The first day of the 2019 ASBK Official Test at Phillip Island saw Wayne Maxwell in first place ahead of Troy Bayliss. Finally, Bayliss has decided to ride on the Australian track on a Ducati Panigale 1299 Final Edition, instead of taking on the tarmac brand new Panigale V4 R.
GOOD START FOR BAYLISS… – On the same track where he rejoined ASBK last year (and where he won during the last year’s round hosted beside the MotoGP event), Troy Bayliss kickstarted 2019 in a very good way. Baylisstic finished second behind Wayne Maxwell, but he was first in two out of the four sessions happened today. In the end, Troy’s best laptime was 1’33″011, very little behind the 2013 ASBK Champion (1’32″913). The 49-year-old man from Taree is participating in Phillip island Official Test on a two-cylinder Ducati Panigale 1299, a machine he’s going to ride also in three weeks, during the first round of 2019 ASBK season. For the first time, Troy Bayliss hit the track with n. 32, the same he had used in 1999 in BSB. The reason why he’s not racing with n. 21 is related to Josh Waters: since he used n. 1 in 2018 and he lost the title, Waters had the right to re-use “his” n. 21, according to the ASBK regulation.
…BUT EVEN BETTER ONE FOR WAYNE MAXWELL – As we have written above, the rider finishing the first day of testing on top is Wayne Maxwell, who has rejoined Suzuki after four seasons spent with Yamaha. The rider from Victoria was expected to miss the test, following a recently-suffered collarbone fracture, but finally he’s come to Phillip Island and provided a surprising performance. The 2013 ASBK Champion finished in front of Bayliss and Bryan Staring (good 3rd place on BCperformance Kawasaki). Josh Waters (Suzuki Australia) finished fourth ahead of former World Supersport rider Aiden Wagner (Yamaha), while reigning Champion Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda) closed the day in sixth place. The two factory R1 machines by Yamaha Motor Australia finished seventh and eighth thanks to Daniel Falzon and Cru Halliday, while the top 10 was closed up by Glenn Allerton (Next Gen BMW) and Mark Chiodo (Penrite Honda).
DAY 2 – We remind you that Phillip Island will host the second and final day of official testing tomorrow 3rd February. Meanwhile, we want to remark the presence of former European Superstock 1000 rider Mike Jones (11th) and former Moto3 World Championship contestant Arthur Sissis (14th).
ASBK Australian Superbike Championship 2019
Phillip Island Test
Day 1 Top 10
01- Wayne Maxwell – Team Suzuki ECSTAR Australia – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 1’32.913
02- Troy Bayliss – DesmoSport Ducati – Ducati 1299 Panigale FE – 1’33.011
03- Bryan Staring – Kawasaki BCperformance – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 1’33.181
04- Josh Waters – Team Suzuki ECSTAR Australia – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 1’33.334
05- Aiden Wagner – Caboolture Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – 1’33.452
06- Troy Herfoss – Penrite Honda Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – 1’33.500
07- Daniel Falzon – Yamaha Racing Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – 1’33.541
08- Cru Halliday – Yamaha Racing Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – 1’33.565
09- Glenn Allerton – Next Gen Motorsports – BMW S1000RR – 1’33.614
10- Mark Chiodo – Penrite Honda Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – 1’33.934
Translated by Alessandro Palma