Want Superbike Santa to visit your house? A world superbike ticket for next Feb 22-24’s Australian round of world superbikes at Phillip Island is a great Christmas gift idea for anyone who loves high-speed sport with the season-opener shaping up to be a beauty.
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| | | | | | | World Superbike Santa is on his way!
Want Superbike Santa to visit your house?
A world superbike ticket for next Feb 22-24’s Australian round of world superbikes at Phillip Island is a great Christmas gift idea for anyone who loves high-speed sport with the season-opener shaping up to be a beauty.
You can get a ticket for your sports-mad mate, kid, husband, friend, mum or dad at tickets.worldsbk.com.au and your Christmas shopping will be done and dusted.
At just $120* for a three day ticket it’s a winner of a gift, with no shopping queue in sight! |
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| In This Edition
| » WorldSBK Santa on his way | | » Nov Winter Test Report | | » Unofficial WorldSBK Test Times | | » Hollering All Marshalls! | | » Join the Black Dog Ride | | » Tickets & Camping |
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| | | Four-times world champion, Jonathan Rea, returns in 2019 and there’s already plenty of new bikes, new riders and new teams to shake up his party - all debuting in Australia with the island’s Yamaha Finance round.
Every three day ticket to World Superbikes gets Free Paddock Access. The Paddock is the place to be and check out here for all the fun.
And in a special Christmas bonus, buy before December 21 you go into the draw to win great prizes.
Tickets are available at this link https://tickets.worldsbk.com.au or via Ticketek.
The big news is the launch of the long-awaited new Ducati Panigale V4 R which debuted in testing at Jerez with new WorldSBK star, Alvaro Bautista and Welsh campaigner, Chaz Davies on board.
Marco Melandri has moved house to GRT Yamaha with new young gun, Sandro Cortese in his squad; while Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark continue for the Yamaha factory team.
Coming soon is the new super powerful BMW S 1000RR with Tom Sykes and Marcus Reiterberger at the helm. Eugene Laverty has jumped ship to Go Eleven and will ride the new Ducati Panigale V4 R while Japanese wiz-kidd Ryuichi Kiyonari joins Leon Camier on the Honda.
And to make world supers in Feb even more sensational, Australia’s Troy Bayliss will be back on board his Ducati for the opening round of the Aussie Superbike Championship.
Here’s a message from Troy to you about world supers…
The time to book is NOW so on yer’bike and click here https://tickets.worldsbk.com.auto get your ticket and to reserve an on-circuit camping spot for you and your mates. And heh presto.. WorldSBK tx sorted and Christmas shopping is done!
ULTIMATE VIP PRIZE… Purchase your 3-Day General Admit or Bar SBK Ticket before December 21 and go into the draw to be 1 of 4 people on the starting grid for the first race of the season - WorldSBK Race 1, Saturday February 23!
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| November Winter Test Report – Aragon / Jerez
Rea leads pack… as new Ducati gets ups to speed |
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| | | Four-time world superbike champion Jonathan Rea has hit the ground running in pre-season testing ahead of the season-opener at the Island from Feb 22-24.
Armed with his 2019-spec Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10RR, 31-year-old Rea set the pace at the MotorLand Aragon test (November 14-15) and Jerez test (November 26-27), both times finishing ahead of fellow Briton Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha). Jonathan Rea in testing at Jerez, Kawasaki
Rea’s pre-eminence was no surprise, based on the fact that’s he’s not only the current WorldSBK kingpin but a number of teams and riders are also beginning the process of gelling with new machinery.
That includes Chaz Davies and WorldSBK rookie Alvaro Bautista at Aruba.it Racing Ducati, who are riding the all-new Panigale V4 R – the most powerful machine to leave the company’s Bologna factory.
Davies was the team’s only rider at Aragon while Bautista completed his MotoGP duties – where he finished the season in 12th – while both were on location at Jerez.
Bautista was impressive, too, with only Rea faster than the Spaniard on day one before he completed the test in fourth, just behind the returning Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team).
Although Bautista crashed a couple of times on day two, he was happy with is first hitout on the V4 R.
Alvaro Bautista on the new Ducati at Jerez
“On day two we started to make some changes to the setup to see how the bike reacts, and we found some positives as well as some room for improvement,” said Bautista.
“In terms of pace, we've improved a lot as I was able to lap consistently in the 1:40 mark, while on the flying lap I felt there was less grip even though track conditions were a bit better in theory.
“I still need to understand the limits of the tyres, anyway. In general, we've completed our program and I'm happy with how these first two days went.”
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Alvaro Bautista - Ducati
Bautista finished ahead of Davies (still struggling with a lingering shoulder injury) at Jerez, followed by Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) and new GRT Yamaha teammates Marco Melandri and world supersport champion Sandro Cortese. Van der Mark is also recovering from a wrist he broke at this season’s final round in Qatar.
But there’s no doubt that Rea is again the man with the target on his back, and he was over half a second faster than Lowes at Jerez.
Rea said: “It was a positive final day. We are putting the pieces together and we have to be satisfied with the work.
“Like yesterday, we tried some different things with the bike and at the end of the day we tried something quite interesting with the balance. I felt really good with an old tyre so that is something to keep working with in 2019.
“I also did a longer run in the middle of the day. We did pretty much what we set out to do at this test and I was on the pace on day one, so we could go testing straight away.”
Jonathan Rea- the man to beat
Leon Haslam returns to WorldSBK with Kawasaki
By the time the next batch of WorldSBK tests come around in Spain and Portugal next January, 2013 world champion Tom Sykes and Marcus Reiterberger will be in action on the all-new and extremely powerful BMW S 1000 RR, as well as Leon Camier and Ryuichi Kiyonari as part of the Honda Racing Corporation-backed Althea Racing and Moriwaki Engineering collaboration.
Former world number two, Irishman Eugene Laverty, will also be on track for his new team, Go Eleven. Laverty will be riding a Panigale V4 R.
Then it will be off to Australia for a final test session at Phillip Island before round one from February 22-24 and the debut of the new ‘triple treat’ format where an extra sprint race will be held on Sunday morning. |
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| | Unofficial WorldSBK Test Times |
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| | | MotorLand Aragon: November 14-15
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1:49.668
2. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) 1:51.157
3. Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1:51.180
4. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team – WorldSBK) 1:51.479
5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) 1:51.656
6. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) 1:51.852
Alex Lowes, Yamaha – 2nd fastest in Aragon and Jerez
Jerez: November 26-27
1. Rea 1:38.713
2. Lowes 1:39.377
3. Haslam 1:39.766
4. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1:39.845
5. Davies 1:39.852
6. van der Mark 1:40.092
7. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha Team) 1:40.235
8. Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha Team) 1:40.592
WorldSSP champ 2018, Sandro Cortese, joins WorldSBK for 2019 with Yamaha
COME WITH YOUR MATES – Pre-Purchase 7 General Admission, or 7 BarSBK tickets, or 7 Camping Packages, and you receive 1 x FREE Ticket to the same value! |
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| | | | | Registrations are now open for volunteer officials at next February’s World Supers at the island. You need to be on deck at the circuit from Friday to Sunday, February 22-24 and no prior experience is necessary. Everyone is welcome to apply as there are roles that do not require experience.
The mandate is simple for our volunteers – to ensure the safety of competitors and spectators during events. Marshals provide vital assistance to the competitors working as Flag Marshals, Track Marshals, Medical, Fire & Rescue, Recovery and more.
All applications are considered and you can ring the circuit for further information on 03 5952 2710 or register on-line here. www.phillipislandcircuit.com.au/officials-registration/
Benefits of becoming a Volunteer Official at the 2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship include:
| ► | Two complimentary 3 day General Admission Guest Passes | | ► | FREE Camping for volunteer officials and up to two guests | | ► | 10% discount on breakfast items for all Volunteer Officials at Infield Catering Outlet up until 8.00am each day | | ► | 2019 Superbike World Championship Souvenir Pin | | ► | Accepted Officials have the opportunity to purchase an exclusive Officials T-Shirt | | ► | Officials Thank You BBQ on Saturday Night at the Muster Shed for all volunteer officials and their guests | | ► | Discounted Merchandise at the Muster Shed on Saturday Night (limited time only) |
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Want to ride to the World Superbike championships and turn the event into one massive memorable motorsport week? You can join the Black Dog Ride to the World Superbike Championship with two rides in the planning – a Victorian ride departing Marysville and a NSW ride departing Wollongong.
Both rides kick off Tuesday morning February 19 with over 100 riders expected to join the crew and enjoy three days on the great open road. Overnight stops are planned along the way, and once you get to the track there’s some money-can’t-buy opportunities to add to your Black Dog Ride.
ONLY for Black Dog Riders…. Thursday you’ll get to ride your machine for one lap around the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit; and on Friday night there will be a special dinner for all Black Dog riders with some stars from Australia’s superbike show popping in to say hi.
Register for the Black Dog Ride here
Want to know about the Victorian ride from Marysville? Click here
NSW ride from Wollongong for you?... Click here
WIN 2 X AFTERBURNER RIDE DAY SESSIONS...
Purchase a ticket in the VIP Aussie Superbike Club on Gardner Straight prior to December 21, & you’ll receive 2 x Afterburner Ride Day sessions for Monday Feb 25.
(not including your bike or equipment hire and you must wear leathers).
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| | | | | A three-day general admission is $120* secured in advance, or $230* when you add camping to your purchase.
If you feel like splashing out, step up to a Bar SBK ticket at $265* (with camping $375*) and enjoy undercover facilities at Doohan Corner, Siberia and Lukey Heights.
World superbikes is free for kids 15 and under, and so is your bike.
As an extra bonus at WorldSBK, all three-day ticket holders are gifted free paddock access.
Tickets and camping for the Yamaha Finance round of the 2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island from February 22-24 are on sale from Ticketek.
For more information go to www.worldsbk.com.au or call the toll-free WorldSBK hotline on 1300 728 007.
*All ticket prices quoted purchased in advance and subject to Ticketek service & handling fees. Book now & save on gate prices.
^Children 15 and under are free and must be accompanied by a paying adult.
Photo credits: Graeme Brown and Russell Colvin
WorldSBK 2019…See You Trackside at Phillip Island
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