Who was Really Fastest at Phillip Island?
There has been some controversy over who, exactly, was fastest following the conclusion of the Phillip Island testing for the World Superbike championship. Phillip Island will host the opening round of the series this weekend so the test times may well act as a portent for who will ultimately be on the podium in just a few days time.
Immediately following the tests, the official website of the World Superbike championship reported that Michel Fabrizio was fastest on the factory Xerox Ducati. Sometime later reports began circulating that Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea was fastest with a scintillating 1’31.8 laptime which equals the outright superbike lap record held by Troy Corser which he set on his Yamaha in 2007.
Trevor Hedge of mcnews.com.au reports that Pirelli timing was present and that the discrepancy relates to a matter of session timing. Michel Fabrizio was fastest during the scheduled session, however riders continued to lap after this “scheduled” time and it was at this later point that Rea was said to have set his fastest time. Whatever the facts, there are at least 11 riders from 7 different manufacturers who are on the pace.
The 2009 World Superbike Championship kicks off at Phillip Island this weekend and ducatinewstoday will be providing coverage. Check out our season preview.
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Either way it looks like it is going to be a close battle during the first race. We hope that the season will remain a close battle all the way through with all the major manufactures in the lead pack. Only a short time longer and we will find out for sure.
Brian