We take a look back at the opening WSBK round from Phillip Island with our exclusive photo gallery!
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Sylvian Guintoli raced hard in race two after losing out in Race 1 – a race he expected to win. He was fighting hard with Laverty and Baz but took the lead when it counted
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Eugene Laverty broke Suzuki’s 94 race winless streak, though in race two he lost one of his eight engines for 2014
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The crowd was well up on last year, with the WSBK regaining some popularity in Australia
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Race day saw beautiful weather – a seemingly rare sight, particularly after poor weather earlier in the weekend
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The Eric Buell Team have a lot of work to do with their distinctive bike. They were up to 60km/h off the pace at the end of the front straight.
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Tom Sykes struggled early in the weekend. The Champion returned for to the podium in race 2
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A sixth in race 2 made up for a retirement in race 1. The Honda team still have to find some pace after the Phillip Island weekend
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There were plenty of crashes over the weekend as Chaz Davies passes some wreckage at the Hay Shed.
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There were plenty of EVO Kawasakis but Alessandro Andreozzi[ struggled in his first WSBK weekend
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It was not the weekends Alex Lowes or Toni Elias were looking for, both retiring in race 1 and only scored minor points in race 2
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Laverty had strong support at Phillip Island with a strong Irish contingent at Honda corner.
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The BMWs are not being run under the Team Toth privateer outfit. Wildcard, Glenn Allerton was strong on the EVO bike, however their other riders struggled.
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While the WSS MV Agusta team won, the first race for Claudio Corti was difficult, finishing outside the top 10. Though they have potential for the future
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Nico Canepa was strong on the EVO Ducati, taking a couple of class podiums.
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Sylvian Guintoli took his first win since Phillip Island last year. While he had a good season last year, if he is to get the Championship he will have to win a few more races
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The Alfa Romeo 4C chase cars were fantastic. Could handle watching them race! Perhaps a GT3/4 version should come soon?
Races at a glance
Race 1
Northern Ireland’s Eugene Laverty has produced a masterful performance to win the opening world superbike race at Phillip Island this afternoon.
After completing lap one in seventh and nearly 5 seconds down on the leader, Laverty put his head down and carved his way through the pack with speed and precision, finally hitting the lead on lap 17 and going on to win by nearly three seconds. It was Suzuki’s first world superbike victory since 2010, and Laverty’s second at Phillip Island.
Factory Aprilia pairing Marco Melandri and long-time race leader Sylvain Guintoli – he held the station for the opening 16 laps — flashed across the finish line in second and third, while Ducati’s Davide Guigliano (Ducati) faded to finish fourth after spending the majority of the race in the top three.
Loris Baz (Kawasaki) finally got the better of a race-long scrap with Jonathan Rea (Honda), while world champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) started his campaign in seventh. Chaz Davies (Ducati) was a lonely eighth in the 22-lapper, and also set a new lap record of 1:30.949 on lap two, eclipsing Laverty’s 1:31.168 from 2013.
Australia’s Glenn Allerton (BMW) was superb, and was heavily involved in a ding-dong scrap for Evo class honours with David Salom (Kawasaki) and Niccolo Canepa (Ducati). The internationals eventually got the better of him, but the Australian still picked up world championship points after finishing 11th.
Race 2
Polesitter Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) won the second world superbike race at Phillip Island this afternoon, in what was a dramatic conclusion to the 2014 season opener.
The race was declared after 14 laps of the planned 22 when the Suzuki of race one winner Eugene Laverty blew up in a blaze of smoke exiting turn four on lap 15, leaving a trail of oil in his wake.
The red flag was immediately brought out, with results declared at the end of lap 14 – but not Laverty as the cause of the early race stop.
With Laverty removed from the results – he was running second when his Suzuki lost the plot – the podium was completed by factory Kawasaki pair Loris Baz and world champion Tom Sykes, who improved five spots from his race one result.
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By Sam Tickell, February 2014
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