WSBK - Round 1 - Phillip Island

[Bigyin]

Just watched the WSS race, bit hectic to say the least but worked out well for McPhee and Taz, 3rd and 5th respectively.

Yup …. Absolute chaos by the weather and all the UK lads picked the right tyres to go full wet rather than the inters some went with. Shame Taz won’t get any points despite finishing fifth as he was running standard electronics instead of the specified ones as they also only had a standard engine rather than a WSS tuned one so almost 3 secs a lap down in full dry conditions

The WSB race was fairly pedestrian but interesting to see Rea blipping the throttle as the majority of us do when we ride all the time as his electronic blipper appeared to fail and I hadn’t really noticed the lack of it in modern racing before

[wull]

The QS itself failed so he was having to go old school on the upshifts as well, you’d see him coming on to the start finish and have to close the throttle slightly to do his clutchless upshift.

They were saying Taz was 20 kph down on the straight.

[wull]

Bautista leads Ducati 1-2 with Superpole Race victory, Rea seventh as GRT Yamaha teammates collide








The Spaniard claimed his second win of the round with a superb ride in the Superpole Race, while Jonathan Rea finished seventh

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s Tissot Superpole Race was 10 laps of drama no matter where you looked at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed victory for his second race win of the weekend as he finished ahead of teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, while there was drama in the top six as teammates collided from a strong position.

Bautista got the holeshot at the start of the race but was passed by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) at Turn 4 on the opening lap, before Bautista passed him at the start of Lap 2 down the Gardner Straight.

From there, Bautista was able to hold on to take his 34th WorldSBK win, putting him level with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and his 60th WorldSBK podium.

He was ahead of Rinaldi in second who secured second place with a move on Razgatlioglu on Lap 4 at Turn 1, with Razgatlioglu taking third spot.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was the lead Kawasaki rider in fourth place. Lowes had been running in the podium places in the early stages of the race but dropped down as he was passed by Rinaldi and then Razgatlioglu around the halfway stage of the race.

Lowes was able to resist pressure from Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) to take fourth spot and Locatelli in fifth, ahead of Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) in sixth to secure a second row start for Race 2.

Six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took seventh spot after he lost time and positions on the opening lap after he was forced wide by Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) at Turn 4, with Rea unable to make moves back through the order.

Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) finished eighth and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) took ninth to take a third row start in Race 2. Bassani had a late-race battle with Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) with the pair separated by half-a-second at the end of the race.

It was a disastrous outcome for the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team when Remy Gardner attacked teammate Dominique Aegerter on Lap 6 at Turn 4. The pair made contact and both riders retired from the race.

It means Aegerter will start Race 2 from 10th place and Gardner in 11th when they were running in the top six in the Superpole Race. The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards who decided to look at the incident after the race, with Gardner given a Long Lap Penalty for Race 2 for irresponsible riding.


1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.462s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +3.060s
4. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +3.833s
5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +3.893s
6. Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) +4.215s
7. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +4.952s
8. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) +7.140s
9. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +11.295s
Fastest lap: Dominique Aegerter, Yamaha – 1’30.374s

[wull]

[wull]

Fuck sake Lowes ya wank

[wull]

Race 2 results. I haven’t watched the race yet so I’m guessing something happened earlier on in the race because from watching the incident between Lowes and Razgatlioglu they were coming back from around 8th place on lap 16 or 17.

Lowes lost the front and hit Toprak, typical racing incident but still, “ya wee Fanny”

[wull]

During the superpole race Petrucci managed to reach 206+ mph

[Skub]

I know Phillip Island isn't typical of the season,but the rest will be going some to beat those Ducatis.

I wonder how much faith Sykes will have in his team for the coming races....

[Yorick]

Just watched all 3 races in last 20 mins.
I can't get excited about it. I just kept FFS to see the scoring.
I didn't see a chequered flag coz I knew in advance.

I really admire JT but he was pissing me off in race 1 saying no QS was costing him seconds per lap.
Bollox. Electronics are no better than a good rider.

[Yorick]

I know Phillip Island isn't typical of the season,but the rest will be going some to beat those Ducatis.

I wonder how much faith Sykes will have in his team for the coming races....

What happened?

[Skub]

I know Phillip Island isn't typical of the season,but the rest will be going some to beat those Ducatis.

I wonder how much faith Sykes will have in his team for the coming races....

What happened?

He didn't finish a race,due to breakdowns,then had a fall when he went back out in race 2.

[wull]

I really admire JT but he was pissing me off in race 1 saying no QS was costing him seconds per lap.
Bollox. Electronics are no better than a good rider.

[Tricky]

Just watched the WSS race, bit hectic to say the least but worked out well for McPhee and Taz, 3rd and 5th respectively.

Yup …. Absolute chaos by the weather and all the UK lads picked the right tyres to go full wet rather than the inters some went with. Shame Taz won’t get any points despite finishing fifth as he was running standard electronics instead of the specified ones as they also only had a standard engine rather than a WSS tuned one so almost 3 secs a lap down in full dry conditions

The WSB race was fairly pedestrian but interesting to see Rea blipping the throttle as the majority of us do when we ride all the time as his electronic blipper appeared to fail and I hadn’t really noticed the lack of it in modern racing before

Aye, I've got a lot of time for both McPhee and Taz, I know they are big mates IRL and, yep, the weather worked out very well for them but that reult and them congratulating each other was just so good to see
I'm looking forward to them both getting on the pace in all conditions- these two being in it has made me interested in WSS again

As for JR's electronic failure, well, any fool knows that electronics are no better than a good rider, whatever that means, (especially in the context of riders at this level ? ) err well , at least one fool knows that

[Bigyin]

Aye, I've got a lot of time for both McPhee and Taz, I know they are big mates IRL and, yep, the weather worked out very well for them but that reult and them congratulating each other was just so good to see
I'm looking forward to them both getting on the pace in all conditions- these two being in it has made me interested in WSS again

As for JR's electronic failure, well, any fool knows that electronics are no better than a good rider, whatever that means, (especially in the context of riders at this level ? ) err well , at least one fool knows that

For the past couple of years the WSS has been back to its axe murdering best and with the help of the new rules to bring in more manufacturers the variety has improved rather than the R6 cup it was turning into.

I think we will get a better idea on Taz at Assen when the new HRC engines arrive as far as i am aware

[wull]

Aye, I've got a lot of time for both McPhee and Taz, I know they are big mates IRL and, yep, the weather worked out very well for them but that reult and them congratulating each other was just so good to see
I'm looking forward to them both getting on the pace in all conditions- these two being in it has made me interested in WSS again

As for JR's electronic failure, well, any fool knows that electronics are no better than a good rider, whatever that means, (especially in the context of riders at this level ? ) err well , at least one fool knows that

For the past couple of years the WSS has been back to its axe murdering best and with the help of the new rules to bring in more manufacturers the variety has improved rather than the R6 cup it was turning into.

I think we will get a better idea on Taz at Assen when the new HRC engines arrive as far as i am aware

Yeah 100% plus he’s been at Assen more recently so should go well, hopefully!