World Superbike Phillip Island Preseason Test Photo Gallery

[MotoAmerica]

Photo courtesy of Honda

Pieter Breddels, Honda WorldSBK technical manager: "Nicky Hayden needed more time to get to grips with the track on this bike and some much-needed experience on what is still a new type of tire for him. At the end of the first day, he put together a fast lap that was kind of a breakthrough and only a tenth of a second off Michael [van der Mark's best."

Americans Nicky Hayden and PJ Jacobsen, along with the rest of the World Superbike paddock, completed two days of testing at Phillip Island on Monday and Tuesday in preparation for this weekend's opening round of the 2016 FIM Superbike and Supersport World championships.

Eight scheduled hours of track time, split into four sessions, was significantly reduced on Monday by rain and a number of crashes, and on Tuesday by high winds and triple-digit track temperatures.

Photo courtesy of Kawasaki

Tom Sykes: "I am happy to head into the race weekend now having completed a successful test. All we have to do now is get our heads together and have a brief summary of what we have done. On the whole, we have made some key changes and put ourselves in a better position for the opening race weekend.”

Kawasaki rider Tom Sykes posted the quickest lap of the test, a 1:31.097, on Monday afternoon. “We are fast with the cold conditions, warmer conditions, and also with some laps on the tires,” he said. “Everything is definitely heading in the right direction.”

Sykes’ teammate, reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea, was just 0.152 of a second slower than his teammate. In fact, in the final session, led by Sylvain Guintoli on the new Pata Yamaha YZF-R1, the top 12 riders were separated by less than a second.

Photo courtesy of Ducati

Davide Giugliano: “I’m pretty happy about these tests, especially the competitiveness shown this morning when the conditions were similar to those that we should find during the race weekend. Unfortunately, I could not do a long run in the afternoon. The extreme heat does not suit a flowing riding style such as mine, and there were so many crashes and red flags that I preferred not take risks. Still, I managed to do 22 laps on the same tire with a competitive pace.”

“It was challenging at times because the red flags came out while we were making a constant effort with some items,” Rea said. “In general, the two days have been pretty good. That wind made getting across from turn two to turn three so difficult.”

In his first outing on the Honda CBR1000RR at the fast, flowing Australian racetrack, the 34-year-old Hayden put in a total of 116 laps over the two days. His 1:31.558 placed him seventh overall.

Photo courtesy of Kawasaki

Jonathan Rea: "I am just super-excited because, even though it is not that long a winter in WorldSBK, it feels like forever since the final race of last year in Qatar. I just want to see the lights go out and get stuck in for 22 laps at one of the best circuits in the world.”

“The test started really well,” he said, “and I was able to get up to speed quite quickly, despite the different behavior of the tires compared to the ones I used on this track in the past. We tried to make a long run, but it was really too hot; there is definitely some work to do understanding the bike and tires in these conditions.

“It hasn’t been the perfect test for us because of yesterday’s rain and all the red flags today, which messed up my rhythm. The team has worked amazingly hard. Hopefully we can make good use of the next two days to analyze the data and finalize the preparation for the weekend.”

Photo courtesy of Yamaha

Sylvain Guintoli: "I've tried lots of solutions that are working well, and we ended up topping the last session. The pace was really good, and I felt comfortable, probably a little bit too comfortable. This track really suits the character of the YZF-R1; the bike is fantastic to ride here with the change of direction and long, fast corners."

Hayden’s teammate, Michael van der Mark, completed the most laps, 123, and posted the fourth-quickest overall lap time, a 1:31.458.

In the middleweight class, 22-year-old Jacobsen was reunited with the same CBR600RR he rode last year to second overall in the series. Four-time World Champion Kenan Sofuoglu was consistently quick, but his Kawasaki Puccetti teammate, Randy Krummenacher, ultimately put in the fastest lap.

Photo courtesy of Honda

Pieter Breddels, Honda WorldSBK technical manager: “It was not an easy test for us, but in the end it turned out positively. We had our difficulties in finding the right setup with this afternoon’s extreme conditions. At the end, we made a change in settings at the front and PJ Jacobsen’s feeling with the bike improved a lot. I feel we now have a good package for the weekend ahead.”

Despite inconsistent weather on Monday and a minor crash on Tuesday, Jacobsen was able to complete 119 laps—more than any other World Supersport rider. The New Yorker finished the test with the fourth-fastest time (1:34.415), set during the second of the four sessions.

“We were able to go through a lot of stuff, including new Öhlins suspension,” Jacobsen said. “It was a shame I crashed. We were playing with the new settings and trying to figure out the new rear end. I got on the gas too early and the bike spun around. I’ll make sure that it’s not going to happen to me again.”

Practice for Sunday’s Superbike doubleheader and Supersport race begins on Friday.

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