2025 Phillip Island World Superbike Test Press Releases

Press Releases from the WorldSBK teams after the test at Phillip Island:

WorldSBK pre-season testing concludes with Bulega on top

Phillip Island, Australia

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) was the fastest rider for the second consecutive day of testing, clocking a 1’28.680s lap in the morning session. His pace remained impressive, with 17 of his 25 flying laps in the 1’29s bracket and two laps in the 1’28s.
Ducati riders occupied four of the top five spots, with Andrea Iannone (Pata GoEleven) finishing second, 0.498s behind Bulega, while Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) claimed third. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) rounded out the top five, showing growing confidence on his Panigale V4 R.
The reigning Champion, Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) rebounded from his Day 1 crash to finish fourth in dry conditions and improved his time in the mixed final session, finishing just 0.1s behind Bulega in FP4.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) secured sixth place as he continued to test Yamaha’s updated 2025 package.
Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and teammate Axel Bassani were closely matched, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, placing both bimota inside the top 10.
Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) was Honda’s best performer, taking ninth (1’29.812s), while teammate Iker Lecuona, still recovering from injury, struggled in P20.
Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing) finished 13th, despite a crash at Turn 4, maintaining his strong pre-season form.
Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki) crashed at Turn 8, causing red flags, while Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) fell at Turn 3 in the final moments of FP4.

P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

“I improved the feeling from yesterday, which was already good, so I think we have a strong package to start the race weekend. I'm happy with how the bike feels—everything is working well at the moment. Of course, we still have room for improvement, but I’ve already made a small step forward from yesterday, and if we can take another, that would be great.

Testing is one thing—it’s important to have a good feeling, but at the end of the day, you don’t score points in testing. I’ll start Friday with a positive mindset, knowing we have a strong package, I feel good at this circuit, and the bike is working well here. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going and improve a little more.

I’m really looking forward to the first race of the year—finally, we’re getting started! I have to admit, I don’t enjoy testing that much; I prefer race weekends. Testing can get a bit boring, so I’m really excited to start racing.”

P2 – Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven)

“Unfortunately, we had rain and wet conditions in the afternoon for about an hour, which completely disrupted our strategy. But in any case, we worked very well this morning and understood a few things.

For sure, we need a little more time, but we don’t have it. Now, on Friday, at the start of the race weekend, we’ll continue testing some things to decide on our setup for the races. In any case, I think we’re starting the season with a good feeling on the bike and with the team. Of course, there are still areas where we need to improve, but that’s always the case—we always push to improve and be ready for the weekend.

I’m confident, and like I said before, I think we’ll start in good shape.”

P3 – Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team)

“It was good. This has been a really positive test since yesterday. I’ve found a good feeling with the bike, so I’m feeling optimistic for the weekend. For sure, the battle is tight because I think there are 7-8 riders who can fight for the podium. Right now, Bulega has something extra, but when it comes to the top 10 riders, I believe all of them have the potential to stand on the podium.”

P4 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)

“After the crash, especially on the second day, we started off well because our main target is to find the right setup for the race. We finally found something, but we’re not 100% ready yet. After the crash, we lost two hours of riding, and the afternoon brought some rain, so we only got the last eight minutes to ride the bike. We found a few things, but we’re still not 100%, so we’ll see how it goes on Friday. The weekend is really important, and we’re doing our best, as always.

I feel the same as before, but I’m continuing to ride the bike. We’re racers, and it’s crucial to keep riding. This is an important weekend because it’s the first race of the 2025 season. Even though I’m still not 100%, after a couple of laps, the pain isn’t too bad, and I can still ride without problems. We also did some good lap times on race tires, so I’m a bit excited for the first race!”

Bendsneyder sets the pace again as WorldSSP Official Test ends

Phillip Island, Australia

Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) topped the timesheets for the second consecutive day, posting a 1’31.595s lap—more than half a second clear of the competition.
Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) made a strong statement on Day 2, holding P1 until the final moments before settling for second with a 1’32.129s.
Maintaining his impressive form, Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse) secured third place for the second consecutive day with a 1’32.332s.
Australian Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing Team) improved on his Day 1 time, finishing seventh with a 1’32.557s.
Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing), the 2024 WorldSSP runner-up, finished eighth - just over one second behind Bendsneyder - as he continued adapting to the Yamaha R9.

P1 - Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)

“It was almost a perfect day again. Today, we focused more on race distance, and at the end, we did a time attack. In the second practice, we completed a race simulation—10 laps, then a pit stop to change the rear tire, followed by another 8 laps. It was useful not only for race pace but also to understand pit lane entry and exit ahead of Saturday and Sunday’s races.

After that, we went for a time attack, which went quite well, so I’m happy with today. But in the end, it’s just testing—there are no points. We’re staying calm and focused on our main job. Of course, it’s nice to start the season this way, but the most important thing will be Saturday and Sunday afternoon when the real points are on the line.”

Bulega Leads Two-Day Test at Phillip Island (Australia). Extremely Positive Vibes for Bautista (Fifth).

With two days of activity at the Phillip Island circuit (Australia), the preseason of the 2025 World Superbike Championship comes to a close.

Nicolò Bulega and Alvaro Bautista gathered valuable information on set-up and tyres ahead of the first round of the season, which gets underway on Friday morning at the iconic Australian circuit.

The Italian rider was fastest in all four sessions, although this afternoon's session was partially compromised by rain, forcing the riders to remain in the pits for long periods.

It was also a fruitful two days for Alvaro Bautista, who seems to have rediscovered a good feeling with his Ducati Panigale V4R.

These are the top five positions in the combined classification of the four sessions.
P1 N. Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #11) 1'28.680
P2 A. Iannone (Ducati) 1'29.162 +0.482
P3 D. Petrucci (Ducati) 1'29.179 +0.499
P4 T. Razgatlioglu (BMW) 1'29.247 +0.567
P5 A. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 1'29.477 +0.797

Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #11)

"It was an excellent two days of testing, so we confidently arrived at the season's first round. We have worked hard to gather important information that we can use to iron out the final details in these two days before free practice. I feel confident because this is my favourite circuit. I can't wait to get back on track".

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #19)

"I'm delighted with how things went in these tests. I've found the feeling I've been seeking for a long time. Finally, we could ride on track with excellent continuity after the bad weather we experienced in Jerez and Portimao. I am also pleased with our work with the tyres, which allows us to have clear ideas"

Honda HRC wraps up official testing and gears up for the Phillip Island season opener

The Honda HRC team has been back in action at the Phillip Island Circuit in Australia, taking part in a final two-day winter test with riders Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona. Both riders focused on fine-tuning the CBR1000RR-R, while Lecuona also had to manage his physical condition, which is not yet ideal. Also on track at the test was official Honda HRC tester Tetsuta Nagashima, who will compete as a wildcard in Round 1.

With the 2025 Superbike World Championship set to begin in just a few days at Phillip Island, factory riders Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona, along with official tester Tetsuta Nagashima, took advantage of a final pre-season test on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 February.

Each day comprised two test sessions, alternating with those of the Supersport riders, for a total of four hours on track. Three of the four sessions ran in dry, sunny conditions, which allowed the riders to work closely with their technicians to fine-tune their CBR1000RR-R machines to suit the fast and flowing Australian circuit.

Vierge completed 64 laps already on Monday, the rider soon settling back into his riding and lapping faster in the afternoon than he had in the morning. Feeling comfortable on his bike and working effectively with his technicians, Xavi made good progress throughout the day.

On the other side of the garage, Lecuona, well on the road to recovery but still not 100% after a winter injury, carefully conserved his energy, completing 23 laps on day one. The morning session brought a minor crash for the Spaniard at Turn 6, just minutes from the end. Iker returned to the track for the second session of the day but completed just ten laps before deciding, together with his team, to finish early and rest in preparation for Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the work continued in a similar vein, with both factory riders making the most of the morning session. Vierge completed 33 laps and Lecuona 26. Conditions then changed in the early afternoon as a light drizzle wet the track just enough to discourage almost the entire SBK field from exiting. Vierge and Lecuona were only able to return to the track with around 20 minutes remaining, once the asphalt had dried sufficiently. They completed an additional 7 and 10 laps, respectively, thus bringing the final winter test of the season to a close.

The first WorldSBK round of the season will kick off on Friday, when riders will head out for free practice. Saturday will bring qualifying and Race 1, while the action will continue on Sunday with the Superpole sprint race and the second Superbike race. For this round, both Race 1 and Race 2 will run over a 20-lap distance and follow a flag-to-flag format, as mandated by the FIM and DWO, which have set a maximum limit of 11 laps for the rear tyre in the SBK category.

The Phillip Island Circuit is a firm favourite with most riders and has been a regular fixture on the WorldSBK calendar for many years. Measuring 4.445 km in length and incorporating seven left-hand corners and five right-handers, it is a fast track that makes for spectacular racing.

Xavi Vierge 97

“It has been a very productive test, and I think we did a great job, especially after day one. We found something with the bike setup that gave me good feeling and helped me improve my race pace, so I can say I’m ending the winter test season in a positive mood. We focused a lot on the electronics to better manage tyre life, and we’re happy with the progress we made in that area too. We also practiced for a flag-to-flag situation, as that will be one of the key factors during this weekend’s races, and we feel ready. It’s just a pity that the fourth session was affected by rain, so we didn’t get chance to make any time attacks here in Australia yet. But overall, we’ve covered all areas of the setup and are ready for the race weekend. On my side, I can’t wait for it!”

Iker Lecuona 7

“This has been basically the first time in four months that I’ve been able to ride the bike, though I’m not yet 100%—let’s say around 60%. My body has healed, and I generally feel good, but I’ve lost muscle mass in my left shoulder area, so I don’t have my usual strength to ride the bike. Of course, that makes things more difficult, especially in the changes of direction, and there are parts of the track where I struggle a lot. After four months, it feels really good to be back on the bike, but at the same time, it’s frustrating because I can’t ride in my usual style. This will definitely be an extra challenge this weekend, but it is what it is. My team has been very supportive, and I want to thank them—not just for working hard on the bike but also for helping me manage the situation. Yesterday afternoon, I felt mentally blocked, and the team encouraged me to stop early. That turned out to be a good decision because this morning, I woke up feeling mentally refreshed, and things went better. We were able to try some new things on the setup that we hope will help during the weekend, so let’s see how it goes.”

Gardner and Aegerter Complete Final Test at Phillip Island

The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team returned to action at the iconic Phillip Island Circuit in Australia for the Dorna-supported test on February 17-18, ahead of the first round of the 2025 season.

Local hero Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter enjoyed dry conditions on the first day, focusing on maximizing the performance of their Yamaha R1 machines throughout the four hours of testing.

It was a busy day for both GYTR GRT Yamaha riders, with Gardner completing 61 laps in total and finishing 13th with a best lap of 1'30.233. On the other side of the garage, Aegerter completed 72 laps, with a fastest time of 1'31.185.

On the second and final day of testing, Gardner and Aegerter faced mixed weather conditions. In the morning, they were able to record lap times on dry track conditions, with Gardner completing 34 laps and Aegerter 37, placing 15th (1'30.245) and 18th (1'30.617) respectively.

Later in the session, the weather took a turn, and just as the green light signaled the start of the afternoon session, rain began to fall. Gardner and Aegerter opted to continue testing on wet tyres given the uncertain forecast for the weekend. As the track began to dry, the GYTR GRT Yamaha duo returned to the track on slick tyres.

Aegerter secured a top-10 finish in the final test session with a 1'30.461 after completing 32 laps. Unfortunately, Gardner’s progress was halted due to a technical issue in the final minutes, leaving him just behind his teammate in 11th place with a best time of 1'30.464 from 19 laps.

Remy Gardner: P16 (1’30.223)

“There’s work to do, we’re aware of that, but let’s take the positive things from the test. We were able to clock a decent amount of laps and gain useful data for the beginning of the season. We tried many things during these two days and now it’s time to put everything together to be ready for the first round. Now let’s enjoy a bit of time to rest and recharge our batteries, we need to be fully prepared for the season opener and I cannot wait to see all the Australians fans in Phillip Island!”

Dominique Aegerter: P17 (1’30.461)

“We kept progressing each session, and that’s a positive thing. Day 1 was quite challenging, but following a lot of effort in general the feeling on the second day was better. Unfortunately the rain in the afternoon made us losing some valuable track time, but thankfully we were able to produce some good laps in the end, trying to push. We’ll keep working hard before the season opener, and we’ll try to be as much ready as possible for the first round!”

Locatelli on Podium Pace as Rea Ruled Out of Phillip Island Races

Pata Maxus Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli was sixth-fastest overall on the second day of the FIM Superbike World Championship Official Test at Phillip Island in Australia today, completing a final shakedown with the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK before the start of the 2025 season.

Two smooth and largely problem-free test days provided a welcome return to the Italian rider’s favourite race track, where in 2024 Locatelli was tantalisingly close to taking his maiden WorldSBK win. The circuit holds further fond memories as the starting site of “Loka’s” record-breaking sweep of the FIM Supersport World Championship in 2020.

But racing at Phillip Island is far from simple, where the abrasive, high-grip, high-speed nature of the 4.445km circuit requires a special blend of optimum set-up, tyre management, rider confidence and a dash of luck.

After an extremely positive winter test programme in the run up to Phillip Island and initial optimism in yesterday’s first test session, Jonathan Rea was cruelly ruled out of contention for the opening round of the 2025 season after a high-speed crash at the exit of Turn 2. The six-time WorldSBK Champion sustained multiple fractures to his left foot and his recovery plan is currently under professional consultancy, with details to be decided in due course. Rea travels home tomorrow (Wednesday) in order to recuperate and begin his rehabilitation.

Pata Maxus Yamaha will return to the track on Friday morning in full support of Locatelli in his quest to deliver podiums and a maiden win Down Under, with Free Practice 1 from 11:20am AEDT (GMT+11).

Andrea Locatelli – 6th, 1'29.493 (FP3)

“It was important to ride these two days because I got back the feeling that I was missing in the winter tests where the track conditions were a bit tricky. I am not 100% happy just yet about every aspect, but we are for sure happy about the race simulation that I tried yesterday afternoon. At the moment, it looks like we can fight for the podium – and my goal when we arrived was to try to focus just on winning, because why not? Honestly, I want to believe until the end! Phillip Island is a special track, I have a lot of motivation to make the best result possible so this is the focus. I want to be realistic, I think we have a chance to do well here and we will try! We just need to work a little bit more on the bike on Friday, but we have more data now and more details to make the best package.”

Jonathan Rea – 1'30.885 (FP1)

“Honestly, it was going so well – no issues, good plan, started fast in the top four or five, working through and put my first fresh set of tyres in during the last 20 minutes, and on my first flying lap I just lost the rear marginally and then it gripped again abruptly. It kicked me up and I landed on the bike again, then it sort of threw me over – that was fine, I landed fine, but the bike was cartwheeling and it landed on my foot. Took quite a lot of damage, so now I’m just going through the process. It isn’t possible to operate immediately because of the swelling and we’re speaking to a few different consultants about surgery and timeframes. I don’t know much right now – everything felt so smooth and we made a small step forward on the bike, I’m just gutted you know. It doesn’t take much in racing to just keep that snowball effect and keep it rolling forward. We had a good winter test and it’s just been undone, but it could have been so much worse – we’ll try and be back stronger. It’s day by day really, first we will speak to some professionals, but I’m gutted.”

Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Maxus Yamaha:

“Phillip Island is a beautiful circuit to come to, but the high-grip and very high-speed nature of the track means that it can also be unforgiving when things go wrong. Our test and the start of Pata Maxus Yamaha’s season has been overshadowed by Jonathan’s accident and it’s difficult to put any “spin” on the story right now – especially when the winter tests rolling into the 2025 season have been so positive and Jonathan’s confidence and motivation was at such a high level. Being the champion and athlete that he is, we know that he will put everything into his recovery as he does into racing, so let’s view this episode in the story as simply a delay to seeing the real JR performing at his absolute best on the R1. We are a two-rider team – and we’re at one of Andrea Locatelli’s favourite circuits. While Loka’s winter test programme was not as positive as Jonathan’s, his confidence is rebuilding step-by-step here in Australia and the speed and feeling is developing nicely. Without any fundamental issues, the team has just been fine-tuning the package to give Loka the confidence he needs for these high-speed corners. It’s coming and we’re getting closer to the podium pace after every lap – we are in a good place to start the race weekend on Friday morning.”

DAY 2 - P 2 IN THE SLIPSTREAM OF BULEGA, GOOD FEELING IN RACE CONFIGURATION!

With the checkered flag on Tuesday afternoon at Phillip Island, the WorldSBK pre-season officially ends. A quiet and very positive morning at Go Eleven gave Andrea the second place, close to Bulega. A quite unuseful afternoon due to rain, which changed the teams' plans.

In FP 1, the number 29 made the most of the session, fixing various electronics areas and making comparisons between the two bikes in the garage, slightly different on the front. Positive feeling, clear improvement especially in the last and third sectors. The work was still focused on the race coumpound tyres, without using the SC0, the qualifying compound here at Phillip Island.

Free Practice 1:
P 1 N. Bulega 1.28.680
P 2 A. Iannone + 0.482
P 3 D. Petrucci + 0.499

In the afternoon the goal was to do some long runs with the two rear SC1 tyres and then move on to the time attack; the plan vanished due to the rain, which forced the riders to only work for a final half hour, but with many wet patches on the track. Unfortunately it was not possible to try out the ideas developed in the morning, so the work had to be moved to Friday. Three, four good laps in the last minutes, but without taking any particular risks.

Free Practice 2:
P 1 N. Bulega 1.29.133
P 2 T. Razgatlioglu + 0.114
P 3 A. Locatelli + 0.624
P 4 A. Iannone + 0.664

Encouraging and positive pre-season tests for the whole Go Eleven team, Andrea ended all the sessions in dry asphalt conditions in second position, proving that he has a good feeling with the Ducati Panigale V4-R, helped by a year of experience behind him, too. Now we will need to put everything together and exploit every minute with the aim of coming ready for Saturday, when the sessions become hot!

Andrea Iannone (Rider):

“This morning we worked very well, recovering some of the time lost yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, in the second session, the rain prevented us from completing the planned program. I finished in second place in all the sessions of this pre-season, which I consider in a positive way, compared to last year we are making progress. Now I know better what to expect on the track and I hope that, from Friday, we can start from here to continue improving. There are still many aspects to work on, so it will be essential to make the most of the time available.”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“Two days of testing at Phillip Island, we were always inside the top two/three places, it shows that Andrea is in good shape and is comfortable at the start of 2025. Yesterday we had a few problems in the afternoon, unfortunately we stayed in the pits a lot, but today everything worked well and in the morning we found some interesting solutions for the weekend. Unfortunately we couldn't try the soft tyres due to the rain in the afternoon, but we are confident. Now we will analyse all the data carefully, if by Saturday we can find some small solutions in the central part of the track, we can fight at the front."

Testing Complete As Round One Approaches For BbKRT

The eagerly anticipated entry of the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team (BbKRT) into the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship is just a few days away now, after the completion of the official two day test session at Phillip Island in Australia.

BbKRT riders Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani made good progress toward finding their final race settings on the all-new bimota KB998 Rimini machine during the four individual WorldSBK track sessions that were held between 17-18 February.

The first day was dry, sunny and largely free of wind from start to finish, but on day two a dry morning session was followed by a wet afternoon. Only the last few minutes of the final session provided a dry enough track for some meaningful last-minute testing, so both bimota riders used that late opportunity to their advantage with their technical crews.

With all possible pre-season preparations complete, Alex left the DWO Phillip Island Official test sessions with the overall seventh best lap time, and Axel was the eighth quickest rider of all.

The 2025 WorldSBK Championship will have its opening round at Phillip Island, between 21-23 February.

Phillip Island is the traditional starting venue for each WorldSBK season, with the 4.445km long circuit located on a picturesque island located just off the south coast of the state of Victoria. It is a highly popular WorldSBK venue, with a heavily left-handed layout and several long high speed corners that put particular stresses on the left side of the tyres.

There will be three races at the opening round, including two full distance contests over 20 laps - one on Saturday and one on Sunday. They will, however, both feature mandatory tyre change pitstops at half race distance. There will also be a ten lap Tissot Superpole Race on Sunday.

Each long WorldSBK race is scheduled to start at 16.00 local time, with the Superpole ‘sprint’ race taking place at 13.00 on Sunday 23 February. CET in Europe is 10 hours behind the local time in Australia.

Alex Lowes (BbKRT Rider): “Our test was good. We had a few things to try in the afternoon session, but we only got a few laps in near the end. We made a pretty big change, which has given us some good direction for the weekend. The test was positive, I enjoyed it, and we stayed out of trouble. I am looking forward to the first race on the bimota KB998 Rimini. The bike has been good on used tyres, but I am ready for the tyre changes in the long races. We have practiced the wheel changes and it is the same for everyone. I enjoy the Superpole races and in effect we are going to have ‘five’ Superpole races - with a couple of pitstops in the middle. We just need to have a good Superpole qualifying session and get stuck into the races. I am feeling good and I’m ready to start the new adventure.”

Axel Bassani (BbKRT Rider): “This test has been quite good and we did some laps with different types of tyres. We tried to understand what was possible but the conditions were changing today so it has not been easy to understand. We changed something on the bike because my feeling compared to the Jerez and Portimao tests has been quite different. I think we found quite a good base for the races. I was a little bit disappointed in the final afternoon, as this weather was not good. We had to wait until eight minutes from the end and I did only three laps. I tried to push, but not so much because the track was not really clean after the rain. These two test days are finished, now we can relax for short time before the race weekend begins. Test are tests and races are races, so we will see what happens. It is always different, so we will see.”

Pere Riba (Crew Chief for Alex Lowes): “The test has been smooth. One of the targets was to work with calmness to try to understand the things we have done. This was especially important because every year when we arrive in Australia everybody is very excited. We saw there were many crashes here so we had to be careful. We have been very focused and Alex has been very, very good. We are learning. We have not had much time with the bikes because in some previous test it was raining at times. We have followed our test plan, we tried a couple of big items to understand more things and we will start with some of the biggest items for race weekend. I am quite happy and I think Alex is understanding the bike.”

Marcel Duinker (Crew Chief for Axel Bassani): “I am very satisfied with the test, which was the final showdown before the opening race weekend. We adapted the bike, mainly this morning in the dry conditions. Yesterday we understood our limitations so we adapted the bike to the characteristic of the track and the rear tyres. Axel was very consistent over far more than race distance on the tyres and he was improving all the time. We made the correct step this morning. This afternoon was all about enjoying the track, even if the weather disturbed things a bit. We did some wheel change practice, both yesterday and on the final day. We have done it many times in the past but it was good to rehearse a little bit. We used the time we had in this two day test to the maximum and we are where we need to be.”

Kawasaki WorldSBK Team Takes Final Pre-Season Steps

Garrett Gerloff and his Ninja ZX-10RR took to the track for their final pre-season test sessions, between 17 and 18 February, shortly before the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship season gets underway at Phillip Island this coming weekend.

The new combination of Gerloff and the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team enjoyed one fully sunny day and one more dry track session before rains arrived on the final afternoon of the DWO Official WorldSBK tests at the 4.445km long Phillip Island Circuit, which is located on the south coast of Australia.

Garrett set good lap times and got through his planned final preparations for race weekend. He had one small crash on day one and a very fast fall on day two, which he escaped without significant injury.

After a dry and sunny start in the morning, the final afternoon track session was begun in fully wet conditions, with just one short period with an almost dry track surface right at the end.

With all possible pre-season preparations now complete attention turns to the true start of the latest WorldSBK season, which will provide a first partnership between Gerloff and the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team.

The race weekend will feature three days of action, starting on Friday 21 February. There will be three WorldSBK races, with two longer contests over 20-laps and one ‘sprint’ over ten laps. The longer races this year will be split into two halves, by regulation, with a mandatory tyre change for all riders at the halfway point.

Garrett Gerloff, stated: “The opening day of the test was the best one and I can say that the second day was not the best, from the beginning. It’s not been great today but I appreciate the hard work done by the team to fix the bike after the crash. Now we have to forget about the final pre-season test and focus on the first race weekend of the new season.”

2025

World Superbikes

Phillip Island, Australia

↑Back to top