Melandri fastest as Rea, Sykes both fall

Click here for the combined results from the opening day of the World Superbike Phillip Island test

Marco Melandri has topped the opening day of the final pre-season World Superbike test at Phillip Island before the Australian circuit hosts the 2018 season opener while both factory Kawasaki riders suffered crashes at the same corner.

Melandri, a former MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc world championship race winner at the Australian circuit, has never won a World Superbike race at the track but has started the opening week of the 2018 season on the front foot with a fastest lap of 1m 30.726s with his Aruba.it Racing Ducati.

In typically tricky conditions at Phillip Island with heavy overnight rain leading to strong winds a number of riders tentatively got up to speed but times duly tumbled to edge towards the best efforts from 2017.

Both Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea suffered separate falls at turn 11 but were able to walk away uninjured, while the defending World Superbike champion did fail to set a timed lap in the second session, but their early lap times were enough to hand them second and third respectively on the combined timesheet.

Leon Camier continued to impress on his Red Bull Honda debut by setting the fourth fastest time while his Ten Kate Racing-run squad continued to stick with the Cosworth electronics despite a mooted switch to Magneti Marelli over the winter.

Michael van der Mark led the Pata Yamaha charge in fifth place, one of the few riders to set his best lap time in the second session, to go ahead of top independent team rider Xavi Fores for Barni Ducati.

Eugene Laverty claimed seventh on the combined times for Milwaukee Aprilia in front of Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes and MV Agusta’s Jordi Torres as the latter also suffered a nasty off but was declared okay.

Chaz Davies endured a difficult day focusing on race set-up with his factory Ducati down in 10^th place narrowly ahead of sole Athea BMW rider Loris Baz.