Tom Sykes ended the Phillip Island WSBK test with the fastest time as preparations for the 2016 season came to a close. The Briton led a Kawasaki 1-2 but with four different riders topping the four sessions at the test, this weekend’s season opener looks set to have several potential challengers for victory.
Sykes’ benchmark time was set on Monday afternoon with Jonathan Rea topping Tuesday’s morning session to secure second spot ahead of Ducati’s Davide Giugliano. Michael van der Mark set an impressive pace on the opening morning before dropping to fourth while Sylvain Guintoli was fifth overall after topping the final session aboard the PATA Yamaha YZF-R1 in scorching temperatures.
Much like the final day of the recent MotoGP test here, crashes regularly interrupted proceedings with many having ramifications for this weekend’s double-header. Karel Abraham was lucky to escape a heavy fall from his Milwaukee BMW on day one but fellow rookie Fabio Menghi’s crash saw the Italian suffer a fractured pelvis, ruling him out of the upcoming weekend. Josh Hook’s participation also appears in doubt after dislocating his shoulder in a crash at the Southern Loop.
Despite wounding his elbow in a fall, Jordi Torres soldiered on to finish sixth ahead of 2006 MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden while Alex Lowes was eighth fastest on the second PATA Yamaha. Last year’s WSBK runner-up Chaz Davies was tenth overall while reigning British Superbike champion Josh Brookes ended the test 1.617s down in fifteenth.
Phillip Island WSBK Official Test – Combined Classification
[table id=809 /]
