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Phillip Island WSBK Notes: World Superbike Turns a Corner

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We are racing at last. The first round of World Superbikes at Phillip Island means we can all breathe a sigh of relief. The long, dark winter is over, and motorcycles are circulating in earnest once again.

What to make of the first weekend of World Superbikes in the new format? Those who worried that spreading the racing over two days would hurt attendance and ruin the series have not seen their fears realized. Attendance at Phillip Island was around 75% of the MotoGP attendance there, really strong figures for the track.

Some caveats apply, of course: firstly, the Phillip Island MotoGP round is one of the most poorly attended on the calendar, though last year numbers improved.

Secondly, the combination of Australian Superbikes with World Superbikes meant there was a full program of racing, and plenty for fans to see.

The real test of the new format will come at tracks like Donington and Jerez, where attendance has been dismal. If they can get more people through the gate there, the Saturday-Sunday format will be more of a success.

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WSBK

WSBK Race Photos from Phillip Island by Anant Deboor

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With the new format of the two races split between Saturday and Sunday – at precisely the same time of 3pm – and a warm-up on Sunday morning, it opens up interesting opportunities to capture lots of close action on track.

Individual photographers have a chance to take a breather, study their work overnight, and get back on track with new plans and possibilities.

Autumn in Phillip Island is a fabulous time with some beautiful sunshine and light often changing to brief spells of cloud and rain in mostly windy conditions.

Combine that with a gently rolling topography, the blue backdrop of the Bass Straits, a fast, flowing and twisty circuit with bikes leaned over for most of a lap and crowds very close to the edge of the track – and you have a photographer’s dream.

Infinite possibilities to combine breathtaking light, shadow, colour, texture, lines, curves – into drama, emotion and surprise.

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WSBK

WSBK Photos from the Practice & Qualifying Sessions at Phillip Island with Anant Deboor

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Well, it’s that time of the year. A rather warm goodbye to winter for motor racing fans – with the season opener of the World Superbikes season at Phillip Island, Australia.

Being exposed to the spectacular Bass Straits, the reality is the weather changes so often at Phillip Island that you can have all four seasons in a day.

This did indeed prove to be the case on Friday and Saturday, and it resulted in some pretty special light – which every photographer is on the lookout for. Cloudy skies, spots of sun, and micro-climate.

The green machines with Rea and Sykes seem to have picked up pretty much from where they left off last year. Chaz Davies, who had a terrific second half to 2015 was brimming with confidence – and it showed in his times.

And for American fans, there was of course the welcomed sight of Nicky Hayden’s #69 to look forward to. Welcome to the season opener of World Superbikes 2016 from Phillip Island – where questions outnumber answers.

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MotoGP

MotoGP, WSBK, & MotoAmerica Exclusively on beIN Sports

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If you are an American who was hoping to see motorcycle racing on basic cable, we have bad news for you all three major series – MotoGP, World Superbike, and MotoAmerica – will air exclusively on the premium TV network beIN Sports this year.

The deal with beIN Sports mimics similar deals we have seen Dorna cut elsewhere abroad, where the media rights holder of both MotoGP and World Superbike favors deals with premium television companies over basic broadcast stations.

These deals usually mean more money for Dorna, though come with the downside of fewer viewers for the sport of motorcycle racing.

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WSBK

Phillip Island WSBK Test Tuesday Summary: Rea Answers

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Jonathan Rea leads the field after an incident-packed second day of testing for the World Superbike class at Phillip Island. Warmer weather and intense testing saw several riders take some serious tumbles, with a couple of riders suffering significant injury.

Fabio Menghi fell and fractured a hip in the morning, while Josh Hook crashed in the afternoon and dislocated his shoulder, and fracturing his greater tubercle (top of the bone in the upper arm). The crashes and subsequent clean-up meant that much of the afternoon session was lost, as marshals tried to clear the track.

The second day of testing did throw up the intriguing prospect of a nicely mixed field. Rea topped the morning session on the Kawasaki, while Sylvain Guintoli was quickest in the afternoon, on the Pata Yamaha. The top four overall times were set on four different bikes, less than a quarter of a second separating them.

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WSBK

Phillip Island WSBK Test Monday Summary: Sykes Leads

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With the World Superbike season almost upon us, the WSBK grid is at Phillip Island for two days of testing, ahead of the first event of the year which starts this weekend.

Rain disrupted practice for WSBK, just as it had for MotoGP last week, though the consequences were less severe. The rain and track conditions saw a few people fall – some, such as Karel Abraham, quite hard – but everyone will be fit to start testing again tomorrow.

With the start of the season so close, most of the work being done was on set up for the weekend, and it was once again the Kawasakis who came out on top, especially during the afternoon session.

Tom Sykes ended up on top of the timesheets, much to the delight of the Kawasaki man, who has historically not fared well at the circuit.

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WSBK

Pata Yamaha Previews the 2016 World Superbike Season

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The 2016 World Superbike season is rapidly approaching, and Yamaha Racing wants to remind you all that it has entered back into the premier production racing championship.

As such, the Pata Yamaha squad stayed over an extra day at the Jerez Test earlier this month, producing a little preview video of the WSBK season to come.

Asphalt & Rubber was lucky enough to be on-location with the Pata Yamaha team during the filming of this video, which is only an interesting piece of information in that we finally get to see the finished product from the work we witnessed first-hand.

Time will tell if the Yamaha YZF-R1 can be competitive in WSBK, right out of the gate. It certainly looks the business in person, with riders Sylvain Guintoli and Alex Lowes working well with the Crescent Racing squad.

Let the countdown begin for the WSBK season-opener at Phillip Island, on February 28th. It should be a good season.

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