Superbike: Ducati on the front row at Phillip Island

In the third timed practice session, thanks to cool conditions, both Davies and Bayliss significantly improved on yesterday's times, with the Welsh driver managing to qualify directly for the second heat of the Tissot Superpole thanks to the eighth overall time, while the legendary three Times World Champion must start from the first.

The two Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team riders took advantage of the fourth free practice session to make small refinements to the bikes; towards the end of the session Bayliss unfortunately slipped at turn 9, but fortunately without suffering any physical consequences.
With times in line with the much higher asphalt temperature (43°C), Davies finished seventh and Bayliss twelfth.

In Superpole 1, the Australian champion was unfortunately unable to catch up with his teammate in the second heat: he still recorded a good fourth time, 1'32.201, which ensures him fourteenth position on the grid for the two races.

In the eagerly awaited Superpole 2, Chaz Davies immediately set a very fast time (1'31.238) which placed him in second place.
Later, having fitted the qualifying tyre, he was completing his fastest lap when red flags were displayed following Salom's crash: Davies' time was therefore annulled and the session declared over.
With the excellent second time recorded already in the first lap; Chaz will start from the front row in the race.

“This morning we continued the work we started yesterday, testing some new solutions to better understand the reaction of the tires to the various settings and therefore I think I have prepared properly and we have not detected any significant problems” – he said Chaz Davies – “In qualifying I thought about going out with the “Q” as early as possible, in case there was a red flag, but I wasn't able to finish it in time. In any case, starting from the front row is certainly a good way to start the season. I think we are ready in the best possible way, also thanks to the tests at the beginning of the week and I can't wait for the races to start."

“Today went definitely better than yesterday. We managed to do some good laps and I felt more comfortable on the bike. In free practice I fell and it was a notable high side, but luckily I landed well and didn't hurt myself" – he declared Troy bayliss -” I was disappointed not to have entered Superpole two, but I'm equally happy because I hadn't used the qualifying tires for a long time and it takes time to become familiar with that type of tyre. I am sure that we can make further improvements tomorrow too. The high temperatures expected for tomorrow will certainly be a factor to take into consideration, but they will be the same for everyone and therefore we just have to wait and see what we can do..."