Sykes fastest in final WSBK hitout
The preliminaries are all over, with the 2013 world champion out in front before the two races at midday and 2:40pmKawasaki's Tom Sykes has completed the warm-up session for the opening round of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island with the fastest time, as Aussie Troy Bayliss (Ducati) continued to make more inroads in his one-off return to the series he once dominated.
Sykes finished the short session ahead of Suzuki's Randy de Puniet, Aprilia's Nico Terol and Kawasaki's polesitter Jonathan Rea, while Bayliss was 10th – five spots better than his qualifying effort yesterday.
The majority of the 22-rider field got through the warm-up unscathed, except for world champion Sylvain Guintoli (Honda) who crashed at turn two.
The Frenchman, who shared wins with former Aprilia teammate Eugene Laverty in 2014, was unhurt and will be on the grid for today's two 22-lap races at midday and 2:40pm – a record 25th time WSBK racing will be held at Phillip Island.
Meanwhile, Aussie wildcard Matt Walters is a late withdrawal after a difficult weekend which saw him crash at high-speed three times, which has exhausted spare parts supplies for his Italian-based team.
Walters' teammate David Salom is also a late withdrawal after a huge crash yesterday which saw him cartwheel awkwardly through the outfield. He is okay apart from a broken finger, which will require surgery.
The 18-lap world supersport race will be held at 1:10pm today, with Frenchman Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta) on pole position for that one.
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