Nicolo Bulega will go into this weekend’s Australian WorldSBK season opener having been quickest in all 4 observe classes on the Phillip Island check.
Unbeaten in each Monday classes, Ducati’s reigning title runner-up improved his greatest lap to 1m 28.680s on Tuesday morning.
Rain then arrived, creating a humid observe for the ultimate WorldSBK outing earlier than a frantic closing 20-minutes on slicks.
Bulega solely appeared for the final 5 minutes however continued his supremacy by snatching the highest spot from reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu with a 1m 29.133s on his final lap.
The Italian’s excellent kind places him because the imply to beat heading into the race weekend, ending the check a considerable 0.482s away from Go Eleven Ducati’s Andrea Iannone on mixed instances.
Barni’s Danilo Petrucci additionally improved on the morning of day two to finish an all-Panigale high three, half-a-second behind Bulega.
BMW’s Razgatlioglu recovered from the shock of an early highside to say third on Monday and was once more the highest non-Ducati on day two, when he set his greatest time within the damp final session.
Razgatlioglu was dropping out on high pace (eleventh on the charts, 7.7km/h slower Bulega), contributing to him being ranked simply eighth by means of Sector 1 this morning.
The Turkish star was then quickest in Sector 2, earlier than slipping to seventh in Sector 3 and sixth in Sector 4.
In contrast, the final half of the lap was Bulega’s greatest, whereas team-mate Alvaro Bautista set the Sector 1 tempo on his strategy to fifth on the mixed timesheets.
Six-time world champion Jonathan Rea was absent on Tuesday and can miss the opening race weekend after struggling fractures to his left foot in a day one accident.
Rea’s team-mate Andrea Locatelli was the main Yamaha in sixth (+0.813s), adopted by the Bimotas of Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani. Honda’s Xavi Vierge (+1.132s) and MGM Bonovo rider Scott Redding (1.182s) accomplished the highest ten.
Tuesday morning noticed crimson flags after accidents for Garrett Gerloff (Flip 8) and later Tarran Mackenzie (Flip 6), with each escaping severe harm.
Rookie Ryan Vickers, who impressed with eighth on Monday, was the opposite rider to crash (Flip 4) this morning.
Free follow for the Australian WorldSBK spherical begins on Friday morning.
This weekend’s races will once more function obligatory pit stops as a consequence of considerations over tyre endurance, though the check suggests such fears have been unfounded.
Climate forecasts at present predict dry climate on Friday and Saturday, however a 50% likelihood of rain on Sunday.
