ROAD RACING
MOTUL FIM WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 1 / FEBRUARY 22-24, 2019
PHILLIP ISLAND / VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
P66
by almost 15 seconds and 12.2
seconds, respectively. He also
won the 10-lap sprint on Sunday
morning, and therefore earned
pole position in the final race of
the weekend, by over a second
from Rea.
Bautista still had the pace to go
and leave Rea relatively gasping
at the end of a brilliantly entertain-
ing short Tissot-Superpole race,
over 10 laps. There was a lot of
mano-a-mano barging in that
race, on a track that most riders
had to control their pace around
during the full 22 lappers, so the
short race action at least was
understood and enjoyed by all.
Race three, lap one,
and Bautista (19) is
already clearing off
into the distance.
New BMW man Tom Sykes (66)
had a good showing at Phillip
Island, but there's more to come
from the BMW.
