Team HRC makes progress as the final pre-season tests conclude at Phillip Island
The final WorldSBK test sessions prior to the start of the 2020 Championship have now drawn to a close for Team HRC. On track at Phillip Island in Australia, Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam worked hard across Monday and Tuesday, despite rain conditioning proceedings on Monday afternoon.
With significant set-up solutions to test, the team adopted a methodical approach on Monday and made gradual progress on both sides of the garage. Back on what initially was still a wet track this morning, both Haslam and Bautista were nevertheless able to improve on their best times set yesterday, the Brit recording a 1’31.046 to finish sixth, the Spaniard lowering his time by more than a second to close eighth with a 1’31.453.
Conditions remained dry for the afternoon’ final session and, towards the very end of this last session, Haslam was able to further lower his lap time, setting a 1’30.882 to position fifth in the combined two-day standings. Bautista closed tenth overall with the time set during the morning’s stint (1’31.453).
Team HRC will return to the Phillip Island circuit on Friday, ready for the first practice sessions making up the opening round of the 2020 Superbike World Championship.
Leon Haslam 91
“We’ve made some steps forward today, despite the windy conditions being a bit of a problem this afternoon. Unfortunately, there is never enough time, especially considering how many elements we have to test but we’ve got a lot done here. Our lap times are not bad and I’m quite happy with our consistency in terms of the tyres. Overall, I feel we’re making good progress although the testing only tells us so much of course. We won’t know exactly where we are until we race, so we’ll know more come the weekend – it’s going to be interesting.”
Alvaro Bautista 19
“This test has been very important for us of course and I think we’ve made progress. With respect to yesterday, my feeling with the Fireblade was a little better this morning, while this afternoon was a little trickier in the wind and on a more slippery track. We’ve also tested tyres today, finding positives and negatives as is always the case, and we also attempted a long run in order to collect as much data as possible ahead of the first races. All this information is really important as we move forward and I’m confident we can take another step forward this coming weekend. The potential, power and speed are all there, now we just need to work to be able to effectively harness it all.”
Combined Results Day-2
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Rea Jonathan | 1 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki | 1'30.448 |
2 | Baz Loris | 76 | FRA | Ten Kate Racing - Yamaha | Yamaha | 1'30.524 |
3 | Sykes Tom | 66 | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1'30.568 |
4 | Razgatlioglu Toprak | 54 | TUR | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'30.752 |
5 | Haslam Leon | 91 | GBR | Team HRC | Honda | 1'30.882 |
6 | Redding Scott | 45 | GBR | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1'30.885 |
7 | van der Mark Michael | 60 | NDL | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'31.077 |
8 | Rinaldi Michael Ruben | 21 | ITA | Team Goeleven | Ducati | 1'31.407 |
9 | Laverty Eugene | 50 | IRE | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1'31.436 |
10 | Bautista Alvaro | 19 | SPA | Team HRC | Honda | 1'31.453 |
11 | Davies Chaz | 7 | GBR | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1'31.533 |
12 | Lowes Alex | 22 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki | 1'31.560 |
13 | Cortese Sandro | 11 | GER | OUTDO Kawasaki TPR | Kawasaki | 1'31.565 |
14 | Fores Xavi | 12 | SPA | Kawasaki Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki | 1'31.653 |
15 | Scheib Maximilian | 77 | CHI | Orelac Racing VerdNatura | Kawasaki | 1'31.810 |
16 | Gerloff Garrett | 31 | USA | GRT Yamaha Junior Team | Yamaha | 1'31.941 |
17 | Caricasulo Federico | 64 | ITA | GRT Yamaha Junior Team | Yamaha | 1'31.944 |
18 | Camier Leon | 2 | GBR | BARNI Racing Team | Ducati | 1'32.676 |
19 | Takahashi Takumi | 13 | JPN | MIE Racing Althea Honda Team | Honda | 1'36.314 |