PICTORIAL: Round 1 World Superbike Championships - Phillip Island
By Mike Hanlon
February 22, 2014
/

PICTORIAL: Round 1 World Super...
View 494 Images
1/494
Honda's PATA World Superbike team below, and Honda corporate hospitality above
2/494
Information display on superbikes these days is a far cry from the old analog tachometer of not all that long agao
3/494
The Hero EBR team
4/494
Sylvain Barrier's BMW S1000RR
5/494
First race winner of the year, Eugene Laverty
6/494
The Smiths Triumph 675R
7/494
8/494
The Smiths Triumph 675R
9/494
A team shot for the San Carlo Puccetti Racing Team with rider Roberto Tamburini
10/494
Althea Racing's Niccolo Canepa awaits qualifying
11/494
Inside the Ducati factory team pits with riders Chaz Davies centre at back and Davide Giugliano back left
12/494
The Hero EBR Superbike team
13/494
Imre Toth, rider and principal of BMW Team Toth
14/494
Inside the BMW Team Toth pits with the BMW S1000RR
15/494
Local rider Glenn Allerton took the Silvain Barrier seat on the BMW Motorrad Italia team’s new EVO spec S1000RR
16/494
Looking for ways to improve the pace - inside the Hero EBR Superbike team pits
17/494
Marco Melandri deep in discussion in the Aprilia garage
18/494
Voltcom Suzuki's reigning British Superbike champ Alex Lowes and old mate Leon Haslam joke in the pits. This year Haslam is riding for Team Pata Honda
19/494
Inside the official Kawasaki Superbike Team garage, data was being shared and compared
20/494
Press conferences are now part of every rider's schedule.
21/494
Former riders Steve Martin and Chris Vermeulen have made the transition from riders to media commentators - here they discuss the finer points in the press room.
22/494
Alex Lowes and Fabien Foret front a press conference
23/494
Press conferences are now part of every rider's schedule.
24/494
Kawasaki fielded an EVO spec bike in the hands of David Salom
25/494
Inside the Ducati factory team pits with riders Davide Giugliano at left
26/494
Inside the Pata Honda garage
27/494
Every team has its own way of ensuring that nothing is left to chance
28/494
Geoff May's seat on the EBR Team Hero 1190RX
29/494
Peter Sebestyen watches on as his team readies his BMW S1000RR
30/494
Imre Toth oversees the final preparation for a wet practice session
31/494
Team Pedercini Kawasaki's Alessandro Andreozzi stepped up to the Superbike class with an EVO spec Kawasaki ZX10R
32/494
Team Pedercini Kawasaki's Alessandro Andreozzi awaits the start of a practice session on a circuit he had not previously seen. After a priomising year in Superstock in 2013, Andreozzi rode an EVO spec ZX10R
33/494
Checking the tire pressures on last time
34/494
Geoff May before he broke his collarbone
35/494
Leon Haslam in the PATA Honda pit
36/494
Davide Giugliano stretching the musculature prior to practice
37/494
Davide Giugliano getting the soft tissue controls up to working temperature
38/494
After a season to forget in 2013, Ducati is aiming to redress the balance and defend its name in 2014
39/494
Riding a full factory Aprilia RSV4 in Red Devils Roma Team, Toni Elias has a full hand of talent and machinery. Readers may not remember Elias as the inaugural Moto2 champion in 2010, or for his MotoGP victory in 2006. Six podiums in MotoGP stamps him as a class act. Do not discount him as a race winner later this season.
40/494
There is no margin for error when you are a member of a race team. Everything has to be right.
41/494
Leo Vince muffler with carbon cap - you can meditate on the combination of functionality and artistry on each of these machines.
42/494
Marco Melandri's bike in the Aprilia garage
43/494
Paul Denning's Voltcom Crescent Suzuki Team looks very well placed to give the title a shake this year.
44/494
Paul Denning's Voltcom Crescent Suzuki Team looks very well placed to give the title a shake this year.
45/494
Double World Supersport Champion AND World Superbike race winner Andrew Pitt, wanders pit lane.
46/494
Giugliano's factory Panigale
47/494
Chaz Davies factory Panigale
48/494
Globalisation personified - the Mahi Racing Team India pits where a Frenchman and a Turk ride Japanese motorcycles.
49/494
Billy McConnell warms his gloves on the tyre warmer prior to the next practice session on a cold Friday
50/494
The BMW S1000RR of Team Toth with the rear-sub-frame removed, looks ALL business
51/494
The DMC Panavto Yamaha supersport pits
52/494
Luca Scassa's Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO spec bike in the Team Pedercini garage
53/494
The EBR 1195RX
54/494
Giugliano's Ducati Panigale showing some serious plumbing work to route the rear cylinder's exhaust
55/494
Fabian Foret's ZX-10R in the Mahi garage
56/494
Globalisation personified - the Mahi Racing Team India pits where a Frenchman and a Turk ride Japanese motorcycles.
57/494
Getting the exam results for six months of off-season homework.
58/494
Giugliano's factory Ducati Panigale R
59/494
Firing up Guintoli's Aprilia works RSV4 - even the battery pack looks the business
60/494
Guintoli's factory Aprilia RSV4 gets pampered
61/494
Nico Canepa's EVO Panigale in the Althea garage
62/494
The Phillip Island circuit sits atop cliffs adjoining one of the wildest stretches of ocean in the world - when it's wet and cold and blowing at the Island, the riders get an experience like no other.
63/494
The Phillip Island circuit sits atop cliffs adjoining one of the wildest stretches of ocean in the world - when it's wet and cold and blowing at the Island, the riders get an experience like no other.
64/494
In the press room
65/494
David Salom's EVO ZX-10R
66/494
Team Pedercini fielded two EVO spec ZX-10Rs
67/494
Chaz Davies on the factory Panigale R
68/494
Geoff May heads down pit lane on the Hero EBR
69/494
Peter Sebestyen on the Team BMW Toth EVO S1000RR BMW
70/494
Toni Elias arrives at the office
71/494
Jonathon Rea's CBR1000RR Honda
72/494
In the accompanying Australian Motorcycle News Expo, Confederate Motorcycles made quite an impression. This is the Confederate Hellcat X132
73/494
In the accompanying Australian Motorcycle News Expo, the 2014 Zero SR was rarely without curious bystanders. 276 kilometers for $1.60's worth of electricity makes for economical commuting
74/494
A closer look at the Confederate Hellcat X132
75/494
EBR had its first outing at the Island in more ways than one.
76/494
The Bimota TESI 3D - biker porn
77/494
One of the best motorcycle racers in the world who has had a wretched run with just plain bad luck. Maybe 2014 will be his year. Marco Melandri.
78/494
Bimota rolled out a full range at the expo with the Ducati-engined DB8 the focus of the stand
79/494
Memorabilia is still a massive business, particularly when it's authenticated. This signed pic of King Kenny will set you back AUD$295
80/494
Memorabilia is still a massive business, particularly when it's authenticated.
81/494
Confederate's R131 Fighter had me thinking about the wellbeing of my family tree.
82/494
Confederate's R132 Hellcat
83/494
Confederate's R132 Hellcat
84/494
Confederate's R132 Hellcat
85/494
Erik Buell Racing's EBR 1190RX
86/494
T-shirt stand in the expo - some very funny stuff
87/494
T-shirt stand in the expo - some very funny stuff
88/494
T-shirt stand in the expo - some very funny stuff
89/494
Michel Fabrizio's Iron Brain EVO ZX-10R
90/494
It wasn't really Silvain Barrier on the bike - local Glenn Allerton stepped in when the reigning STK1000 Champion suffered a fractured pelvis on the Monday prior to the event. Ouch!
91/494
Calm before the storm - wets in place, and the clock is ticking down to another wet session
92/494
Current world champ Tom Sykes prepares to launch the factory Kawasaki ZX-10R
93/494
Current world champ Tom Sykes prepares to launch the factory Kawasaki ZX-10R
94/494
David Salom and his EVO ZX-10R
95/494
Alex Lowes on the Voltcom Crescent GSX-R1000
96/494
Leon Haslam on the PATA Honda World Superbike Team CBR1000RR
97/494
Jeremy Guarnoni on the EVO MRS Kawasaki ZX-10R
98/494
Loris Baz on the KRT ZX-10R
99/494
Loris Baz exits the pit-box
100/494
The Voltcom suzuki garage
101/494
Niccola Canepa sits in the back of the Althea garage while the crew ready his EVO Panigale 1199R Ducati
102/494
Silvain Guintoli's Aprilia RSV4
103/494
Robbie Phillis won the first race in the 1990 World Superbike Championship round at Phillip Island, one of four wins he took during his international career. Indeed, Robbie is still winning nearly every race he enters - the 57-year-old took the win in the historic events on the weekend.
104/494
The Pata Honda pits.
105/494
MV Agusta flew the flag off the track too
106/494
BMW's R Nine T
107/494
After battling through from the bottom half of the field in the first race, Eugene Laverty's Suzuki GSX-R1000 pulled out a clear margin for an encouraging win.
108/494
Aaron Yates on the Hero EBR 1190RX demonstrates the camber of the Island circuit
109/494
Niccolo Canepa on the Althea Ducati Panigale 1199R
110/494
111/494
112/494
113/494
114/494
115/494
116/494
117/494
118/494
119/494
120/494
121/494
122/494
123/494
124/494
125/494
126/494
127/494
128/494
129/494
130/494
131/494
132/494
133/494
134/494
135/494