Behind the shutter in Australia – Preparations at full throttle!
Take a glimpse at the work going on behind the scenes in preparation for the weekend
Welcome to the opening round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship! Riders and teams have flocked to a land Down Under and are now all geared up and ready to go, excited to see where everyone stands after a few months of grueling testing. Much is going on behind the scenes today – we’ll give you the inside scoop through the lens of our WorldSBK photographers.
The teams with new machines may be more excited or nervous than the rest, as you can see from this Ducati which is already set to exit the pits. Cool your engines guys, it’s still Thursday!
But on a more serious note, it’s a big moment for everyone in the paddock, starting with suppliers like Akrapovic who will have worked exhaustively to provide the best parts for the weekend.
Same goes for new riders like Álvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati), who are now less than two days away from rubbing shoulders on a WorldSBK machine for the first time.
For others the experience is as enjoyable as it was the first day. Some guys have spent 10-plus years in the series, yet still feel giddy with delight at the sight of the opening track (no points for guessing who these gloves belong to).
Mechanics are amongst the hardest workers in this or any championship. It’s often said that having a good foundation back in the garage is as important as having the skills on track and getting dirty all year round – as we can see from this Kawasaki technician – is key to success.
It’s an intricate, excruciatingly complicated job – and let’s not forget, potentially dangerous too. Safety, in the form of gloves or other protection, always comes first.
This weekend things are of course a tad different, with much going on outside the team garages, including the anticipated championship launch.
But you can check all that out around our website; here it’s all about the hard work going on where the garage doors are down and only the eyes of mechanics – and worldsbk.com – can see.
By the end of today all the parts will be ready and – to steal a phrase from our brothers on four wheels – it will be time to put pedal to the metal.
Follow all the action from the Yamaha Finance Australian Round thanks to WorldSBK VideoPass.
