World Superbike

Lowes Leads British 1-2-3-4 At Phillip Island

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Alex Lowes ended the opening day of the Phillip Island pre-season test on top, leading an all-British top four in Australia. The Voltcom Crescent Suzuki rider struck in the closing minutes of the day to edge out Kawasaki’s new signing Jonathan Rea, with Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes also setting a strong pace in third and fourth.

For the most part, session 1 belonged to the sister Suzuki with Randy de Puniet topping the timesheets for a long spell. The Frenchman’s 1:32.402 remained unbeaten for almost an hour before Tom Sykes took over but Rea ensured he would strike the first blow between the new British pairing by clocking a 1:31.663 five minutes from the chequered flag.

The morning session was ended prematurely though with de Puniet highsiding in spectacular style at turn eleven, an accident that sidelined the SBK rookie for the afternoon. Suzuki’s fortunes took a turn for the better though with Lowes setting a 1:31.332 two minutes from time, three tenths quicker than Rea’s morning benchmark.

Haslam set the second quickest time of the afternoon, lifting him to third overall, while Tom Sykes fell to fourth, just ahead of the impressive Jordi Torres. Ducati pair Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies were sixth and seventh with the former suffering an accident which may threaten his participation this weekend, while de Puniet’s injury saw him slip to eighth.

The top ten was rounded out by two more rookies with Michael van der Mark and Nicolas Terol next up while defending champion Sylvain Guintoli made a steady start on his return from injury, setting a 1:32.891 for thirteenth.

 

PHILLIP ISLAND DWO OFFICIAL TEST –  FEBRUARY 16

1 Alex Lowes Suzuki Voltcom Crescent Suzuki 1:31.332
2 Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team 1:31.663
3 Leon Haslam Aprilia Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils 1:31.692
4 Tom Sykes Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team 1:31.753
5 Jordi Torres Aprilia Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils 1:31.783
6 Davide Giugliano Ducati Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team 1:31.948
7 Chaz Davies Ducati Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team 1:32.114
8 Randy de Puniet Suzuki Voltcom Crescent Suzuki 1:32.402
9 Michael van der Mark Honda PATA Honda World Superbike 1:32.408
10 Nicolas Terol Ducati Althea Racing 1:32.425
11 David Salom Kawasaki Team Pedercini 1:32.588
12 Leon Camier MV Agusta MV Agusta Reparto Corse 1:32.885
13 Sylvain Guintoli Honda PATA Honda World Superbike 1:32.891
14 Niccolo Canepa EBR Team Hero EBR 1:33.124
15 Matteo Baiocco Ducati Althea Racing 1:33.477
16 Sylvain Barrier BMW BMW Motorrad Italia SBK 1:33.497
17 Leandro Mercado Ducati Barni Racing Team 1:33.565
18 Jed Metcher Kawasaki Race Center – Demolition Plus 1:34.382
19 Roman Ramos Kawasaki Team Go Eleven 1:34.577
20 Matthew Walters Kawasaki Team Pedercini 1:34.637
21 Larry Pegram EBR Team Hero EBR 1:35.006
22 Santiago Barragan Kawasaki Grillini SBK Team 1:35.754
23 Gabor Rizmayer BMW BMW Team Toth 1:36.500
24 Christophe Ponsson Kawasaki Grillini SBK Team 1:36.607
25 Imre Toth BMW BMW Team Toth 1:36.873
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