Melandri tops, Sykes and Rea crash whilst Camier impresses in WSBK test at Phillip Island

The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit was the host to the final pre-season World Superbike test and there was a surprise at the top of the time sheets, with Marco Melandri. Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes was in second at a circuit which he has never won at, whilst Rea was third, after both suffered a crash at turn 11.

Monday morning’s session saw riders start to dial in settings ahead of the season opener in just a weeks time. Besides the top three, there were a host of wildcards impressing, such as Wayne Maxwell, in 16th place. Rookies also made a thundering impression, with Toprak Razgatlioglu finishing 13th on his first time at ‘The Island’.

MV Agusta’s new signing Jordi Torres fell at the Southern Loop and was up and ok. Tom Sykes joined his teammate Jonny Rea in the crashers club as he also fell at turn 11. He, like his teammate, was also OK.

Melandri had a strong opening day and finished the session on top overall as his team begin to work on the main race set-up. Mainly focusing on electronics, it was a contrasting day for teammate Chaz Davies as he finished in 10th position, over 1.3s off the pace of his Italian teammate as well as finishing last Ducati.

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team were preparing for the opening weekend with Leon Camier and Jake Gagne, both riders of which are new to the team full-time in 2018. 2009 BSB champion Camier continued to impress in the pre-season testing as he ended in a miraculous fourth position, emphasising the Brit’s ability to develop a motorcycle from a mid-pack runner to front running potential. His teammate was generally working on race pace ahead of the weekend and finished down in 17th, 2.5s off the pace.

Phillip Island has been kind to Yamaha since their return to the series in 2016 and Michael van der Mark was top of the team, with fifth. The outfit were choosing to focus on engine spec as well as improving their performance with some new parts to come on Tuesday. British teammate and 2013 BSB champion Alex Lowes was eighth.

Continuing to search for important rear end feeling, Eugene Laverty secured seventh for Milwaukee Aprilia. The Irishman was just over 1.1s behind Melandri with some emphatic progress made throughout the entirety of winter testing, yet still looking like there is a lot of work to do.

Xavi Fores was utilising both bikes in order to compare set-up on their machines. The team continue to change to the 2018 regulations and are hoping to develop on their corner exit. Fores was 6th come the end of testing on day one.

Loris Baz endured a somewhat subdued return to WSBK at Phillip Island, as he goes in search of a resolution to chronic front end issues that have plagued the Althea BMW team. The Frenchman put in 57 laps, finishing 11th and 1.4 off the pace.