World Superbike News

Michel Fabrizio 2009

The World Superbike news this week is all about the riders who have been at the Phillip Island circuit for their final two day test session in Australia ahead of the opening round of the World Superbike Championship this weekend.

On the opening day, Max Neukirchner was the fastest man on the track aboard the Alstare Suzuki’s brand new GSXR-1000, while his team-mate Yukio Kagayama finished in fourth.  On the second day however, the Suzuki’s seemed to struggle with grip on their rapidly wearing tyres and concentrated on set-up.

Michel Fabrizio on the Xerox Ducati followed in second place impressing his team and looking like a serious contender for the championship title.  On day two, the 24-year-old rode the Ducati 1098R to the top of the time sheets, just three-tenths of a second slower than the circuits record.  Noriyuki Haga on the second Xerox Ducati was in fifth despite an earlier crash at the fast turn two.  Haga did exactly the same thing on day two and at the same spot and confessed to not being happy with the front end of his 1198R

The new Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies, showed impressive form on a track he had never ridden on before, while team-mate Tom Sykes took a tumble on the second day of testing, however, he was unhurt and eager for the start of the 2009 season.

Carlos Checa on the  Ten Kate Honda ended his first day of testing early after high-siding his bike and was admitted to hospital with concussion. Checa was unable to take part in the second day of testing but is expected to be fully fit for the first race.  On the second day his team-mate Britain’s Jonathan Rea had an off but fortunately was unhurt.

Not great World Superbike news for Troy Corser on the BMW, he had to cut his second day of testing short after hitting a bird on the track at 144mph.  Corser’s arm was knocked off the handle bar as the bird flew into his path as he tried desperately to avoid it and to stay on his bike.  He suffered an arm injury and was forced to sit-out of the rest of the session.  Team-mate Ruben Xaus was getting to grips with the new BMW, the first time he has competed on anything other than a Ducati since a year with Yamaha in the MotoGP series in 2005.

The 2009 season begins this weekend with the new Superpole and Flag to Flag rules.  No more of the one-lap sprint Superpole but instead a new knock-out zone for the top 20 riders.  These 20 are then reduced to 16, and then the 16 are reduced to just the 8 who will fill the front two rows of the grid.  The championship also consists of the ‘flag to flag’ procedure, with each rider having a change of bike ready in case of a wet race.