IN
THE
WIND
P30
LOWES LEADS, TORRES IMPRESSES
W
hile Voltcom Crescent Su-
zuki's Alex Lowes led the
way on the final day of World Su-
perbike testing at Phillip Island,
the star may well have been
Aprilia Racing Red Devils Roma
rookie Jordi Torres by going third
fastest with virtually no Super-
bike experience under his belt.
There were two other riders
ahead of him in the end, Eng-
lishman Lowes and Northern
Ireland's Jonathan Rea on the
factory Kawasaki (KRT). The top
three were crammed into the
same high 1:30 lap times, with
Lowes setting the quickest mark
of 1:30.859.
Behind the fast new World Su-
perbike Spaniard, Torres (one of
many this season) came 2013
World Champion Tom Sykes
(KRT), only just outside the
1:30s. He was a late faller as his
bike highsided him off at turn 11.
He was uninjured, if beaten up,
and went out on his second bike
to set the fastest split time in the
first two sectors near the end of
the day—only to lose a potential
best lap in the third sector to fin-
ish fourth.
Torres' teammate Leon Haslam
was a strong fifth overall, Aruba.it
Ducati's Chaz Davies an improv-
ing sixth, carrying on the British
WSB connection to the hilt.
Davies' teammate Davide Gi-
ugliano had unwillingly ruled
himself out of the race this com-
ing Sunday after suffering a
huge highside late on day one. A
scan showed two fresh fractures
on his L1 and L2 vertebrae. Up
and walking even right after his
crash, he hopes to be fit to ride
again at the new Buriram/Chang
International circuit in Thailand
next month. He was eventually
10th in the combined time sheets
at these tests.
Last year's Superbike Evo
Champion David Salom ended
the day seventh on his Team
Pedercini Kawasaki. Althea Rac-
ing Ducati's Nico Terol went
eighth, ahead of rookie Michael
van der Mark on the Pata Honda.
Behind the injured Giugliano
was Niccolo Canepa, only 1.143
seconds behind Lowes on his
Hero EBR 1190RX. Last year's
Hero EBR project was brave, but
a very definite fail. This year, in
a team run by Larry Pegram and
his former AMA team, Canepa
ended up 11th of the 25 riders
in testing, and ahead of the (ad-
mittedly injured and detuned)
Sylvain Guintoli's Pata Honda,
plus Leon Camier's theoretically
faster MV Agusta and Leandro
Mercado's Barni Racing Ducati.
Looking at the unexpected
testing glories of the new rider
and team combinations in 2015,
what must surely be the most
unpredictable and reshuffled
season of World Superbike rac-
ing ever, is about to start in a few
days.
Gordon Ritchie
Alex Lowes leads
the way in World
Superbike test-
ing before this
weekend's season
opener at Phillip
Island.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
