Suzuki’s big hope Leon Camier has set the fastest time on day one of official pre-season testing at Phillip Island ahead of the season-opening round this weekend.
The 25-year-old from Ashford in England resumed where he left off in a private test at Phillip Island last week, and set a best time of 1m31.243s, well under the existing lap record of 1:31.785 and within reach of the fastest ever WSBK lap around the 4.445km circuit – a 1:30.882.
Eight other riders also recorded times in the 1:31 bracket, and the gap between the top 12 fastest bikes was less than a second – with Australian wildcard Jamie Stauffer sneaking his Honda into the mix.
With plenty of track time available for riders to get into the groove on the resurfaced track, behind Camier was Briton Leon Haslam (Honda, 1:31.396), followed by impressive privateer Michel Fabrizio (Aprilia, 1:31.401), Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty (1:31.452), BMW’s Marco Melandri (1:31.481), and Ducati’s Carlos Checa (1:31.523).
Stauffer was in 12th, and fellow Aussie wildcard Glenn Allerton (BMW) was 18th in the field of 20 riders.
In World Supersport, 20-year-old Australian Josh Hook from Taree is already raising eyebrows with his speed and tenacity on his Honda, and was seventh fastest today. Briton Sam Lowes was the fastest on another Honda, ahead of reigning world champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki).
Testing for World Superbike and World Supersport will conclude today.
