So here we are at the start of another season dont know if its just me but this winter break seems to have been the shortest I can remember, This may have been down to all the new faces and new bikes that were being announced over the break but in my opinion this shaping up to be quite the year in WSBK with no less than 8 potential race winners on top bikes this year.

Lets look at the circuit and what a circuit we start the season off with the legendary Phillip Island home of some of the most stunning photographs in all of motorsport. Racing began on the Island in 1928 but the current layout of the circuit has been in use since 1956. The first ever WSBK round was held in 1990 when it took over hosting duties from Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway two local riders Peter Goddard and Rob Phillis won the first two races held Goddard also scored the first ever Pole.

POLE POSITION:Left LENGTH:4.445 Km CORNERS:12

RIGHT CORNERS:5 LEFT CORNERS:7 START/FINISH STRAIGHT:835 M LAP RECORD: Chaz Davies 1:30.949 2014 POLE 2016: Tom Sykes 1:30.020

PODIUMS 2016:

RACE – 1 1. J Rea 2. C Davies 3. M van der Mark RACE – 2 1. J Rea 2. M van der Mark 3. D Giugliano

On Board lap :

Monday and Tuesday of race week saw the WSBK paddock have a final test a final shakedown to try and work out any bugs and get dialed in to start the season on the front foot. Current World Champion Jonathan Rea as has been the case most of the off season lead the way topping the combined time sheets over the two days he managed to do this while concentrating on long race runs sending an ominous warning to his competitors.

Marco Melandri was the next guy up finishing ahead of his team mate Chaz Davies over the two days with Tom Sykes finishing up 4th a little distance off, Xavi Fores put in a strong showing finishing in the top 5 ahead of Leon Camier who also had a strong test showing the MV Augusta has potential to cause some upsets this season.

Some of the teams and riders many thought would be contenders struggled with Nicky Hayden,Stefan Bradl struggling to get to grips with the brand new Honda Fireblade, Hayden saying they still had alot of work to do to get close to the front four riders. The Aprillia’s of Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori also struggled for fast lap times as did the Yamaha team of Alex Lowes and Michael Van Der Mark.

Fastest Laps combined time sheet:

Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 30.545s

2. Marco Melandri ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 30.575s

3. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 30.893s

4. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 31.044s

5. Xavi Fores ESP Barni Ducati 1199R 1m 31.226s 6. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta RC F4 RR 1m 31.293s 1.GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R2.ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R3.GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R4.GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R5.ESP Barni Ducati 1199R 7. Lorenzo Savadori ITA Milwaukee Aprilia RSV4 1m 31.449s

8. Alex Lowes GBR PATA Crescent Yamaha R1 1m 31.629s

9. Jordi Torres ESP Althea BMW S1000RR 1m 31.673s

10. Randy Krummenacher SWI Puccetti Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 31.783s

11. Alex de Angelis SMR Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 31.794s

12. Eugene Laverty IRE Milwaukee Aprilia RSV4 1m 31.881s

13. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Yamaha YZF-R1 1m 31.936s

14. Nicky Hayden USA Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR SP2 1m 31.952s

15. Markus Reiterberger GER Althea BMW S1000RR 1m 32.071s

16. Roman Ramos ESP Team Go Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 32.205s

17. Josh Brookes AUS ER Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R1 1m 32.396s

18. Riccardo Russo ITA Guandalini Yamaha YZF-R1 1m 32.771s

19. Stefan Bradl GER Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR SP2 1m 32.796s

20. Ondrej Jezek CZE Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 32.856s

21. Ayrton Badovini ITA Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 33.139s

TV schedule:

Coverage of this weekends races will be covered live on Eurosport one with coverage starting from 1:15am on Saturday morning for Qualifying and Race 1 with a repeat at 8am. Sundays Coverage starts at 1am starting with a repeat of Qualifying and coverage of the World Supersport race and WSBK race 2 will be repeated throughout the day starting from 8am.