Yari Montella provided a teaser of what could be to come from the 2024 WorldSSP Championship season by smashing the Phillip Island lap record as he topped the timesheets on day of official pre-season testing ahead of Round 1.

Helped by the fresh asphalt that has been laid down over the winter, the Italian dipped below 1m 32secs to defeat Andrea Locatelli's four-year old lap record marker of 1m 32.176secs set in 2020 to end a day of track running - split into two four-hour sessions - with the top spot.

The Barni Spark Racing rider stopped the clocks with a 1m 31.881secs time, giving a comfortable buffer over his countryman's erstwhile marker, while just edging out another Italian in Federico Caricasulo by less than a tenth.

An impressive first showing from the 2019 WorldSSP runner-up, Caricasulo achieved his sub-1m 32secs lap on his first official outing aboard the Motozoo AIR Racing MV Agusta, the privateer team having made the switch from Kawasaki machinery over the winter.

The single day of testing is acting as a precursor to the opening round of the WorldSSP season, which takes place at the same circuit later this week. The sister WorldSBK field will be out on track for its day of official pre-season testing on Tuesday, with race weekend action beginning with Practice for both on Friday.

The test was halted with just under ten minutes of the session to go following a serious accident involving WorldSSP rookie Piotr Biesiekirski, enough to warrant a red flag and an early finish.

The Belarussian-born Polish representative - riding for Ecosantagata Althea Ducati - crashed mid-way through the afternoon session but the track was cleared in order for the helicopter to airlift him to hospital an hour after the incident. WorldSBK reports he is conscious but has suffered a head injury and concussion.

His crash was one of four red flags to occur during the session, the first two to clear wildlife off the track, the third for Biesiekirski's accident at Turn 2 and the fourth to allow the helicopter to depart. The session is not allowed to continue unless there is a helicopter stationed at the circuit.

Back at the front, Stefano Manzi made it three different manufacturers inside the top three aboard the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, ahead of defending champions Aruba.it Racing with its rider Adrian Huertas.

Valentin Debise rounded out the top five in a welcome return to form for the Evan Bros. Yamaha team, while Can Once made the biggest gains over the day to end his Monday in seventh place on the best of the slender Kawasaki contingent.

2017 WorldSSP Champion Lucas Mahias (GMT94) was seventh quickest on his return to Yamaha machinery, ahead of Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta) and Tom Booth-Amos, who despite ending his day with a crash at Turn 9 was a consistent top ten performer all day.

Jorge Navarro made it two Triumph riders inside the top ten in tenth, ahead of Bahattin Sofuoglu on the second of the factory MV Agusta bikes and local hope Oliver Bayliss.

John McPhee, meanwhile, made gains over the course of the day, eventually ending his session in 21st place on the WRP-RT Triumph.

2024 WorldSSP Pre-Season Testing | Official Testing Results, Phillip Island

Monday [FINAL Combined] | Conditions - Dry, Sunny

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Lap Records - WorldSSP

2024 WorldSBK & WorldSSP Pre-Season Testing Schedule & Programme