Rea back on top, Laverty rises to 4th

The weather was kinder to riders on Tuesday for day two of the WSBK test from Phillip Island, Australia. With less than three days to go until the first official WSBK session of the season begins, it was Jonathan Rea who knocked Marco Melandri from top-spot ahead of the first race of the season in Australia.

Blue skies welcomed the riders out on track this morning and Rea ended on top, despite a crash through turn 10 – his second in as many days. Finishing ahead of teammate Tom Sykes by 0.2s, with Marco Melandri in third but roughly half a second behind the 3-time champion.

Beginning to improve the rear feeling they have been consistently searching for throughout 2017 and the 2018 pre-season tests, Eugene Laverty took his Milwaukee Aprilia to fourth and close to Melandri, despite a crash near the end of the day. Again focusing on rear grip, his team are now looking at the pace throughout the full race distance, with the belief of being able to challenge at the front of the pack until the end of the race – something we did not see in 2017.

Xavi Fores started his morning in the gravel after a crash but soon continued to set the Ducati Panigale up ahead of the weekend. Long runs were crucial for the team but his one lap pace was also good, coming in 5th overall. The 32-year old was 6th and 5th in the races last year and will want to repeat that performance again in 2018, possibly with the podium in their sights this time.

Dutchman Michael van der Mark slipped to sixth, suffering a crash early in the session. The Yamaha outfit continued to work on the pace for the race, changing very little to Monday’s set-up and are hoping to be as fully prepared for the weekend as possible. Teammate Alex Lowes came home in seventh, again, hoping to be as prepared as possible come Saturday and Sunday.

Day one sensation Leon Camier ended his day eighth for the Red Bull Honda outfit, within a second of the Kawasaki Racing Team riders. The 2009 BSB champion is still working with the electronics on the CBR1000RR SP2, an issue that has been a continuous problem for the team.

Returning Loris Baz on the Gulf Althea BMW improved to ninth on the second day, continuing to work on understanding the BMW and revert back to Pirelli tyres, having rode Bridgestone and Michelin in GP. He was 0.9s off Rea at the top and just 0.005 from Camier directly ahead.

Lorenzo Savadori on the second Milwaukee Aprilia suffered from mechanical gremlins with his number one machine. Despite this, the Italian improved on his opening day time, with a final position of tenth. He was one of three riders in the 1.31.5s bracket and was half a second from teammate Laverty.

Outside the top-10, Chaz Davies continued to have a mare of a test, languishing in 11th. Toprak Razgatlioglu improved to 12th, just 1.2 away from Rea, with Jordi Torres finishing 13th after a massive accident on day one. Leandro Mercado continues to adapt to Kawasaki and Orelac Racing whilst Jake Gagne improved to 15th on the final day.

Troy Herfoss led Yonny Hernandez in 16th and 17th respectively, as the latter continues to adapt to World Superbikes. Roman Ramos was a disappointing 18th with Wayne Maxwell and PJ Jacobsen right in behind him. Daniel Falzon and Ondrej Jezek were at the rear of the field but the entire grid was covered by just 2.5s.