There were cloudy skies and cool temperatures at Phillip Island today as the first WorldSBK round of the 2024 season continued.
Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Tito Rabat was on track for practice yesterday, working hard to set up his Ninja ZX-10RR KRT Factory Replica and setting a best lap of 1’31”341. Back on track this morning for FP3, the Spaniard improved (1’30”047) before tackling the Superpole, which established the starting grid for the afternoon’s race. Tito further improved on his lap time (1’29”809) to close twentieth.
As a result, he lined up on row seven of the grid for the afternoon’s race, which ran on a dry track but under cloudy skies. The twenty-lap race also involved a mandatory tyre change between laps nine and eleven.
Rabat made a good start and was able to make up ground early on. His tyre change went perfectly and, once back on track, Tito got into a good rhythm and was able to cross the line in eighteenth place, not far from the points zone.
Tomorrow will see the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider back on track for the Superpole Race and Race 2.
Phillip Island – Australia
Superbike World Championship
Superpole: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Iannone (Ducati) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Aegerter (Yamaha) – 5) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 6) Locatelli (Yamaha) ……… 20) Rabat (Kawasaki)
Race 1 – 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 3) Iannone (Ducati) – 4) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 5) Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 6) Aegerter (Yamaha) ……… 18) Rabat (Kawasaki)
Tito Rabat
“We are constantly improving but are not yet where we should be. In race 1 I was unlucky because I wasn’t able to overtake a slower rider and that caused me to lose contact with the group immediately ahead. Once I got past him, we touched and I came close to crashing. The tyre change went perfectly, and I want to thank my team. We’re losing ground through the fast section of the track and are working on the electronics to try and remedy this. We’ve taken some good steps forward, but we need to continue to work to be able to achieve the goals we’ve set ourselves.”
