IN
THE
WIND
P22
W
ith the start of a new-look
WorldSBK Championship
only a few days away, the action
in Australia got underway in test-
ing mode on Monday, February
22. Sessions were held on a
dry track that was occasionally
dappled by spots of rain but
nothing like the kind of real rain
that caused the disruption to the
MotoGP tests a few days earlier.
In two 120-minute sessions,
the 25 WorldSBK riders had a
good chance to make their final
pre-season approaches, with
some of them having new parts
to test since their final forays in
Europe.
For KRT rider Tom Sykes,
who said he was almost ready to
race after the pre-Christmas Eu-
ropean tests, it was business as
usual, fastest with a 1:31.097s.
"Overall we are happy be-
cause Phillip Island is a com-
pletely unique circuit and one
which is a bit different to my
regular riding style," said Sykes.
"We have good feeling over
one lap and over distance. Now
we have a good setup; we are
able to experiment with some
parameters, so overall this was a
productive day. There was quite
a lot of interruption from the rain
but tomorrow we have a clear
plan of what we can do. This
gives us great preparation for
the race weekend."
Sykes agreed that the rain
was not heavy at any stage, and
the track was more or less dry,
but on day one of the tests, most
were being careful.
"The rain did not make the
track really wet, it was more
'mental' rain. In turns two, three
and five—where they are nearer
the coast—the rain was a bit
heavier," Sykes said. "I think if
you really closed your eyes and
went for it maybe the lap time
was not being affected. In terms
of all the riders, and with it being
a test, we just relaxed and took
it steady. We did the whole ses-
sion on one tire to understand
our setup changes."
On and off spots of rain
caused some anxious moments
but the pace continued to im-
prove for most in the afternoon
session, as the track remained
PHILLIP ISLAND
WORLDSBK
DAY ONE TEST
GOES TO
KAWASAKI
Former World
Champion Tom
Sykes is really
liking the all-
new ZX-10R
and continued
his pre-season
dominance.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
