The first round of the 2012 Superbike World Championship season was at the Phillip Island Circuit and if race one is an indication, the 2012 season should be crispy, very crispy indeed. Race one started with English rider Tom Sykes #66 on the pole, atop a Kawasaki ZX-10R.
Then 2011 World Superbike champion Carlos Checa #7 representing Spain quickly put his Ducati 1098R on point. The Roman Emperor Max Biaggi #3 then pushed his Aprilia RSV4 Factory past to the number two spot.
Soon afterwards the script was flipped when Carlos Checas back end got twitchy pushing him into a nasty high-side in the last turn on the track retiring him from the race. Rookie Davide Giugliano #34 pushed his Ducati 1098R wide, which in turn forced Leon Camier’s Suzuki GSX-R 1000 off line. This opened the door for Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama #4 to slip his Honda CBR 1000RR by both riders.
The other headline for the day was Italian Marco Melandri #33 taking his BMW S1000RR from 13th to the number two spot on the podium.
In the end Max Biaggi cruised to an easy victory in the first race of the Phillip Island WSBK Championship round. Biaggi also had the fastest lap of the first race at 1:31.785
Phillips Island Australia Race One Qualifying Results
Position | Rider | Country | Motorcycle
- Tom Sykes #66 | Great Britain | Kawasaki ZX-10R
- Max Biaggi #3 | Italy | Aprilia RSV4 Factory
- Carlos Checa #7 | Spain | Ducati 1098R
- Jakub Smrz #96 | Czech Republic | Ducati 1098R
- Sylvain Guintoli #50 | France | Ducati 1098R
- Leon Camier #2 | Great Britain | Suzuki GSX-R 1000
- Niccolò Canepa #59 | Italy | Ducati 1098R
- Jonathan Rea #65 | Great Britain | Honda CBR1000RR
- Maxime Berger #121 | France | Ducati 1098R
- Michel Fabrizio #84 | Italy | BMW S1000RR
- Eugene Laverty #58 | Ireland | Aprilia RSV4 Factory
- Leon Haslam #91 | Great Britain | BMW S1000RR
- Marco Melandri #33 | Italy | BMW S1000RR
- Davide Giugliano #34 | Italy | Ducati 1098R
Phillips Island Australia Race One Race Results
Position | Rider | Country | Motorcycle
- Max Biaggi #3 | Italy | Aprilia RSV4 Factory
- Marco Melandri #33 | Italy | BMW S1000RR
- Sylvain Guintoli #50 | France | Ducati 1098R
- Tom Sykes #66 | Great Britain | Kawasaki ZX-10R
- Jakub Smrz #96 | Czech Republic | Ducati 1098R
- Michel Fabrizio #84 | Italy | BMW S1000RR
- Jonathan Rea #65 | Great Britain | Honda CBR1000RR
- Hiroshi Aoyama #4 | Japan | Honda CBR1000RR
- Davide Giugliano #34 | Italy | Ducati 1098R
- Staring B #67 | Australia | Kawasaki ZX-10R
- Lorenzo Zanetti #87 | Italy | Ducati 1098R
- Leon Haslam #91 | Great Britain | BMW S1000RR
- Maxime Berger #121 | France | Ducati 1098R
- David Salom #44 | Spain | Kawasaki ZX-10R
2012 World Superbike Rider & Team Line-Up
- Carlos Checa #7 | Spain | Althea Racing Ducati 1098R
- Marco Melandri #33 | Italy | BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000RR
- Max Biaggi #3 | Italy | Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory
- Tom Sykes #66 |Great Britain | Althea Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R
- Eugene Laverty #58 | Ireland | Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory
- Leon Haslam #91 | Great Britain | BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000RR
- Sylvain Guintoli #50 | France | Team Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R
- Leon Camier #2 | Great Britain | Crescent Fixi Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000
- Jonathan Rea #65 | Great Britain | Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR
- Jakub Smrz #96 | Czech Republic | Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati 1098R
- Niccolò Canepa #59 | Italy | Red Devils Roma Ducati 1098R
- Maxime Berger #121 | France | Team Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R
- Michel Fabrizio #84 | Italy | BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet BMW S1000RR
- Davide Giugliano #34 | Italy | Althea Racing Ducati 1098R
- Hiroshi Aoyama #4 | Japan | Honda World Superbike Team Honda CBR1000RR
- Staring B #67 | Australia |Kawasaki ZX-10R
- Lorenzo Zanetti #87 | Italy | PATA Racing Team Ducati 1098R
- David Salom #44 | Spain | Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R
- John Hopkins #21 | USA | Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000
- Raffaele De Rosa #35 | Italy | Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda, Honda CBR1000RR
- Leandro Mercado #36 | Argentina | Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R
- Ayrton Badovini #86 | Italy | BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet BMW S1000 RR
