The late arrival of the tires in Australia upset the Superbike test programme, which only took to the track on Tuesday. However, this did not worry the riders too much, who took to the track on the only day available, making the most of all the time available. Toprak Razgatlioglu was the one to make the loudest noise, as he set the best time at the end, also breaking the track record in 1'28”511.
The Turk seems to have adapted quite well to the BMW and, although Phillip Island is a history in itself, the first position at the end of the tests appears to be a confirmation of Toprak's good progress with the M 1000 RR. Razgatlioglu beats Nicolò Bulega in the final by just 74 thousandths, a gap that suggests great fights also during the weekend (here are the times of the Australian round). The rookie continues to show signs of growth and seems to feel comfortable astride the Panigale V4R, so much so that he was in the lead for most of the day.
Behind the leading duo we find an excellent Andrea Locatelli, third with Yamaha. The Bergamo native is the only official representative at the end of the tests. Jonathan Rea, in fact, was the protagonist of a highside in the morning which caused him a graze on his knee. The six-time world champion does not go beyond the 15th final time and will be visited again in view of the start of the Australian round.
At the end of the tests we thus had three different brands in the top three positions. Razgatlioglu, Bulega and Locatelli are also the only ones to have a reference in 28″. Andrea Iannone is further behind, almost half a second from the top. The rider from Vasto is fourth, a sign that he is getting on well with the Goeleven team's Ducati and has not lost his edge in Australia, a track he knows well from his MotoGP days.
Iannone is also the first of the independent riders and precedes Alex Lowes, fifth with Kawasaki. The Brit is now leader of the project and brings the ZX-10RR to exactly seven tenths of a second from the top, also remaining ahead of the more famous Ducatis. Michael Ruben Rinaldi follows, sixth with the Panigale V4R of the Motocorsa team. The Romagna native precedes his former teammate Alvaro Bautista.
The reigning world champion is not achieving undisputed dominance as we were used to. Thanks to the new regulation and a body that is still not 100%, the Spaniard doesn't go beyond the seventh final time. However, Bautista felt better physically and started working more on the bike, something he hadn't managed to fully do in the European tests.
The second of the BMW riders, after Toprak, is Scott Redding, who finishes in eighth place with the M 1000 RR of the Bonovo team. Closing out the top 10 are Remy Gardner, ninth on the GRT team Yamaha, and Axel Bassani, tenth on the official Kawasaki. Sam Lowes, who this year is making his debut in Superbike with the Ducati of the Marc VDS team, touches the group of the top ten.
Danilo Petrucci is 12th ahead of Dominique Aegerter, who tests here for the first time after missing the January tests due to a virus. Michael van der Mark is 13th with the official BMW and is 1.2 seconds behind his teammate and leader of the day. He did not shoot Iker Lecuona, who injured his left collarbone in a fall. The only surviving official Honda is that of Xavi Vierge, only 16th.
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