WorldSBK Round 1: Yamaha Finance Australian Round
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Victoria, Australia. 28 Feb – 01 Mar 2020
Scroll down for the latest news from the opening round of the 2020 Superbike World Championship
Is there a better settings for a race than Phillip Island? There’s definitely nowhere better for the opening race of the year. WorldSBK in Australia has been the traditional curtain call for racing for almost two decades and this fast, flowing circuit almost offers guaranteed classics. The rider is more important than the bike in Phillip Island and if you can find the right feeling with your machine you can spring a surprise here-like Eugene Laverty in 2014. Australia might open the season but it doesn’t always give a great indication of what to expect for the year. Riders can only hope that when the roulette wheel spins it comes up with their number.
Phillip Island Facts
Number of laps: 22
Most Wins: Troy Corser (7)
Lap Record: Jonathan Rea 1m29.413 (2019)
Race Record:Alvaro Bautista33m38.114 (2019)

The Southern loop is a long, double apex left hander where it's very easy to run in too hot and lose a lot of time on the exit

Turn 4 is the slowest corner on the track and coming so soon after Stoner Corner, the fastest corner on the entire WorldSBK calendar, this is the prime overtaking hotspot of Phillip Island. Very easy to run into the corner too fast and cause havoc!

The exit of Siberia is key for a fast time at Phillip Island because your exit speed from here dictates your speed all the way until Lukey Heights

Lukey Heights is off camber and blind. You need to have total faith in your bike as you pitch into the left hander because all you can see is the sky! It's very easy to lose rear traction through Turn 9 and have a massive crash

Turn 10 is slow and has a very short downhill braking zone making it very easy to run in hot and run off track

The exit of Turn 10 into Turn 11 is crucial because if you can hook the bike up, with a short double shift on the exit, you can carry your speed all the way to Turn 1. As the race progresses if you can manage your tyre correctly you can make up a lot of time through here

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