You are here

SBK, Rea and the Kawasaki back out front, Melandri 3rd

On day two of testing at Phillip Island, the Northern Irishman closes ahead of Sykes, Laverty 4th on the Aprilia, Camier 8th, Davies outside the top ten

SBK: Rea and the Kawasaki back out front, Melandri 3rd

Share


A final opportunity to sharpen their weapons ahead of the season-opener and one that Johnny Rea exploited, sending his rivals a clear message. On the second and final day of testing at Phillip Island, the Northern Irish rider finished on top, thanks to a fastest time of 1’30”598. This was the best lap seen over the two days, as the three-time champion puts yesterday's crash firmly behind him.

Johnny is back where he belongs then, followed by Tom Sykes (+0.206), just two tenths behind. Kawasaki couldn't have hoped for more as it concludes testing with a solid 1-2. Not even the new technical regulation has been able to slow the pair, but then we'd already guessed that.

On one side there's the ZX-10RR that is trying to break away, on the other is the Ducati of Marco Melandri, who has no intention of letting his rivals escape. Having set the fastest time yesterday, the Italian consolidated that performance, finishing third (+0.455). Meanwhile, Chaz Davies appears to be suffering. An uphill climb for him today, the Welshman not yet 100% after the injury he sustained in November. Eleventh place confirms the Aruba rider's problems, as he closes more than a second from the front, outside of the top ten.

The two Aprilias feature inside the top ten however. Eugene Laverty surprises by finishing fourth, just 0.021 of a second behind Melandri, while Lorenzo Savadori (+0.981) closes tenth, the BMW of Loris Baz just 0.037 ahead of him. Encouraging signs for the Frenchman, who returns to Superbike following his MotoGP adventure with Avintia.

Xavi Forés flies the flag for Ducati , setting the fifth fastest time ahead of the Yamaha pairing of van der Mark e Lowes. It is interesting to note how close the times are on this second day of testing, with ten riders within a second. Among these is also Leon Camier on the Honda (7th, +0.772), set to do well after what we've seen at Jerez and Portimao.

Jordi Torres and the MV Agusta are playing catch-up, thirteenth today and preceded by the Kawasaki of Toprak Razgatlioglu. Then comes the Fireblade SP2 of Jake Gagne, with Jezek's Yamaha bringing up the rear.     

Translated by Heather Watson
__

Related articles