WORLD SUPERBIKE
WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 1/FEBRUARY 23, 2014
PHILLIP ISLAND CIRCUIT/PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA
P40
ISLAND OF
DREAMS
Starting off every
season at the blissful
Phillip Island is now a
tradition in World Super-
bike circles and there is
so much to commend a
kick start to the new year
in the southern hemi-
sphere, at the old circuit
that provides a challenge
like no other.
Phillip Island, particu-
larly since its resurface
last year, is a tire-chewer that makes teams look to the
duration as much as outright performance, even though
the existing track best got bettered by two of the top rid-
ers on a windy Superpole Saturday.
Like many fast tracks, but particularly this one, it can
catch out even the most experienced riders and the pre-
race casualty sheet was no shorter in 2014 than the epic
version in 2013.
Weather is the factor at Phillip Island that often deter-
mines a rider's fate, and wind did in more than one rider
at the faster corners. How else can bikes be lifted off the
circuit when there is no
apparent machine problem
or tire problem?
The run-off at PI is vast,
the safety measures as
good as any track, but
injuries are frequently the
main topic of conversa-
tion - simply because the
consequences of a fall are
always heavier the faster
you are going. There were some epic highsides in testing
and the race weekend.
But still we love the other Island, forgive its sometimes
rudimentary and often surprisingly temporary infra-
structure, because there is no better place to go racing
motorcycles.
And for sun-starved Northern Europeans, even a bad
day at PI is twice as good as what they left behind.
It is also impossible to find a warmer or more co-oper-
ative welcome than you get in Australia in general, so in
terms of feel good factor, Phillip Island is off the scale.
Everyone loves
Phillip Island.
