Yari Montella had the honour of topping the first morning of pre-season testing for the 2024 WorldSSP Championship action as he led a Ducati 1-2 in a competitive session at Phillip Island.
With the intermediate class leading out for two days of official test action around the Australian venue prior to this weekend's opening round of the 2024 season at the same venue, Montella was only a tenth shy of the Phillip Island lap record after four hours of track running.
Indeed, with good conditions throughout, lap times tumbled as the session wore on with Montella striking out front with a 1m 32.277s effort with 45mins of the session remaining on the Barni Spark Racing Ducati Panigale V2.
It was enough to put a tenth between himself as fellow Ducati rider Adrian Huertas, the Spaniard making a strong account of himself on his debut with defending champion Aruba.it Racing, posting a 1m 32.370s time.
Federico Caricasulo was an impressive third fastest on his debut aboard MV Agusta machinery, the 2019 WorldSSP runner-up having made the switch from Ducati machinery over the winter to join the privateer Motozoo AIR Racing team.
He led a trio of Yamaha riders with 2023 vice-champion Stefano Manzi on the Ten Kate Racing machine popping up into fourth place, ahead of fellow R6 riders Lucas Mahias (GMT94) and Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. Team).
Having lost most of the 2023 WorldSSP season through injury, Oliver Bayliss made his home knowledge count as he sprung up to a fine seventh best in the closing stages of the session, just ahead of Tom Booth-Amos, the Briton - making his first appearance at Phillip Island - showing strongly for the factory-backed PTR Triumph team.
Marcel Schroetter was the best placed of the factory MV Agusta duo in ninth, with his team-mate Bahattin Sofuoglu in 11th, the pair sandwiching Jorge Navarro, who held onto tenth aboard the privateer WRP Triumph despite a crash in the final hour.
His team-mate John McPhee, meanwhile, endured a steady start to proceedings, the Scot - a surprise podium winner in a wet race at Phillip Island last year - down in 23rd, just behind the best of the new Honda CBR600RR entries, that of Khairul Idham Bin Pawi
2024 WorldSSP Pre-Season Testing | Official Testing Results, Phillip Island
Monday | Day 1 of 2 | Conditions - Dry, Sunny
| 🇦🇺 ⏱️ 2024 WorldSSP Pre-Season Testing Results | Phillip Island | Day 1 of 2 [Monday] | |||||
| Pos. | Rider | Nat | Team | Motorcycle | Lap Time |
| 1 | Yari Montella | 🇮🇹 | BARNI Spark Racing | Ducati Panigale V2 | 1m 32.277 |
| 2 | Adrian Huertas | 🇪🇦 | Aruba.it Racing | Ducati Panigale V2 | 1m 32.370 |
| 3 | Federico Caricasulo | 🇮🇹 | Motozoo ME AIR Racing | MV Agusta F3 800 RR | 1m 32.529 |
| 4 | Stefano Manzi | 🇮🇹 | Ten Kate Racing | Yamaha R6 | 1m 32.535 |
| 5 | Lucas Mahias | 🇫🇷 | GMT94 | Yamaha R6 | 1m 32.730 |
| 6 | Valentin Debise | 🇫🇷 | Evan Bros. Team | Yamaha R6 | 1m 32.872 |
| 7 | Oliver Bayliss | 🇦🇺 | D34G Racing | Ducati Panigale V2 | 1m 32.911 |
| 8 | Tom Booth-Amos | 🇬🇧 | PTR | Triumph STR 765 RS | 1m 32.969 |
| 9 | Marcel Schroetter | 🇩🇪 | MV Agusta Reparto Corse | MV Agusta F3 800 RR | 1m 33.004 |
| 10 | Jorge Navarro | 🇪🇦 | WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM | Triumph STR 765 RS | 1m 33.018 |
| 11 | Bahattin Sofuoglu | 🇹🇷 | MV Agusta Reparto Corse | MV Agusta F3 800 RR | 1m 33.111 |
| 12 | Tom Toparis | 🇦🇺 | Stop & Seal Racing | Yamaha R6 | 1m 33.248 |
| 13 | Can Oncu | 🇹🇷 | Kawasaki Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1m 33.256 |
| 14 | Niccolo Antonelli | 🇮🇹 | Ecosantagata Althea Racing | Ducati Panigale V2 | 1m 33.422 |
| 15 | Marcel Brenner | 🇨🇭 | Viamo Racing | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1m 33.444 |
| 16 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | 🇮🇹 | Orelac Racing Verdnatura | Ducati Panigale V2 | 1m 33.567 |
| 17 | Piotr Biesiekirski | 🇵🇱 | Ecosantagata Althea Racing | Ducati Panigale V2 | 1m 33.678 |
| 18 | Niki Tuuli | 🇫🇮 | EAB Racing | Ducati Panigale V2 | 1m 33.680 |
| 19 | Anupab Sarmoon | 🇹🇭 | Yamaha Thailand Racing Team | Yamaha R6 | 1m 33.727 |
| 20 | Yeray Ruiz | 🇪🇦 | VFT Racing | Yamaha R6 | 1m 34.062 |
| 21 | Ondrej Vostatek | 🇨🇿 | PTR | Triumph STR 765 RS | 1m 34.136 |
| 22 | Khairul Idham Bin Pawi | 🇲🇾 | Petronas MIE Racing | Honda CBR600RR | 1m 34.179 |
| 23 | John McPhee | 🇬🇧 | WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM | Triumph STR 765 RS | 1m 34.356 |
| 24 | Glenn van Straalen | 🇳🇱 | Ten Kate Racing | Yamaha R6 | 1m 34.598 |
| 25 | Kaito Toba | 🇯🇵 | Petronas MIE Racing | Honda CBR600RR | 1m 35.056 |
| 26 | Hikari Okubo | 🇯🇵 | Vince64 Racing by Puccetti | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1m 35.604 |
| 27 | Krittapat Keankum | 🇹🇭 | Yamaha Thailand Racing Team | Yamaha R6 | 1m 35.644 |
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Lap Records - WorldSSP
| 🇦🇺 ⏱️ 🏁 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit| Lap Records - WorldSSP | |||||||
| - | Rider | Nat | Team | Bike | Lap TIme | Year | Classification |
| - | Andrea Locatelli | 🇬🇧 | BARDAHL Evan Bros. Racing | Yamaha R6 | 1m 32.176 | 2020 | All-Time Lap Record |
| - | Sandro Cortese | 🇬🇧 | GRT | Yamaha R6 | 1m 33.012 | 2018 | Best Race Lap |
| - | Stefano Manzi | 🇹🇷 | Ten Kate Racing | Yamaha R6 | 1m 32.814 | 2023 | 2023 Superpole |
2024 WorldSBK & WorldSSP Pre-Season Testing Schedule & Programme
| 🇦🇺 ⏱️ 2024 WorldSBK Pre-Season Testing Schedule | ||||
| - | Day | Class | Local Time | UK Time [+11hrs] |
| - | 19 Feb - Monday | WorldSSP P1 | 9.10 - 13.10 | 22.10 (Sunday) - 2.10 |
| - | 19 Feb - Monday | WorldSSP P2 | 13.40 - 17.40 | 2.40 - 6.40 |
| - | 20 Feb - Tuesday | WorldSBK P1 | 9.10 - 13.10 | 22.10 (Sunday) - 2.10 |
| - | 20 Feb - Tuesday | WorldSBK P2 | 13.40 - 17.40 | 2.40 - 6.40 |
