Phillip Island is hosting the opening round of the 2024 WorldSBK championship this weekend, with two test days first, then all of the action kicking off from Thursday. It includes round one of the ASBK Championship as well, so should be a great weekend…
Click here to read the full official program for the Phillip Island WorldSBK…
The weather forecast is looking 50/50 but finger’s crossed it holds out and fans are treated to another stunning weekend of racing at Island. Tickets are available at the gate or here
Ticket prices are for GA – $145 ($180 gate) for a three day pass, $40 ($55 gate) Friday, $90 ($110 gate) Saturday or $99 ($125 gate) on Sunday but click here to check all of the pricing on the official website. There is no listing for Thursday ticketing on either official or Aussie website. Camping tickets start at $245. For those after a little bit of luxury, Bar SBK tickets are available for $310 and VIP are sold out.
With Round One of the 2024 mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK) kicking off too, there will be plenty of excitement, and the Aussie supers are only a second or so off the pace of the world supers, so the action is always red hot.
Support categories of Australian SuperSport 300 and Australian SuperSport (600) will be awesome too! And don’t forget to cheer on Remy Gardner #87 in WorldSBK and Oli Bayliss #32 in WorldSSP…
Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) was able to fight his way up to sixth place behind Oettl and Bassani while double WorldSSP Champion Dominique Aegerter.
Razgatlioglu looked to make a move around the outside of Lowes heading into Turn 4 on Lap 17. Lowes lost the front of his ZX-10RR machine heading into Miller Corner, the right-hand hairpin, which collected Razgatlioglu.
Behind the two Ducati riders, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) claimed his first podium of the season with third place.
Six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took seventh spot after he lost time and positions on the opening lap after he was forced wide by Dominique Aegerter.
The Spaniard claimed his second win of the round with a superb ride in the Superpole Race, while Jonathan Rea finished in seventh place.
Tissot Superpole Podium at Phillip Island, Round One 2023… Bautista on top already!
Race Two Podium at Phillip Island, Round One 2023… Bautista scores the hat-trick for Ducati!
The weekend was also Bautista’s eighth win at ‘The Island’, making him the most successful rider at the circuit. In terms of his career, it was his 61st WorldSBK podium and Ducati’s 395th win in WorldSBK.
Bautista’s hat-trick means he became the first rider to take a second hat-trick at one circuit following his 2019 triple while he also became the first rider to take five WorldSBK hat-tricks.
It also warrants mention that Gardner impressively recorded the fastest lap time on both days of the post-season test at Jerez, which will certainly give him some crucial confidence heading into next year.
An incredible move at Turn 3 allowed Bautista to claim victory using the #1 plate after a wet first race of the year in Australia started the season in style.
Bautista started from second place but got the holeshot at the start of the race before being passed by Rea, who took his 378th WorldSBK start in Race 1 and moved ahead of Troy Corser.
Behind the leading duo, it was a bit of a lonely race for polesitter Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) as he finished in third place but six seconds down on Bautista.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) was another who gained places throughout the race as he took seventh place.
The title race is all done and dusted for Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), meaning he can relax for Australia and Phillip Island this weekend.
This weekend, the WorldSBK racing gets underway on the scenic Phillip Island circuit…
The cancellation is required due to a newly occurring national motorsport calendar shake-up affecting the Tasmanian round, including the announcement of WorldSBK returning to Phillip Island in November.
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