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Phillip Island WorldSBK: Race weekend preview

It is the circuit many consider to be the best in the world but which bossman Fergus Cameron likes to call ‘my hotel’. It lies within a stone’s throw of the Tasman Sea but is within driving distance of Melbourne, one of Australia’s great cities.

This is Phillip Island.

It is sometimes compared to the Isle of Wight, partly because it has towns - or rather large villages - called Cowes and Ventnor. But the comparison ends there because the IoW doesn’t have penguins, koala bears or a racing circuit for WorldSBK and MotoGP.

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And while the IoW houses 130,000 residents with access by ferry, Philip Island has about 6,000 swelling to 40,000 or more for race weeks. And it has a bridge.

Cameron’s description of the 2.76-mile track is something which should be taken note of by all organisers of public events. He has, of course, a special attachment having farmed the very land on which it now sits. But there is something else.

“I tell my staff here that they should treat everyone who comes through the gates as guests, valued guests who we want to come again,” he once said. And it’s evident. The heavy-handedness shown, on occasion, by burly, uniformed security guards at too many events is rarely, if ever, on display here. The entrance to the tunnel under the track has been manned by the same cheerie Aussie for the last 20 years.

Racing was first held at Phillip Island in 1928 and continued spasmodically on a variety of road circuits until the fifties when the club of enthusiasts was taken over by a group of businessmen, some who were farmers, and moved to the present location and a permanent circuit built.

Ownership has changed three times since then. One was car-racing businessman Len Lukey after whom the most famous stretch of the circuit was named, Lukey Heights. It is now owned by Linfox, one of the biggest logistics companies in the Asia-Pacific region, which has been prepared to spend money, the most recent being the track resurfacing, costing in the region of £2m.

The fact that it seems to have worked perfectly can not be put down to the climatic conditions which, some in Northamptonshire would say, make the UK so tricky. Australia is a country of violent swings from temperatures consistently over 40 degrees to incredible thunderstorms in which more than 500,000, yes half a million, cattle were drowned.

Of course, by the side of some of the major European tracks it still leaves a lot to be desired in terms of facilities for both teams and spectators. And if compared with the likes of Sepang or Austin it is in the dark ages.

But these versions of Scalectrix, difficult on screen to distinguish between one or the other, are left standing when it comes to being a great track loved by riders and fans alike. A real race track. And for armchair viewers that start/finish straight where riders seem to be disappearing into the sea at 200mph make Phillip Island instantly recognisable.

But what is missing is a dire lack of local heroes, world class riders for which Australia was once famous and were rated alongside the greats of cricket and rugby, for example. The first MotoGP at Philip Island in 1989 was won by Wayne Gardner, already a World Champion, and the first World SBK the following year by Rob Phillis and Peter Goddard.

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They were followed by a series of all-time greats such as Mick Doohan, Troy Bayliss, Troy Corser and Casey Stoner. Where are they now? Can Jack Miller emulate them? The only Aussie in evidence this weekend is ASBK wildcard Troy Herfoss.

This weekend WorldSBK kicks its 2019 season into action with a new format designed to inspire interest in a series which has been flagging for some years. There will now be three races per weekend, which smacks of slight desperation, but with Ducati now fielding the Panigale V4, bearing a striking resemblance to its MotoGP bike with former blue riband rider Alvaro Bautista on it, there is the chance of a real challenge to the so-far-unbeatable combination of Jonathan Rea and the works Kawasaki.

The weekend’s quick facts:

1. For the 11th year in a row, Phillip Island will be the opening round of the season. The Australian race track is where the most season openers in the Championship history have taken place so far, followed by Donington, Valencia, and Losail, at four each.

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2. Phillip Island is the circuit with most WorldSBK races run: 55. The first appearance of the Australian race track in the calendar was back in 1990.

3. In the history of the Championship, in 17 seasons out of 31, the winner of the opening race has gone on to win the title at the end of the year. That was not the case for Marco Melandri last year. The Italian took his only two wins of the season in Australia and finished 5th in the standings.

4. Rea starts his 2019 campaign after having led the championship 100 times in total. Now he is on a streak of 20, began in Buriram 2018.

5. Last year Marco Melandri broke a string of 6 consecutive British wins at Phillip Island. The same record for a country goes to Australia with a string of 6 consecutive wins from 2004 Race 2 to 2007 Race 1.

6. Tom Sykes will start his 260th WorldSBK race at Phillip Island when the lights will go off on Saturday 23rd February.

7. Jonathan Rea is on a winning streak of 11 straight races, a record sequence. None of these wins came with the advantage of a pole position start.

8. The fastest ever top speed recorded at Phillip Island is 204mph, set by Max Biaggi on board his Aprilia in 2012.

9. In all the 31 seasons run so far, the eventual champion always finished the opening race in the first five places, with Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea being the only champions to start their winning campaigns with a fifth, in 2013 and last year.

10. Australian riders have won their home race here 23 times out of 55, the last one in 2008 with a double win for Troy Bayliss. Since then, riders from seven different countries have won at Phillip Island.

Test facts

Top ten speeds

1 19 A. BAUTISTA Ducati Panigale V4 R 314,9
2 1 J. REA Kawasaki ZX-10RR 313,0
3 7 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale V4 R 312,1
4 21 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale V4 R 312,1
5 91 L. HASLAM Kawasaki ZX-10RR 309,5
6 22 A. LOWES Yamaha YZF R1 306,8
7 54 T. RAZGATLIOGLU Kawasaki ZX-10RR 306,8
8 60 M. VAN DER MARK Yamaha YZF R1 305,9
9 33 M. MELANDRI Yamaha YZF R1 305,9
10 2 L. CAMIER Honda CBR1000RR 305,9

Top ten laptimes

1 19 A. BAUTISTA ESP ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 1’30.303
2 66 T. SYKES GBR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW S1000 RR 1’30.539
3 91 L. HASLAM GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1’30.668
4 1 J. REA GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1’30.722
5 33 M. MELANDRI ITA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Yamaha YZF R1 1’30.760
6 54 T. RAZGATLIOGLU TUR Turkish Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1’30.840
7 60 M. VAN DER MARK NED Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’30.911
8 11 S. CORTESE GER GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Yamaha YZF R1 1’31.077 0.774
9 22 A. LOWES GBR Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha YZF R1 1’31.146
10 81 J. TORRES ESP Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1’31.224

Who was fastest in ‘big balls*’ sector two?

1 T. RAZGATLIOGLU 26.089
2 91 L. HASLAM 26.090
3 19 A. BAUTISTA 26.099
4 66 T. SYKES 26.137
5 22 A. LOWES 26.187

* ©Tom Sykes Esq

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