The new season got underway with the opening Free Practice session for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship being interfered with by the weather. The track started wet and although parts of the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit dried up throughout the 50-minute session, parts of the track remained wet. Mastering the conditions was Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati), as he was a full second clear of the chasing pack.

Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) finished second in the session with Leon Haslam (Team HRC) putting the new Honda third and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) finishing in fourth. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was fifth – meaning five manufacturers were in the top five.

Reigning Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) finished in sixth place in the opening practice session with American Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) in seventh place. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) was eighth ahead of Chilean Maximilian Scheib (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) and Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team).

Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) and teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu were two riders who did not set a time in the session, along with Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati), Leon Camier (Barni Racing Team), Sandro Cortese (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN).

Top six from FP1 below, full results here!

1. Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) 1’41.195
2. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +1.009
3. Leon Haslam (Team HRC) +1.073
4. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +1.343
5. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +2.095
6. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +2.128

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