Submitted by David Emmett on
Alvaro Bautista has made his mark on the first day of the WorldSBK at Phillip Island, the Aruba.it Ducati rider blitzing the field at the final test before racing starts. Bautista was aided by the fact that the wind picked up in the afternoon, making it hard for anyone to improve their times, but he used the speed of the Ducati V4R to his advantage to top both sessions.
Pata Yamaha rider Alex Lowes ended the day second, four tenths behind Bautista, and just ahead of reigning world champion Jonathan Rea on the KRT Kawasaki. Tom Sykes made a strong impression on the SMR BMW S1000RR, a tenth off Rea's quickest time, and another tenth ahead of the man who took his place in the Kawasaki team alongside Rea, Leon Haslam.
Marco Melandri led a fleet of Yamahas from sixth to ninth place, Melandri finishing ahead of Michael van der Mark and Sandro Cortese, while Markus Reiterberger rounded out the top ten on the second BMW. Bautista's teammate Chaz Davies did not fare as well on the Ducati, the Welshman struggling with technical issues during the first session, and managing only twelfth fastest in the second session, ending the day thirteenth overall.
The tricky Australian circuit saw a few fallers during the day, Michael van der Mark, Jonathan Rea, and Alessandro Delbianco all going down.
Testing concludes on Tuesday, after which the riders get a brief break before the season kicks off in earnest with practice on Friday.
Times from both sessions, and from both sessions combined:
| Combined | ||||||
| Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:30.743 | ||
| 2 | 22 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.146 | 0.403 | 0.403 |
| 3 | 1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:31.189 | 0.446 | 0.043 |
| 4 | 66 | Tom Sykes | BMW S1000 RR | 1:31.300 | 0.557 | 0.111 |
| 5 | 91 | Leon Haslam | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:31.399 | 0.656 | 0.099 |
| 6 | 33 | Marco Melandri | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.445 | 0.702 | 0.046 |
| 7 | 60 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.458 | 0.715 | 0.013 |
| 8 | 11 | Sandro Cortese | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.639 | 0.896 | 0.181 |
| 9 | 28 | Markus Reiterberger | BMW S1000 RR | 1:31.992 | 1.249 | 0.353 |
| 10 | 54 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:32.050 | 1.307 | 0.058 |
| 11 | 2 | Leon Camier | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:32.459 | 1.716 | 0.409 |
| 12 | 81 | Jordi Torres | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:32.670 | 1.927 | 0.211 |
| 13 | 7 | Chaz Davies | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:32.706 | 1.963 | 0.036 |
| 14 | 36 | Leandro Mercado | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:32.789 | 2.046 | 0.083 |
| 15 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:32.797 | 2.054 | 0.008 |
| 16 | 23 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:32.962 | 2.219 | 0.165 |
| 17 | 21 | Michael Rinaldi | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:33.402 | 2.659 | 0.440 |
| 18 | 52 | Alessandro Delbianco | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:33.949 | 3.206 | 0.547 |
| 19 | 17 | Troy Herfoss | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:34.961 | 4.218 | 1.012 |
| Session 1 | ||||||
| Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:30.743 | ||
| 2 | 22 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.146 | 0.403 | 0.403 |
| 3 | 1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:31.189 | 0.446 | 0.043 |
| 4 | 33 | Marco Melandri | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.445 | 0.702 | 0.256 |
| 5 | 60 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.458 | 0.715 | 0.013 |
| 6 | 11 | Sandro Cortese | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.639 | 0.896 | 0.181 |
| 7 | 66 | Tom Sykes | BMW S1000 RR | 1:31.740 | 0.997 | 0.101 |
| 8 | 91 | Leon Haslam | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:31.886 | 1.143 | 0.146 |
| 9 | 28 | Markus Reiterberger | BMW S1000 RR | 1:31.992 | 1.249 | 0.106 |
| 10 | 54 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:32.425 | 1.682 | 0.433 |
| 11 | 2 | Leon Camier | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:32.459 | 1.716 | 0.034 |
| 12 | 81 | Jordi Torres | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:32.679 | 1.936 | 0.220 |
| 13 | 36 | Leandro Mercado | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:32.789 | 2.046 | 0.110 |
| 14 | 23 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:33.171 | 2.428 | 0.382 |
| 15 | 7 | Chaz Davies | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:33.204 | 2.461 | 0.033 |
| 16 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:33.353 | 2.610 | 0.149 |
| 17 | 21 | Michael Rinaldi | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:33.843 | 3.100 | 0.490 |
| 18 | 52 | Alessandro Delbianco | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:33.965 | 3.222 | 0.122 |
| 19 | 17 | Troy Herfoss | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:34.961 | 4.218 | 0.996 |
| Session 2 | ||||||
| Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:31.149 | ||
| 2 | 66 | Tom Sykes | BMW S1000 RR | 1:31.300 | 0.151 | 0.151 |
| 3 | 91 | Leon Haslam | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:31.399 | 0.250 | 0.099 |
| 4 | 1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:31.551 | 0.402 | 0.152 |
| 5 | 22 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.798 | 0.649 | 0.247 |
| 6 | 11 | Sandro Cortese | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.808 | 0.659 | 0.010 |
| 7 | 33 | Marco Melandri | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:31.858 | 0.709 | 0.050 |
| 8 | 54 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:32.050 | 0.901 | 0.192 |
| 9 | 60 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1:32.086 | 0.937 | 0.036 |
| 10 | 28 | Markus Reiterberger | BMW S1000 RR | 1:32.669 | 1.520 | 0.583 |
| 11 | 81 | Jordi Torres | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:32.670 | 1.521 | 0.001 |
| 12 | 7 | Chaz Davies | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:32.706 | 1.557 | 0.036 |
| 13 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:32.797 | 1.648 | 0.091 |
| 14 | 2 | Leon Camier | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:32.885 | 1.736 | 0.088 |
| 15 | 23 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:32.962 | 1.813 | 0.077 |
| 16 | 36 | Leandro Mercado | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1:33.231 | 2.082 | 0.269 |
| 17 | 21 | Michael Rinaldi | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1:33.402 | 2.253 | 0.171 |
| 18 | 52 | Alessandro Delbianco | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:33.949 | 2.800 | 0.547 |
| 19 | 17 | Troy Herfoss | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:35.475 | 4.326 | 1.526 |
Comments
V4 Beautista
Believe us now?
Watch out for this Beautista V4 Panigale combo, it is still a baby.
More good stuff from Lowes and Sykes. Honda isn't giving Camier a weapon to fight with - GIVE US THE V4 ALREADY! (Of all these bikes, the Aprilia is my favorite...sad to see it sidelined).
I know it's only testing but.....
Nearly half a second is quite a chunk of time
wonder why all panigale
wonder why all panigale riders except AB19 are outside top 10 in both session ? the new red bike didn't set fire in previous tests either.. with honda are out of pace as usual, whilst bmw again surprising...a soon will be podium threat, nice job for rookie team!
As he should
Alvaro Bautista coming from a Desmosedici, on which he was doing quite well in the second half of the season (especially once on the GP18 at PI) and now on a bike that is derived directly from that Desmosedici in the Superbike world championship, well, this is what you would expect, wouldn't you? With the Ducati revving significantly higher than the competition (allowed 16.350 rpm versus 14.900 for the BMW, 14.700 for the Yamaha and 14.600 for the Kawasaki), they also have an potential power advantage that is so big that the bike must be really ill-handling to keep it from winning, I would say.
Of course this is just test day 1 here and this is Phillip Island, which is a rather unique circuit, but I would not be surprised if this season is going to be decided long before the end. Then again, we have the Rea factor, we have tyre wear and we have funny rules that are being changed along the way, so I could be proven wrong.
I wonder for how long the
I wonder for how long the Ducati can use its 16350 rev limit.... I am not sure on the current rules but when rev limits was introduced then the plan was that they could be reduced by 250rpm after 3 rounds. Ducati will have a rev advantage compared to Kawasaki for almost all year if this is the norm.....
^ Pvalve I think the new
^ Pvalve I think the new Ducati is further from sorted in the handling dept as it comes out of the crate than other bikes. There are lots of parameters to play with on it as well - electronics especially. It is a bit foreign still. Betting it comes good in a bit of time. And loses revs.
Beautista is on! PLEASE take it to Rea this yr.
Alvaro
Alvaro also holds the lap record for Phillip Island on the 250cc and 125cc two stroke GP bikes so the boy does go well there! Miss the 250cc GP two strokes. Pure racing machines.
250cc Grand Prix (INT) Alvaro Bautsista (Spa) Aprilia 250 1:32.710 - 5-Oct-08
125cc Grand Prix (INT) Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Honda 125 1:36.927 - 17-Sep-06
It's the Island, outright speed is a double-edged sword
Let's see if Alvaro can manage his tyres at that pace for a whole race...