2012 World Superbike Phillip Island Photo Gallery

Marco Melandri gets better acquainted with the BMW S1000RR during the official pre-season test at Phillip Island.

Checa will defend his World Superbike title in 2012 still running lucky Number 7 numberplate.

Carlos Checa led the timesheet after Day 1 of the official two-day preseason test at Phillip Island.

Carlos Checa continues to campaign on the older 1198, the 1199 Panigale not yet homologated to SBK (though it will be run in World Superstock).

Jonathan Rea rides the Honda World Superbike CBR1000RR at Phillip Island.

Tom Sykes set the pace on the final day of pre-season testing at Phillip Island, just edging Carlos Checa.

Honda's Jonathan Rea was the fastest man on Friday after posting the only lap under the 1'32 mark in Phillip Island.

Max Biaggi: "We did some good work today, taking a lot of laps and trying to solve the problems on various parts of the track. Our race pace is good, even if there is still some work to do to catch Checa. Tomorrow we'll focus on performance in the fast lap, trying to take the best advantage of the tires in that situation so that we can line up on the grid Sunday with our papers in order to battle with the best.”

Eugene Laverty: "In the first session I just wanted to see how my hand would perform. In the second the feeling was good from the first laps. I was on a used tire and I lost the back end and took a slide, hitting my head and my foot. I'm fine now and there don't seem to be any problems for tomorrow, but I'm still disappointed about the important time we lost because of the crash."

Aprilia's Max Biaggi showed consistent race pace in both sessions on Friday but still needs to make improvements before Sunday's race.

After suffering an injury to his hand, Eugene Laverty suffered a crash in the first few minutes of Friday's qualifying session. The northern Irishman sustained a minor concussion but is otherwise okay to race.

David Salom: "It’s difficult for me to ride in my current physical condition. I thought I was doing
better but unfortunately I'm still feeling pain in my right wrist. I’m experiencing a lot of pain now,
but hopefully tonight I’ll be able to rest and feel better for tomorrow. I hope the doctors at the
Clinica Mobile will be able to help me reduce the pain so that I can ride in the best possible
manner."

Bryan Staring: "I’m pleased to be able to say that I’m very happy. We improved the times lap after
lap and, although I think there are still areas where we can improve further, I’m satisfied. I thank
the whole team and my suspension technician too for having done an amazing job today.
Tomorrow morning we need to pick up the pace again as the track will be faster and everyone will
be pushing to make it to Superpole but I have more confidence now and will be pushing as hard
as I can.”

Carlos Checa: "We’ve worked well today. All went well apart from the incident of course; I lost the rear, maybe because of tire wear, and couldn’t keep hold of it but luckily I didn’t collide with the small wall in front of me! I was able to get back to the garage where we sorted the handlebar and changed the tire. I had the chance to try the narrower tire but we saw that the wider tire lasts longer. The tires were the focus of our work today really, identifying the best solution to ensure good race pace."

Davide Giugliano: "It didn’t go at all badly. I had lost some feeling after my crash on Tuesday and so this morning was difficult but, with the team’s help, I was able to regain confidence by the afternoon."

Tom Sykes: “Pole position has come with mixed emotions because of some very bad news and first and foremost I want to pass on my condolences to the family and friends of Oscar McIntyre. As far as our on-track weekend has worked out so far, yesterday we just made sure things were right with the bike and pushed a bit more in this morning’s qualifying session in cooler conditions.”

Max Biaggi: "Any statement seems superfluous. We are very saddened about what happened. We don't know the details but suspending the session seemed like the logical thing to do. We'll start from the second spot on the grid tomorrow and I don't think Superpole would have made any great changes to the balance that came out of the test sessions."

Broc Parkes - 2012 World Supersport Phillip Island

Eugene Laverty: "I was able to get in some good times this morning, thanks also to the Mobile Clinic. Unfortunately our work was interrupted by a serious accident. We'll start from the third row and if I think about what happened yesterday I can only be happy about that."

Carlos Checa: "We’ll start from the front row based on the qualifying times which is good news for us. Today I was able to find better pace and am therefore pretty confident for tomorrow. Having said that, it won’t be easy, firstly due to the heat and mainly due to the extra six kilos we have on board, especially when we’re losing 15km/h on the straight to the other riders. I will do my best as always and we’ll see.”

Davide Giugliano: "To talk about how my day went seems inconsequential but I can say that this morning I had trouble riding in such a strong wind. I didn’t expect that and really had difficulty in the conditions. Starting from the fourth row means I need to get off the line as quickly as possible of course and see what I can do. We’ll have to see how hot it is as I seem to go better the hotter it is; I think the temperatures will condition tomorrow’s races.”

Max Biaggi: "I’m very happy, we did so much hard work to get into the top-five. When you are down in 15th or 16th position your bike is moving around all over the place. Once again we are first and second, we did a good job."

Carlos Checa rebounded from his bad highside crash with a major victory in Race 2 at Phillip Island.

Kenan Sofuoglu snatched the first win of the season in World Supersport after a close race.

Max Biaggi - 2012 World Superbike Phillip Island

Max Biaggi: "The first weekend with my new Team puts us out front and I have to thank both my guys and Aprilia for that. Race 1 was great, and the second one maybe even better. After running off the track I only thought about focusing and giving my all, because coming back from last place is always risky. We succeeded. We're taking home two good results and now there is nothing left to do but keep the tension high to confirm our strength at Imola."

Eugene Laverty: "In the end, if we think about what has happened, I'm not disappointed. I would have been happy with two placings among the first 10. It's a shame that the bike went into neutral in the first race which forced me to run on. Race 2 was just as difficult due to my condition after the crashes, but all in all eight points can prove to be important for such a long and difficult championship.”

Kawasaki's Tom Sykes earned his first dry weather podium in Race 2 after overhauling Jonathan Rea at the line.

Tom Sykes - 2012 World Superbike Phillip Island

BMW's Leon Haslam rode with multiple broken bones in his leg to a fifth-place finish in the final race.

Joan Lascorz: "I wish there was a third race, the first ones have been horrible. We have met with Pere, my chief, and we prepared totally new settings for the second race and I felt I could win. I was fourth and pushing to get third place, but I lost the
front. I did not know the limits of the bike. Let's see if in Imola we do better."

Tom Sykes: "Being third and fourth is amazing, getting in the podium after fighting so much is the best. The team have worked hard and I
was very motivated. Checa and Biaggi and their bikes were too strong on this track so being the first four cylinder bike tastes like victory. In Imola the track is better for us so let’s see what happens there.”

2012 World Superbike Phillip Island Race 2 podium (from left to right): Max Biaggi, Carlos Checa and Tom Sykes.

Bryan Staring: "All in all, I guess we had a good Sunday, meaning that we had a good first race. I
found the second race very hard, I think maybe I was a little fatigued from Race 1 and had
trouble finding grip and finding my rhythm. I can’t really explain what the problem was, and I’m
disappointed with that result, but I have to be happy with how race 1 went, and the fact that I
earned some important points.”

Kawasaki's David Salom struggled with pain in his right wrist throughout the opening round and was unable to finish the final race.

2012 World Superbike Phillip Island Photo Gallery

See photos of the World Superbike paddock in action at the Phillip Island circuit in the 2012 World Superbike Phillip Island photo gallery.