Category: Crew On Two

Following Alvaro Bautista’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) demolition of the field by nearly fifteen seconds in his and the new Ducati Panigale V4 R’s first Superbike World Championship race in Phillip Island on Saturday, there was much interest in what the field could do in response for WorldSBK’s first ever Superpole race.

Ten laps at Phillip Island was always going to lead to an exciting race, it was just a matter of whether it would be an exciting race at the front, or an exciting race for second.

Having made the holeshot for the second time this weekend, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was in the perfect position to be able to try to take the fight to Bautista in the Superpole race, and he did just that. Rea knew that if he allowed Bautista to lead, the race would be much more difficult for him, and so did everything to disrupt the Spaniard’s rhythm, riding with an aggression we perhaps haven’t seen from the four-times World Champion since his Honda days.

For five laps it worked, and Rea seemed to be able to contain Bautista, but with five to go the race one winner pulled the proverbial pin. Rea was able to go with the #19, but unable to get close enough to make a pass, and ultimately was unable to prevent a second win of the weekend for Bautista.

Leon Haslam finished third, four seconds back of the lead battle. After the disappointment of his fall in race one which deprived him of a return to the WorldSBK podium on his comeback to the championship, a trip to parc ferme was much welcomed for the 2018 BSB champion, and he will be targeting more of the same in race three.

Behind Haslam raged a Yamaha civil war, with all four full factory YZF-R1 riders fighting for fourth place. It was Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) who came out on top, 0.087 seconds clear of his teammate Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK). A further 1.1 seconds back was Marco Melandri who recovered from an early excursion with Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) in turn one to beat his GRT Yamaha WorldSBK teammate and 2018 World Supersport Champion, Sandro Cortese who continued to impress after finishing in the top ten on his WorldSBK debut in Saturday’s race one.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Barni Racing Ducati) was the second Panigale V4 R over the line in eighth place, which is impressive considering how lost he seemed at the end of the test on Tuesday.

1.5 seconds further back of Rinaldi was Eugene Laverty (Team GoEleven) who, with presumably the correct tyre pressure for this race, took ninth place and the final Superpole spot for the grid of the third race of the weekend.

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) is still suffering with the front feeling on the Panigale V4 R, and at such a high speed track, any missing confidence – especially with the front end – is highlighted. He finished the sprint race tenth, and the last of the Ducatis, fourteen seconds behind his teammate.

Unlike Melandri, Tom Sykes was unable to recover from running wide in turn one early on in the race and finished eleventh, 2.2 seconds clear of BMW Motorrad World SBK teammate Markus Reiterberger in twelfth. Behind the German was the Moriwaki Althea Honda duo of Leon Camier (13th) and Ryuichi Kiyonari (14th) who were split by four seconds.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) was caught up in an incident with Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) on the final lap, where Mercado made contact with the Turkish rider, who then collected Torres. All three went down, but Razgatlioglu got back on to finish fifteenth, and Torres remounted for seventeenth.

Between them was the wildcard Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) in sixteenth.

Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) was the first retirement, joined on the side lines only by Mercado on the final lap.

New bikes, new pilots and a rider roster which arguably sees one of the most competitive fields in WorldSBK history are what awaits in 2019, and it all starts this weekend in Australia, at the magnificent Phillip Island circuit.

Not many series’ are able to claim that the first track on their calendar is best in the world, but the Superbike World Championship has that luxury, and has enjoyed it since 2009.

Phillip Island’s high-speed front straight sets the tone for the whole circuit, which sees riders dip below third gear on only three or four occasions, depending on gearing.

Not only is Phillip Island a favourite with the riders for the enjoyment found in lapping it alone, but also for the racing it provides. The high-speed nature of the layout means the rider can make more difference here than anywhere else. Additionally, the front straight is long, and the exit from the final corner onto that front straight is fast, meaning the slipstream can be very powerful.

Group races, then, are to be expected. Or, they are if you are optimistic.

From the final preseason test, it is possible to assume that Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) may just disappear this weekend, in all three races. The 2006 125cc World Champion and WorldSBK rookie dominated this week’s test in Phillip Island, topping each of the four sessions across Monday and Tuesday, and setting three times as many laps in the 1’30s as any of his rivals. It is not a coincidence. Bautista’s ‘grand prix’ riding style, which utilises the side of the tyre and uses high corner speed, is one which works well in Phillip Island thanks to the long, sweeping corners. At the same time, however, it uses the rear tyre less efficiently than the more ‘stop-start’ style of the riders with more experience with Pirelli rubber and Superbike machinery. Bautista might have Sunday’s sprint race in the bag, but the two longer races on Saturday and Sunday afternoon should see the Spaniard in more trouble – unless he can solve his issues on Friday.

Bautista’s steed for this year is the Ducati Panigale V4 R, the latest edition of Ducati’s superbike, and the first one in their history to have four cylinders. The V4 R is one of four new bikes on the grid this year, essentially, with BMW returning the WSBK with a full factory effort. The Kawasaki bringing an updated model of the ZX-10RR. Whilst Honda have – in theory – the same bike as last year in the new Moriwaki Althea setup, but in reality the CBR1000RR for 2019 is completely different to the one of last season, as this year’s package is derived from the Suzuka 8 Hour and Japanese championship bike of last year.

But it is the new Panigale, nonetheless, that has – with its MotoGP-derived engine pumping out a reported 234 horsepower and the front wheel being planted by the grand prix-style winglets – attracted the most attention, and Bautista’s speed on the bike has only heightened that. However, in comparison to the Spaniard, the other Ducati riders have been struggling, especially with rear grip. Neither Bautista’s Aruba.it Racing teammate Chaz Davies, nor GoEleven’s Eugene Laverty or Barni Racing’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi could get within one second of Bautista’s times in the test this week, and Bautista has been consistently the fastest Ducati rider throughout the winter. Clearly the V4 R is not an easy bike to master, but once its pace has been unlocked, as Bautista has shown, it has the potential to be a formidable challenger to Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Kawasaki.

And, ultimately, that is the biggest question coming into this season: can anyone stop Jonathan Rea? The Northern Irishman has won over half the races he has competed for Kawasaki since he joined them in 2015, and won all four world titles in that time. Phillip Island is not one of his strongest circuits, statistically at least – indeed he did not win a race in Australia last year. He has, however, won five races at the Island, and did the double-double in 2016-17. It seems, though, that Rea is perhaps not yet completely comfortable with the new Kawasaki, and that makes this first round increasingly important for his rivals.

In comparison, Rea’s teammate, Leon Haslam, is something of a Phillip Island specialist – when he has a competitive package, he will be fighting for the win in Australia. Haslam’s history of podiums at Phillip Island stretches back to 2009, when he finished third in the second race, and since then he has scored five further podiums at the Australian track, including two wins: 2010 race one; 2015 race 2.

Marco Melandri has a similar affinity with Phillip Island to Haslam, and won both races last year on his head-shaking twin-cylinder Ducati. Melandri has now moved to the GRT Yamaha squad, who have moved up from World Supersport and brought 2018 Supersport World Champion Sandro Cortese with them. Both riders have been impressive in preseason, but especially Melandri was very quick this week at Phillip Island. With the Yamaha’s well-known ability to save a tyre, Melandri could be well in the mix in the two full-length races.

As for the full factory Yamaha riders, Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK), they have had differing winter campaigns. Lowes’ speed in the winter was matched with consistency, especially in Jerez and Portimao earlier in 2019. Van der Mark’s preseason, on the other hand, was initially marred by an injury picked up at the final round of the 2018 season in Qatar. The pair of them, though, have been quick in Phillip Island over the last couple of years, and Yamaha have definitely made a step over the winter, so expect to see them in the front this weekend.

BMW’s new S1000RR is giving up a lot of speed on the front straight. This is to be expected, since the bike is brand new, and the motor isn’t from MotoGP. The time, however, that the bike is giving up on the straight, Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) is making up in the rest of the lap. Sykes demonstrated fantastic pace throughout preseason, and this year it is going to be interesting to see what he can do with a fresh start and without Jonathan Rea on the other side of the garage.

Instead of Rea, Sykes has Markus Reiterberger, the last ever Superstock 1000 champion, as his teammate in the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK squad this year. After one-and-a-half seasons out of WorldSBK, Reiterberger will be anxious to show his full potential on this, his second chance in the premier class of production-based motorcycle racing.

Featured image courtesy of Ducati

World Superbike’s 2019 preseason ended today in Phillip Island with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) posting the fastest time to confirm his position from Monday, and just two days before the season gets underway.

Bautista was faster, once again, in the morning compared to the afternoon, as he set a 1’30.303 on the Panigale V4 R in the first session. His speed was similar in the afternoon, with a 30.326, and the Spaniard ended the test with three-times as many laps in the 1’30s than anyone else. The question mark surrounding the factory Ducati rider is his ability to manage the Pirelli WorldSBK tyres, which work in a different way to the Michelin MotoGP rubber. If Bautista can get on top of this issue with his riding style, he could be untouchable this weekend.

Difficulties remained, though, for the other Ducati riders, with Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) failing once again to make the top ten, Eugene Laverty (Team GoEleven) only taking part in the morning session in which he finished sixteenth and 1.683 seconds away from Bautista; and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team) not managing to get within 1.5 seconds of Bautista.

Second-fastest of the day was Tom Sykes on the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK S1000RR, with a 1’30.539 set in the afternoon. The new S1000RR is suffering on top speed which, regardless of pace, could hurt both Sykes and his factory BMW teammate, Markus Reiterberger, in a last lap scrap with Phillip Island’s long, high speed run to the finish line. But regardless of this (and any new bike can be expected to suffer on straight line speed, especially if the motor is not derived from a grand prix bike), the signs from BMW are positive, and they could surprise a few people this season.

Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was third-fastest on World Superbike’s final day of preseason, the 2018 BSB champion setting his fastest time – a 1’30.668 – also in the afternoon, like Sykes. Haslam has proven over the years to be something of a Phillip Island specialist, and it is showing again this year, having beaten his teammate, reigning WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea, on both days of the test. Haslam will be hoping to continue that into the race weekend itself in a couple of days.

World Champion Jonathan Rea ended the day fourth, but tellingly did not make any long runs, suggesting he is not yet completely happy with the new ZX-10RR. It certainly doesn’t seem to be anything the Northern Irishman needs to worry about too much, but there could be an opportunity for his rivals to capitalise in the early stages of this season, and their ability to take this chance could be pivotal for the outcome of the season.

The Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team riders were slightly further down the timesheets today, especially Alex Lowes who has been consistently in the top two or three times in preseason before today. Lowes was eighth in the morning, and sixth in the afternoon, but completed fifty-four laps over the course of the day and was still only half a second shy of the dominant Bautista at the close of proceedings.

Lowes’ teammate, Michael van der Mark, had almost the inverse of Lowes’ day, finishing the first session in fifth and the second in eighth. Van der Mark, though, completed sixty-three laps over the course of the day, and it would be a surprise if he were not in the mix come Saturday.

The semi-factory GRT Yamaha WorldSBK riders both were stronger in the morning than the afternoon, with Marco Melandri slipping from second to twelfth between the morning and the afternoon, and Sandro Cortese going from seventh to eleventh. Melandri, though, should be strong at the weekend, having been competitive in three of the four Phillip Island test sessions. The one session where he did not figure at the very sharp end being the final session of the week, where he was running what would be expected race lap times, in the 1’31s.

There were good signs from the independent Kawasaki riders in the afternoon, as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) finished fifth-fastest, Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) was seventh and Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) ninth. These performances confirm that whilst there is a lack of quantity in this year’s WorldSBK field, there is plenty of quality to counter-act that.

Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) impressed in the Tuesday morning session, in which he finished tenth, 1.140 seconds shy of Bautista on the factory CBR1000RR. The Englishman backed that up with an eleventh place in the afternoon, 1.151 seconds outside Bautista. Camier’s teammate, Ryuichi Kiyonari, finished fourteenth in the morning and fifteenth in the afternoon.

The third full-time Honda (that is, to ignore the wildcard entry of Troy Herfoss) of Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) joined Eugene Laverty in only partaking in the morning session, which he closed in eighteenth place, 2.676 seconds off the pace.

The next time WorldSBK will be on track will be Friday morning, back in Phillip Island, for round one of the 2019 Superbike World Championship.

The first day of the final 2019 preseason test for World Superbike took place in Phillip Island today, just a handful of days before the championship heads out on track for the first round of the season at the Australian circuit next weekend.

The times were topped by Alvaro Bautista in both sessions, the Aruba.it Ducati rider claiming he had never had a better bike at Phillip Island than the Panigale V4R he piloted today. Bautista was not only impressive in the one lap speed, but also in the longer “race” pace, setting nearly three times as many laps in the 1’30s as four-time champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Of course, it is important to view these statistics with a degree of scepticism, since we don’t know which tyres were used to set the times, but either way the early signs for the 2006 125cc World Champion are positive for next weekend.

Bautista was making a lot of his lap time in the final sector of the lap, where the Ducati’s RPM advantage is most noticeable (the V4R currently has 1750 revs more than the new Kawasaki ZX-10RR), and where the Panigale’s wings can make the most difference, helping keep the front end down on the exit of the fourth-gear final corner. The advantage the Spaniard has in this part of the lap could prove crucial come the end of the races on Saturday and Sunday.

Another reason for hesitation when it comes to Bautista’s Monday performance is Jonathan Rea’s crash in the morning. Combined with the increased wind in the afternoon, and the curtailment of the reigning champion’s morning running meant we did not get to see the full potential of the Northern Irishman today.

In between Bautista and Rea in the morning, was Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who continued his positive 2019 preseason. At the Portimao test a few weeks ago, Lowes was the only rider who looked capable of challenging Rea and the Kawasaki, and whilst Bautista seems to have joined the fray, Lowes is still in the mix. He dropped to fifth in the afternoon, 0.649 seconds shy of Bautista’s table-topping time in the second session, but nonetheless the Englishman looks strong at the moment.

Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was the second-fastest Yamaha in the morning, fourth overall, as he continues to make his adaptation to the R1. Behind Melandri was another duo of YZF-R1s, with Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) in fifth and sixth respectively.

Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was seventh in the morning, the last rider within a second of Bautista, but it was in the afternoon that the Brit impressed the most aboard the S1000RR, finishing the second session as the second-fastest rider and just 0.151s away from Bautista. It is still early days with this new BMW project, but already the package is looking competitive in the hands of the 2013 WorldSBK Champion.

Sykes improved his time by four tenths in the afternoon, compared to the morning, and it was a similar case for Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who dropped his time by 0.487 seconds to finish third in the second session, in front of his teammate, Rea.

The second BMW of Markus Reiterberger was ninth in the morning as the final Superstock 1000 FIM Cup champion continues to adapt himself back to the Superbike-spec machinery. The German improved his time by three tenths in the afternoon, despite dropping to tenth.

Toprak Razgatlioglu saw a four-tenth improvement from morning to afternoon on the Turkish Puccetti Racing Kawasaki rider, as he moved from tenth to eighth.

Whilst one Ducati was dominating, four tenths clear of the field at the top of the standings in the morning, and a tenth clear in the afternoon, the other Panigale V4Rs struggled to match the pace set by Bautista.

The second-fastest Ducati in the morning was Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), in fifteenth, 2.461 seconds off his teammate, whilst Eugene Laverty (Team GoEleven) was sixteenth, 2.610 seconds off and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team) was seventeenth, 3.100 off. Things improved for Davies and Laverty in the afternoon, as they wound up twelfth and thirteenth, respectively, but they were still over a second shy of Bautista.

We finally got to see the new, full factory Moriwaki Althea Hondas out on track today, too, after they conducted their winter testing privately in Japan. Neither Leon Camier nor Ryuichi Kiyonari could manage to break into the top ten, or within one second of Bautista in either session, but the project is still in its early days.

The second and final day of the Phillip Island WorldSBK test will get underway at 22:00 GMT, tonight (18/02/2019).

Featured image courtesy of Ducati Media