyres – but that doesn’t deter us. There’s a lot of questions surrounding the new tarmac at the Phillip Island circuit, and it’s clear that’s going to be the challenge of the race weekend. It’s super abrasive which is something we’re going to have to take into consideration, and there is a lot of work to do, to be able to survive a race distance in these hot conditions with the extra grip. The challenges from FP1 on Friday will be getting settled in again, using what we’ve learned today to get the race setup finalised, and to get a tyre which can give us performance over the complete race distance. I’m confident that we can achieve that and we look forward to a successful weekend.”
Marc Bongers – BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director
“The final results of the test day are a bit difficult to assess. The last minutes of the test felt like a qualifying session, but we were consistently up front throughout. That was very encouraging. I believe that in race trim, Michael, Scott, and Garrett will be further up the grid than they are now in the test rankings. Additionally, Garrett faced setbacks due to a few technical issues. Making a prediction for the race is extremely difficult because we definitely have issues with the tyres. We simply can’t sustain them over the race distance. This is not unique to us; it’s a challenge for our competitors as well. There will be discussions with Pirelli in the next couple of days. I don’t anticipate completing the full race distance; there might even be a flag-to-flag race. Since the decision is pending, no predictions can be made. It could either be a highly strategic, tyre-preserving race, or there might be two consecutive sprint races. Overall, it’s gratifying that this is the third consecutive test where we are at the forefront. Our package is working, and I expect strong results without providing a precise prediction.”
Denis Sacchetti – GoEleven Team Manager
“Despite the logistical difficulties I have to thank Pirelli for being able to provide us with everything we needed to carry out the test today, the guys did a great job with very little time available. 70% of the work we had planned before leaving from home, we managed to turn it into practice. Andrea is getting to know the feedback of the tyres better and better, very different from the ones he used in Motogp, and it takes some time to be able to exploit them, but the work and harmony inside of the garage is nice, we work well and we grow together. As in the last test in Portimao, we lack a bit of performance with the soft tyre, while with the hard one, even with many laps, we are quite fast. It was a very interesting test, now the games are over and from Friday we’ll start the very hard work!”
Pere Riba – Crew Chief for Alex Lowes
“We have tested with Alex four or five times and the jobs we have done during the winter are bearing some fruit. I know Alex better and I am positive. But, I do not want to talk yet, I want to see some race results. Also, it will be a little bit different this weekend because maybe there will be a decision to race flag-to-flag. To have a race of 22 laps or ten laps is a huge difference in the approach to the set-up – everything. So this means it can be a little bit strange. But the test has been very positive; Alex has been very strong and no mistakes. He is happy with the bike, strong on race tyres and consistent. So far it is good. I am happy and the most important thing is that I am happy with Alex. He is working hard, working well, calm and he understands the way I like to work step-by-step. His attitude is positive and open-minded.”
Marcel Duinker – Crew Chief for Axel Bassani
“I actually enjoyed the format with everything squeezed in one day. It was nice because I think we work well under pressure. We had a proper winter test programme but today we made the step which was necessary to face the first race weekend of the year. Of course, Axel is still fresh on the bike, with not so much experience of it, so we tried to give him more front end confidence to enter every turn. We made the step that was necessary because to finish two tenths from Alex, who is the reference in the team, was good. We haven’t been that close until now. Axel also says he feels better every time he jumps on the bike when we make adjustments. We have really prepared ourselves for race weekend – with a Superpole simulation, pitstops and practice starts. We had a very good day and we will be ready to go on Friday morning.”
Phillip Island WorldSBK Test Times
Combined
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | T. Razgatlioglu | BMW | 1m28.511 |
2 | N. Bulega | Ducati | +0.074 |
3 | A. Locatelli | Yamaha | +0.324 |
4 | A. Iannone | Ducati | +0.490 |
5 | A. Lowes | Kawasaki | +0.700 |
6 | M. Rinaldi | Ducati | +0.702 |
7 | A. Bautista | Ducati | +0.767 |
8 | S. Redding | BMW | +0.859 |
9 | R. Gardner | Yamaha | +0.888 |
10 | A. Bassani | Kawasaki | +0.895 |
11 | S. Lowes | Ducati | +0.921 |
12 | D. Petrucci | Ducati | +0.957 |
13 | D. Aegerter | Yamaha | +1.137 |
14 | M. Van Der Mark | BMW | +1.205 |
15 | J. Rea | Yamaha | +1.455 |
16 | X. Vierge | Honda | +1.466 |
17 | P. Oettl | Yamaha | +1.475 |
18 | G. Gerloff | BMW | +1.870 |
19 | I. Lecuona | Honda | +1.957 |
20 | B. Ray | Yamaha | +2.048 |
21 | T. Rabat | Kawasaki | +2.518 |
22 | T. Mackenzie | Honda | +3.069 |
23 | A. Norrodin | Honda | +3.577 |
FP2 Top Speeds
Pos | Rider | Bike | Speed |
1 | T. Rabat | Kawasaki | 323,9 |
2 | T. Razgatlioglu | BMW | 321,0 |
3 | X. Vierge | Honda | 318,2 |
4 | D. Petrucci | Ducati | 317,2 |
5 | S. Redding | BMW | 315,4 |
6 | M. Van Der Mark | BMW | 315,4 |
7 | G. Gerloff | BMW | 315,4 |
8 | R. Gardner | Yamaha | 314,5 |
9 | A. Iannone | Ducati | 314,5 |
10 | A. Bassani | Kawasaki | 312,7 |
11 | N. Bulega | Ducati | 311,8 |
12 | A. Bautista | Ducati | 311,8 |
13 | A. Lowes | Kawasaki | 311,8 |
14 | J. Rea | Yamaha | 310,9 |
15 | A. Norrodin | Honda | 310,0 |
16 | A. Locatelli | Yamaha | 310,0 |
17 | S. Lowes | Ducati | 310,0 |
18 | D. Aegerter | Yamaha | 308,2 |
19 | M. Rinaldi | Ducati | 306,5 |
20 | P. Oettl | Yamaha | 306,5 |
21 | B. Ray | Yamaha | 305,6 |
22 | T. Mackenzie | Honda | 303,0 |
WorldSBK 2024
The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit will raise the curtain once again for the new WorldSBK and WorldSSP season with the Australian Round on the weekend of February 25.
Tickets for the 2024 season opener are on sale now, check out your options at www.worldsbk.com.au
Phillip Island ASBK/WSBK Schedule
Friday 23rd February 2024 | ||
Time | Class | Event |
0740 | Timekeeping -Track System Test | Test |
0805 | FIM Medical Inspection /// FIM Track Inspection | |
0845 | Australian Supersport 300 | FP |
0910 | Australian Supersport | FP |
0940 | Australian Superbike | FP1 |
1025 | WorldSSP | FP |
1120 | WorldSBK | FP1 |
1210 | Course Car Rides | |
1235 | ASBK Pillion Rides | |
1310 | Australian Supersport 300 | Q |
1340 | Australian Supersport | Q |
1410 | Australian Superbike | FP2 |
1455 | WorldSSP | Superpole |
1600 | WorldSBK | FP2 |
1705 | Australian Supersport 300 | R1 |
Saturday 24th February 2024 | ||
0705 | Timekeeping -Track System Test | Test |
0725 | FIM Medical Inspection /// FIM Track Inspection | |
0805 | Australian Superbike | Q |
0850 | Australian Supersport 300 | R2 |
0925 | Australian Supersport | R1 |
1000 | WorldSBK | FP |
1030 | WorldSSP | WUP |
1100 | Pit Walk 1 & Course Car Rides | |
1200 | Australian Superbike | R1 |
1300 | WorldSBK | Superpole |
1335 | Australian Supersport | R2 |
1430 | WorldSSP | R1 |
1505 | ASBK Pillion Rides | |
1600 | WorldSBK | R1 |
Sunday 25th February 2024 | ||
0800 | Timekeeping -Track System Test | Test |
0830 | FIM Medical Inspection /// FIM Track Inspection | |
0910 | Australian Supersport 300 | R3 |
0945 | Australian Superbike | R2 |
1030 | WorldSBK | WUP |
1050 | WorldSSP | WUP |
1125 | Australian Supersport | R3 |
1155 | Pit Walk 2 & Course Car Rides | |
1300 | WorldSBK | SPRace |
1340 | Australian Superbike | R3 |
1430 | WorldSSP | R2 |
1505 | ASBK Pillion Rides | |
1600 | WorldSBK | R2 |
2024 WorldSBK Dates
Date | Circuit | WSBK | WSSP600 | WSP300 | WWSBK |
23-25 Feb | Phillip Island | X | X | ||
22-24 Mar | Catalunya | X | X | X | |
19-21 Apr | Assen | X | X | X | |
14-16 Jun | Misano | X | X | X | X |
12-14 Jul | Donington | X | X | X | |
19-21 Jul | Most | X | X | X | |
9-11 Aug | Algarve | X | X | X | X |
23-25 Aug | Balaton Park | X | X | X | |
6-8 Sep | Magny-Cours | X | X | X | |
20-22 Sep | Cremona | X | X | X | |
27-29 Sep | Aragón | X | X | X | |
18-20 Oct | Jerez | X | X | X | X |