Photo: Aprilia
Such a title may seem a bit strange, but it is indeed very close to the actual truth: a lot of riders crashed in Phillip Island during the first of the two private test days, just before the official session scheduled to begin on Monday.
And it's not the bikes, neither the riders: the Phillip Island circuit has been freshly re-surfaced, and the asphalt is extremely smooth, while not having any rubber on it yet and being less than perfect for racing. However, the new Australian track has already proved a good testing ground for the 2013 WSBK machines, despite all the crashing.
Aprilia factory rider Eugene Laverty was the fastest, though around 1 second slower than the current track record. Fixi Suzuki rider Leon Camier finished the day in second position, followed by the two Pata Honda machines with Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam aboard, and a Goldbet BMW ridden bi Marco Melandri in 5th. Checa was down with an upset stomach so he did not ride.
As for the guys who had a hard time in Phillip Island, two of them had really ill luck: Kawasaki's Tom Sykes went down badly and is suspected to have been fractured a wrist. On the other hand, Loris Baz totaled his Kawasaki machine, but walked away unhurt. Other riders to have crashed out are Leon Camier and Jules Cluzel.
Aprilia factory rider Eugene Laverty was the fastest, though around 1 second slower than the current track record. Fixi Suzuki rider Leon Camier finished the day in second position, followed by the two Pata Honda machines with Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam aboard, and a Goldbet BMW ridden bi Marco Melandri in 5th. Checa was down with an upset stomach so he did not ride.
As for the guys who had a hard time in Phillip Island, two of them had really ill luck: Kawasaki's Tom Sykes went down badly and is suspected to have been fractured a wrist. On the other hand, Loris Baz totaled his Kawasaki machine, but walked away unhurt. Other riders to have crashed out are Leon Camier and Jules Cluzel.
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