Three weeks before the season starts, we can say that Troy Bayliss will be one of the protagonists of 2019 ASBK. The three times World Champion finished Phillip Island Official Test in third place and he showed some great speed in both time attack and race pace. Bayliss finished the test behind Aiden Wagner and pace-setter Wayne Maxwell.
CHASING VICTORY – After being second on the inaugural day, Bayliss finished the second day of testing with 1’32.631 as his best lap, just 4 tenths behind Wayne Maxwell. Furthermore, the rider from Taree was one of the best about pace consistency. Such a great performance proves the great shape of Troy Bayliss, who’ll participate in the first 2019 ASBK rounds on a Ducati 1299 Panigale Final Edition, instead of using the brand new V4 R machine…
FATHER AND SON – While Troy was third in Superbike, his son Oli scored the same result in Supersport 600 class. The youngster ended his first ride on a Yamaha R6 close to test leader Tom Toparis, as the latter is expected to contest the inaugural 2019 World Supersport round at Phillip Island, from 22nd to 24th February.
MAXWELL ON TOP – Going back to what happened in Australian Superbike, the man finishing official testing on top is Wayne Maxwell. 2013 ASBK Champion finished the two-day test on top with one lap in 1’32.312, despite a collarbone fracture suffered recently. Second place went to Aiden Wagner, who performed a superlative lap in 1’32.451 with Caboolture Yamaha Team. Bayliss finished third, as we already know, while Josh Waters and Daniel Falzon ranked fourth and fifth. Reigning ASBK Champion Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda) finished sixth in front of Bryan Staring (Kawasaki BCperformance) and Glenn Allerton (Next Gen BMW).
FIRST ROUND TOGETHER WITH WORLDSBK – After this two days of testing, Australian Superbike Championship will rejoin the track from 21st to 24th February at Phillip Island, as three ASBK races will take place during the same weekend as the first 2019 WorldSBK round.
Australian Superbike Championship 2019
Phillip Island Test
Top 10 Overall
01- Wayne Maxwell – Team Suzuki ECSTAR Australia – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 1’32.312
02- Aiden Wagner – Caboolture Yamaha – Yamaha YZF R1 – 1’32.451
03- Troy Bayliss – DesmoSport Ducati – Ducati 1299 Panigale FE – 1’32.631
04- Josh Waters – Team Suzuki ECSTAR Australia – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – 1’32.676
05- Daniel Falzon – Yamaha Racing Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – 1’32.784
06- Troy Herfoss – Penrite Honda Racing – Honda CBR 1000RR – 1’32.984
07- Bryan Staring – Kawasaki BCperformance – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 1’33.181
08- Cru Halliday – Yamaha Racing Team – Yamaha YZF R1 – 1’33.211
09- Glenn Allerton – Next Gen Motorsports – BMW S1000RR – 1’33.614
10- Mike Jones – Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 1’33.786
Translated by Alessandro Palma