Ducati narrowly leads Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha in World Superbike title chase

“Another nice race, for sure,” said Charpentier, the master of understatement. “Kevin was very strong, he pushed me but this is normal, and it was a home race for Kevin as well. I tried very hard to win today and it was a very hot race. There was a lot of spinning from the rear, but the bike was very good today, even if the Yamaha was very close. It will be necessary to work extra hard for the next race in Europe, in Valencia. It was a very good weekend here, two wins in the season so far.”

At only 19-years-old, and as a Phillip Island rookie, Tiberio could have been forgiven for adopting a gentle touch in his first race, but his cool-headed aggression delivered him an outstanding result.

"After I had to miss Qatar,” said Tiberio, “this was my first race of the year. I qualified OK on the second row, but the race was much harder. Qualifying is only for one lap, but the race had 21, and it was quite hot. I wasn’t sure if I could get Harms before the finish line came up but I got on the gas earlier and just managed it.”

After a great podium finish in Qatar, Sofuoglu’s Phillip Island experience proved a bitter one, but the young Turkish rider is ready to make amends.

“I tried too hard to catch the first group but I made a mistake and fell back down the order a little,” said Kenan. “There was a small gap to the leaders but I worked my way up to fifth position again, in the second group, managed to overtake another rider, and then I crashed. Not the best weekend result, but I hope I can be strong again in Valencia.”

Supersport – Yamaha Report

Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes took their first double podium finish of the year at round two of the Supersport World Championship in Philip Island.

The Australian riders were involved in a race-long battle with world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), with the two R6 riders breaking the lap record in the opening stages as they applied pressure to the Frenchman. Parkes demonstrated the new R6’s speed by setting a new lap record on lap three, just minutes after Curtain had lowered Katsuaki Fujiwara’s three year old record. Curtain passed Charpentier at MG corner to take the lead on lap five. However the two Yamaha riders succumbed to rear end traction problems in the later stages of the race, allowing Charpentier to take the win, while the Yamaha men rode sensibly to bring their machines home for valuable championship points, Curtain in second and Parkes third.

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