If you managed to get up before the crack of dawn at the weekend to watch the first round of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island on Saturday and Sunday, it was totally worth getting out of bed eh?
The new race format of the Saturday and Saunday races has received mixed emotions from fans all over the world, some good some bad. I always say that the best compromise is when everyone is equally unhappy, you’ll never please everyone. The advantages of having race 1 on a Saturday and race 2 on a Sunday are; if a rider crashes and the bike is very badly damaged, it can now be safely repaired for race 2 the next day. Another plus is that the riders and teams can now meticulously analise the data and race footage to maybe plan a different strategy. The riders are also able to recover from race 1 and have their bodies in fresh-trim come Sunday. This in-turn assists race two to be a little different compared to the first race. The results may not vary much dependent but, riders strategies may vary.
This was certainly noticeable at Phillip Island. The Superbike race one started off like a Moto3 race with the most part of the race having riders bunched up together and every lap ridden like it was the last lap of the race. Race 2 saw a calmer approach by almost every rider but with more spread out battles through the field.
History shows us that the winner of one of the first races becomes the champion at the end of the year. Will Johnny Rea be able to maintain his title in 2016 and become the first rider since Carl Fogerty to win more than one title consecutively? We will have to wait and see as anything can happen and the season is still very long.
It was fantastic to see the two Hondas in the same tv shot for most of the two races. Nicky Hayden seems to have adapted well to the production Honda and with more saddle time, I think he could grab a podium or two this season. He was oh-so-close on Sunday but the punch of the 1299 Ducati Panigale of Guigliano beat him to the line to steel third away from the ‘Kentucky Kid’.
Speaking of a Ducati on the podium, how good are these Ducatis becoming? It’s about bloody time if you asked me. Chaz Davies mentioned they were concerned about the first race as in testing they were scratching their heads with a lack of pace. Chaz is determined to try take Ducati to the top and this was easy to see in his abilities at the weekend. It was a shame that he crashed in race two but, a great start to the season none the less.
Phillip Island has always been an abrasive circuit to tyres and this year was no different. The Supersport World Championship riders would have felt this pain the most as for 2016, no electronic aids are aloud on the bikes. This means no traction control, no engine braking management controls. The riders now have to have perfect communication between the brain and the wrist to conserve the tyres to last the distance. One such rider who suffered from a tyre issues was current champion, Kenan Sofuoglu. His rear tyre literally exploded while exiting a fast turn which ended his race quite quickly. Was this a Pirelli error or was he just pushing that hard that the tyre just could not cope? A tyre should not do this on a supersport bike no matter how hard it is pushed.
The supersport podium was a much needed all-round fresh podium. Two of the three riders were debuting in the Supersport category and well the other, a rider who has stood on many different podiums which include, World Supersport, MotoGP, Moto2 and 250 Grand Prix, and that rider, Anthony West. Anthony mentioned in his post race interview that he was not actually supposed to race this round and that the team was a last minute throw together. It was easy to see that West’s bike was under-powered compared to the rest but he showed brilliant cornering skills to hold his position. Why is this guy not a permanent rider in World Supersport?
The next round of the Superbike World Championship is right around the corner and will be in Thailand on 12-13 March. This was a new track to the calendar last year and so we should expect a higher pace from the riders this year unless, of course, bad weather dampers the pace!
