After more than two and a half years away from the classic Aussie venue, the WorldSBK class had plenty of work to do to get back up to speed on the fastest circuit of the calendar. For 26-year-old Italian rider Locatelli, it was a positive day for his first look at the island on the “big bike” with excellent one-lap speed and a productive long-run in this afternoon’s Free Practice 2 session.
There was more work to do on Razgatlıoğlu’s side of the pit box to find a comfortable – and crucially, fast – set-up on his Yamaha R1 WorldSBK. His fourth-fastest lap time came behind a strong trio of Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea, Alex Lowes and Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista.
With an abrasive surface, lower track temperatures and two different construction Pirelli rear tyre options to test, the challenges facing the Turkish ace are very different compared to his hat-trick weekend in Mandalika just five days ago.
The Australian Round features another special condensed race schedule, with later session times each day: Free Practice 3 starts from 10:50 (UTC+11), Superpole qualifying at 13:10 and lights out for Race 1 at 16:00 tomorrow.
