The WorldSBK Championship is ready to start in Australia: Pirelli takes stock of the two days of testing and communicates the solutions for the first round

The reigning Champion Jonathan Rea on Kawasaki in WorldSBK and Randy Krummenacher on Yamaha in WorldSSP, are the fastest riders in the pre-season official tests at the Phillip Island circuit which, as usual, will host the first round of the Championship for factory-derived machines

The two days of testing dedicated to WorldSBK and WorldSSP riders are over at the Australian circuit of Phillip Island that, next weekend, as per tradition, will host the first round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. It reaches its 31^st edition this year, the fifteenth with Pirelli as the Official Sole Tyre Supplier for all the classes.

 

At the end of testing, the fastest riders in the WorldSBK class was Jonathan Rea on his Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK ZX-10RR stopping the clock at 1'30.598, in the WorldSSP the fastest was Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) recording a time of 1'33.499 with his Yamaha YZF-R6.

 

The first round of the season will involve only the WorldSBK and WorldSSP riders and, as usual, is preceded by official pre-season test days, which are extremely important because they allow teams and riders to refine the set up of their machines before the start of the Championship. Above all, it is important to test tyres brought by Pirelli to tackle what, from the tyre manufacturer's point of view, represents the most challenging circuit among those on the calendar. It generates both a constant mechanical and also thermal stress for the tyres, especially on the left side, due to the track layout.

 

WorldSBK class riders spent a total of eight hours on track, four hours a day divided into two-hour sessions, while WorldSSP had two sessions a day, each one of an hour and fifty minutes for a total of seven hours and twenty minutes on track. During the tests the riders of both classes were able to try both standard and development solutions, including the last season's race references, which offered the starting point for comparison with new solutions developed by Pirelli for this year's races. Both on Monday and Tuesday, temperatures remained constant and never higher than 27° C degrees for the air and 38° C degrees for the asphalt, but affecting the tests was, especially on Monday, winds that touched 45 kms/h contributing to the crashes of some riders.

 

WorldSBK test overall standings (combined Monday + Tuesday): 1. J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) - 1’30.598 2. M. Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) - 1’30.726 3. T. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) - 1’30.804 4. E. Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) - 1’31.074 5. X. Forés (Barni Racing Team) - 1’31.076 6. M. Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) - 1’31.131 7. A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) - 1’31.370 8. L. Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) - 1’31.537 9. L. Baz (GULF ALTHEA BMW Racing Team) - 1’31.542 10. L. Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) - 1’31.579 11. C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) - 1’31.614 12. T. Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) - 1’31.822 13. J. Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) - 1’31.866 14. L. Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) - 1’32.069 15. J. Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) - 1’32.288 16. T. Herfoss (Penrite Honda) - 1’32.297 (wild card) 17. Y. Hernandez (Team Pedercini Racing) - 1’32.453 18. R. Ramos (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) - 1’32.520 19. W. Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team) - 1’32.651 (one event) 20. P. Jacobsen (TripleM Honda World Superbike Team) - 1’32.663 21. D. Falzon (Yamaha Racing Team) - 1’32.828 (wild card) 22. O. Jezek (Guandalini Racing) - 1’33.143

 

WorldSSP test overall standings (combined Monday + Tuesday): 1. R. Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) - 1’33.499 2. L. Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP team) - 1’33.547 3. F. Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP team) - 1’33.643 4. S. Cortese (Kallio Racing) - 1’33.871 5. A. West (EAB antwest Racing) - 1’34.038 6. L. Stapleford (Profile Racing) - 1’34.074 7. R. De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag) - 1’34.081 8. K. Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) - 1’34.161 9. J. Cluzel (NRT) - 1’34.227 10. H. Okubo (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) - 1’34.507 11. N. Tuuli (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) - 1’34.555 12. M. Di Meglio (GMT94 Yamaha) - 1’34.864 13. K. Smith (GEMAR Team Lorini) - 1’34.954 14. A. Badovini (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag) - 1’35.031 15. S. Hill (Profile Racing) - 1’35.056 16. L. Cresson (Kallio Racing) - 1’35.140 17. T. Toparis (Cube Racing) - 1’35.490 18. M. Canducci (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) - 1’35.655 19. T. Gradinger (NRT) - 1’35.670 20. J. Van Sikkelerus (GEMAR Team Lorini) - 1’35.672 21. N. Calero (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) - 1’35.698 22. H. Soomer (Racedays) - 1’36.191 23. L. Epis (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) - 1’36.511 24. A. Wagner (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) - 1’37.025

 

The race solutions for the WorldSBK class For the race weekend the options available to the riders are those evaluated on the testing days with two additional solutions, one for the front and one for the rear. In total the slick solutions the riders will be able to use will be seven in all, four front and three rear, in addition to the super soft qualifier tyre that can only be used in the second session of Superpole^®. At the front, in addition to the standard SC1 (soft) and SC2 (medium), the development SC1 V0952 already used by riders in 2017 at Aragón, Assen, Imola, Donington, Misano, Laguna Seca, Lausitzring, Portimão, Magny-Cours, Jerez and Losail will be available. This solution uses the same compound as the standard SC1 but has different structural components. In addition to these three solutions that have been made available to riders during testing there will be a fourth option, the development SC1 W0746 which is in an even softer compound than the standard SC1 and that should ensure a high level of grip for the front. As for the rear options, during testing the riders were able to use the development SC1 V0965, already a reference in 2017 when it was used by all the riders in the races, and the W1049, a new development solution, in medium hardness compound, but in an increased 200/65 size. This solution uses the same compound of the V0965 but a larger diameter and structural solutions designed to maintain lower operating temperatures. The third option, not available for testing, is represented by the development SC1 W1046, which uses the same compound as the option V0965 but a different carcass in an attempt to limit the operating temperature.

 

The race solutions for the WorldSSP class: Also the riders of the WorldSSP class can count on a total of seven solutions, four front and three rear, but in this case are treaded tyres and not slicks. At the front, in addition to the standard SC1 and SC2, there is the development SC1 W0378, which uses the same compound of the standard SC1 but with a different process of distribution of the compound on the carcass and, as the fourth option not present for testing, the development SC1 V1267, which uses the compound of the SC1 of the slick product but with a different construction process. For the rear, as alternatives to the development SC1 U1149 which is the race reference for 2017 and has a compound able to provide greater stability in the presence of particularly high temperatures, the development SC1s W0743 and W1048 will be available - the latter not present for testing. All three rear solutions are in the bigger 190/60 size compared to the standard 180/60. More details on the race solutions for the WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes are available in the documents attached to this press release.