Phillip Island, Australia

2019 Phillip Island Test WorldSSP Day 2 Times: Krummenacher Leads Caricasulo

Submitted by David Emmett on

Randy Krummenacher topped the second day of WorldSSP testing at Phillip Island, extending his domination of the test. Bardahl Yamaha teammate Federico Caricasulo finished the test in second spot, a couple of tenths behind Krummenacher. Raffele De Rosa put the MV Agusta into third spot, four tenths slower than Krummenacher.

The teams will now have a couple of days' rest, before reconvening for action on Friday morning, when the 2019 WorldSBK season kicks off in earnest.

Below are the combined times from both sessions today, as well as the times from each session separately:

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2019 Phillip Island Test WorldSBK Day 1 Times: Bautista Makes A Statement On The Ducati

Submitted by David Emmett on

Alvaro Bautista has made his mark on the first day of the WorldSBK at Phillip Island, the Aruba.it Ducati rider blitzing the field at the final test before racing starts. Bautista was aided by the fact that the wind picked up in the afternoon, making it hard for anyone to improve their times, but he used the speed of the Ducati V4R to his advantage to top both sessions. 

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2019 Phillip Island Test WorldSSP Day 1 Times: Krummenacher Leads Yamaha Armada

Submitted by David Emmett on

Randy Krummenacher leads the way after the first day of the final test for the World Supersport class before the season kicks off next weekend. The Bardahl Yamaha rider put in a late charge to edge past his teammate Federico Caricasulo at the end of the day. Jules Cluzel made it three Yamahas in a row at the top of the timesheets.

Lucas Mahias, now riding a Puccetti Kawasaki, was fourth fastest after the first day, four tenths slower than Krummenacher, and just ahead of Raffaele De Rosa on the MV Agusta F3.

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2019 MotoGP Calender Confirmed - No Changes Made

Submitted by David Emmett on

The FIM today officially confirmed the 2019 MotoGP calendar. There were no changes made to the provisional calendar released in September last year. There will be 19 races, starting in Qatar on 10th March, and ending in Valencia on 17th November. There will be tests after the race at Jerez, Barcelona, and Brno, while the first test of 2020 is expected to take place after Valencia.

There could be an extra test in the schedule, to be held directly after Silverstone. If the new Kymiring circuit in Finland is finished on time, the riders will head to Finland at the end of August to try the new circuit, and generate important data for Michelin.

The official calendar appears below:

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2019 WorldSBK Provisional Calendar Announced: 12 Confirmed Rounds, 1 TBA

Submitted by David Emmett on

The FIM has announced the provisional WorldSBK calendar for the 2019 season. The calendar as it stands has 13 rounds, 12 of which have been confirmed. Brno and Laguna Seca are out, while Jerez makes a comeback, with a midsummer round still to be announced. That round could be Kyalami.

The season starts out in a similar vein to previous years, kicking off proceedings at Phillip Island on 24th February, before heading to Buriram in Thailand three weeks later. Three weeks after that, the series lands in Europe, racing first at Aragon in Spain, where WorldSBK and WorldSSP are joined by the WorldSSP300 class, before heading north to Assen for the Dutch round. Four weeks after Assen, the WorldSBK paddock heads south to Italy for the round at Imola.

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Tom's Tech Treasures: Studying The MotoGP Bikes At Phillip Island

Submitted by David Emmett on


Torque sensor on the Yamaha M1
Peter Bom: Like all current MotoGP engines, the Yamaha M1 has a torque sensor fitted to the drive shaft. By measuring the amount of torque delivered on the track, the manufacturer can validate their engine dyno torque maps and fine tune them on the track. Note that Yamaha don’t use them on Sunday, that’s when everything should be sorted out. Left of the sprocket is an ‘inside-out’ or inverted sprocket which the external starter motor slides into.


Reinforced chassis on the Suzuki GSX-RR
Peter Bom: By gluing carbon fiber onto specific points, Suzuki can increase the stiffness of their chassis exactly where they want, and how much they want.

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Guest Blog: Mat Oxley - Is Yamaha out of the woods thanks to Viñales?

Submitted by Mat Oxley on

Maverick Viñales dominated Phillip Island, so has Yamaha made a big step or does MotoGP’s greatest racetrack camouflage the M1’s weak points?

Maverick Viñales ended Yamaha’s 25-race losing streak on Sunday, but how did he do it? After the race he told us: “the team worked in the way I wanted, and that’s unbelievably good”.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think this is the reality, because it suggests his team doesn’t usually work in the way he wants.

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