BY GORDON RITCHIE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
T
he first round of the year
could not have been more
full of unknown alternative
realities had it been sponsored
by Shroedinger's favorite cat.
Even before race weekend,
WorldSBK was the uncertainty
principle made of flesh, asphalt,
rubber and metal.
The first WorldSBK tires for
the official test only turned up
the night before the resched
-
uled single-day test on Tuesday
before race weekend. More tire
containers arrived on the morn-
ing of the test itself, so it was an
intense one-day test. No tires,
no test, no races.
The resurfaced PI asphalt
proved to be too grippy by half
race, and faster by at least
a second in each class. And
bumpy, surprisingly bumpy.
The evidence of testing was
that many teams could make 22
(highly controlled and not that
fast) laps in the long races, but
some others could not. So, we
had both "long" races cut in half,
with mandatory pit stops for tire
changes in the middle.
Once the racing and qualify
-
ing got going, the rolling chaos
continued apace.
The first race got underway
shortly after Superpole qualify-
ing had gone the way of off-
season-testing sensation Nicolo
Bulega and the "other" factory
Aruba Ducati. Bulega had eased
out Andrea Iannone (Go Eleven
Ducati) and Alex Lowes (Kawa
-
saki Racing Team) to the other
front-row places, with even
ROUND 1 / FEBRUARY 23-25, 2024
PHILLIP ISLAND / VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
ROAD RACING I FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P68
BACK WITH
BANG!
WORLDSBK ROARED INTO LIFE AT PHILLIP
ISLAND FOR ANOTHER YEAR WITH A VETERAN
REDISCOVERING HIS FORM AND A ROOKIE SHOWING
EVERYONE THE WAY HOME
