Eugene Laverty says he wouldn't be able to race his Milwaukee Aprilia having been plagued by a 'fundamental' and 'strange' issue on the opening day of the Phillip Island test.

The 30-year-old and his World Superbike rivals saw the opening day of the Phillip Island test truncated by intermittent and heavy rain showers, effectively losing half of the day to stoppages, which denied him the chance to test out solutions after being hit by a set-up issue surrounding power delivery and cornering.

As a result, with only 29 timed laps to his name Laverty found himself down in 14th overall on the timesheet and over two seconds off of pacesetter Xavi Fores on the Barni Ducati.

"It was pretty disastrous for us we didn't have a natural feeling with the bike at all," Laverty said. "Something was not correct with it and it was fundamental. We will have a look tonight to try to get the bike working correctly for tomorrow.

"On the engine side it just feels strange when I'm changing direction and when I'm opening and closing the gas it is like it is not in my hands. I can't really ride the bike yet so that is why I'm a couple of seconds off.

"I would not be able to race it. It is not a motorbike right now and it is a very strange problem we are suffering but the guys are looking into it and I'm sure we'll solve it."

The two-day test concludes tomorrow (Tuesday 21st February) at the Australian circuit before the track hosting the opening round of the 2017 World Superbike championship on the 24-26 February.