Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Lucas Mahias is on track at Phillip Island in Australia for the twelfth and final round of the Superbike World Championship. Having had to sit out the previous Indonesian round due to minor injury sustained in a crash, the Frenchman was today given the OK by doctors to compete in the free practice sessions. Lucas has never ridden at this track with a Superbike until now and so he used the day’s first sessions to build confidence with the track. In FP1 he placed eighteenth with a 1’33”877, while the afternoon session saw Mahias improve significantly on his earlier time (1’32”720) to finish thirteenth in the day’s combined standings.
Tomorrow, Mahias will be back out for the third and final practice, followed by Superpole and Race 1.
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit – Victoria – Australia
Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Rea (Kawasaki) – 2) Bautista (Ducati) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 5) Locatelli (Yamaha) ……. 13) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Lucas Mahias
“I really struggled to adapt my riding style to the bike and track this morning as this is the first time I’m riding a Superbike here. Things picked up in the afternoon’s session and I started to understand what I need to do to improve my feeling and the performance of my Ninja. We need to continue working in this direction in tomorrow’s FP3 in preparation for Superpole and the race. I want to thank my team for all their help so far.”
