Falls for Rea and Bautista
They concluded Superbike test at Phillip Island with teams and riders who were able to test the new asphalt of the Australian track in view of the first race weekend of the season scheduled for next weekend.
At BMW, tests continued on the new swingarms and on different engine braking settings, with Toprak Raztaglioglu which, at least on the single lap, impressed. The world champion with Yamaha in 2021 signed the new track record, taking it from the 'usual' Nicolò Bulega who had already previously dipped under 1'29”. Razgatlioglu stopped the clock on1'28″511preceding the reigning Supersport champion by just 74 thousandths.
Third time for Andrea Locatelli, who paid three tenths of a second compared to the leading pair. The Italian rider was the best at Yamaha, with Jonathan Rea who suffered a crash in turn 11 in the morning and took part in the afternoon session only towards the end. The former Kawasaki rider finished 15th in terms of overall performance.
Also Alvaro Bautista he crashed in Turn-6 and finished in seventh place, seven tenths behind Razgatlioglu, but Ducati aren't worried. Team manager Serafino Foti stated that Bautista is still dealing with the neck injury which is causing quite a few problems for the two-time reigning world champion who won eight of the nine races held at Phillip Island aboard the Ducati Phillip Island. Excellent fourth time for Andrea Iannone, fifth for Alex Lowes with the Kawasaki ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi. Axel Bassani completed the top-10.
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