Photo: Carlos Checa
Carlos Checa and his Alstare Ducati machine were the fastest in the second and final day of official tests at Phillip Island in Australia. Having skipped the initial days of private test rides due to a blocked intestine and finishing 6th in his first race, it looks like the Spaniard is feeling quite well aboard his 1199 Panigale.
Checa lapped 1m31s059, but was not too much in front of the leading 5: the 4 riders behind him were withing a 3 tenth of a second margin. From 2 to 5, they were Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) and Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike).
Suzuki's rookie Jules Cluzel highsided pretty badly, but was unscathed, while Ayrton Badovini was also back on the track after his terrible crash last week, testing his own condition in racing environment and not pushing it too hard. Yesterday's main crash guy Max Neukirchner only did 10 laps and preferred to go to the hospital for further examinations, as he was nowhere near racing fitness.
It looks like the track at Phillip Island has finally become more rideable and we hope no more severe crashes will be seen any time soon here.
Suzuki's rookie Jules Cluzel highsided pretty badly, but was unscathed, while Ayrton Badovini was also back on the track after his terrible crash last week, testing his own condition in racing environment and not pushing it too hard. Yesterday's main crash guy Max Neukirchner only did 10 laps and preferred to go to the hospital for further examinations, as he was nowhere near racing fitness.
It looks like the track at Phillip Island has finally become more rideable and we hope no more severe crashes will be seen any time soon here.
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