Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes has topped the time sheets after two days of Superbike testing at Phillip Island.
The British rider held onto the top slot from despite warmer conditions on the second day, when only two riders set quicker times.
Sykes’s time of 1 minute 31.648 seconds is the benchmark as the riders now gear up for the opening round of the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship this coming weekend at the Victorian circuit.
Second place overall went to 2011 champion Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati). The Spaniard set the quickest time of the warmer afternoon session and then packed-up for the rest of the day. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) was third on another Ducati 1098R, not far off the pace of the top 2, while Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike) was the only other rider to get into the 1 minute 32 seconds bracket.
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) showed remarkable consistency as he took the fifth slot, while Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad) failed to improve on day 2 and his time set yesterday was good enough for sixth. Superbike rookie Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati) crashed harmlessly for the fourth time in this test but was impressive enough for seventh, while Leon Camier (Crescent Suzuki) completed the top 8.
After five days of testing – private and official – the Superbike teams and riders will be back in action from Friday for the opening official practice of the season.
TIME SHEET : Phillip Island pre-season Test
| Position | No. | Rider | Country | Bike | Time |
| 1 | 66 | Sykes | GBR | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1:31.648 |
| 2 | 7 | Checa | ESP | Ducati 1098R | 1:31.652 |
| 3 | 96 | Smrz | CZE | Ducati 1098R | 1:31.800 |
| 4 | 65 | Rea | GBR | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:31.913 |
| 5 | 3 | Biaggi | ITA | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1:32.034 |
| 6 | 33 | Melandri | ITA | BMW S1000 RR | 1:32.232 |
| 7 | 34 | Giugliano | ITA | Ducati 1098R | 1:32.319 |
| 8 | 2 | Camier | GBR | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 1:32.320 |
| 9 | 50 | Guintoli | FRA | Ducati 1098R | 1:32.347 |
| 10 | 91 | Haslam | GBR | BMW S1000 RR | 1:32.397 |
| 11 | 17 | Lascorz | ESP | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1:32.540 |
| 12 | 84 | Fabrizio | ITA | BMW S1000 RR | 1:32.605 |
| 13 | 59 | Canepa | ITA | Ducati 1098R | 1:32.746 |
| 14 | 4 | Aoyama | JPN | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:32.910 |
| 15 | 121 | Berger | FRA | Ducati 1098R | 1:32.911 |
| 16 | 86 | Badovini | ITA | BMW S1000 RR | 1:32.948 |
| 17 | 87 | Zanetti | ITA | Ducati 1098R | 1:33.136 |
| 18 | 19 | Davies | GBR | Aprilia RSV4 Factory | 1:33.358 |
| 19 | 44 | Salom | ESP | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1:33.385 |
| 20 | 67 | Staring | AUS | Kawasaki ZX-10R | 1:33.418 |
| 21 | 25 | Brookes | AUS | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 1:33.623 |
| 22 | 18 | Aitchison | AUS | BMW S1000 RR | 1:34.169 |
| 23 | 35 | De Rosa | ITA | Honda CBR1000RR | 1:34.341 |
Superbike records at Phillip Island
Fastest Lap: Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 1:31.826 (2007)
Superpole: Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1:30.882 (2011)
Best Lap: Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1:30.826 (2011)
