The 2024 FIM Supersport World Championship season is just days away from firing up and at the test on Monday, there’s already a major headline. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) was able to lap under Andrea Locatelli’s all-time lap record, with the new track surface at Phillip Island seeing times tumble before the weekend has even got underway. Setting a 1’31.881, he was just less than a tenth ahead of the opposition but topped both the morning and the afternoon session.

Setting 98 laps throughout the day, it was a voyage of discovery for Montella on day one, with the #55 enjoying the new surface. Having done a race simulation, he already went two seconds quicker over the course of it than last year. Chipping away throughout, the Italian – who took a first race win of his career back in 2022 with Kawasaki on ‘The Island’ – finished on top but it’s not the domination that it seems, with less than a tenth of a second margin after both sessions.

Speaking at the end of the day, Montella recapped his test: “It was great! We enjoyed the new tarmac a lot. We worked a lot on race pace and tried to do a time attack. I’m happy because it was unexpected; I found a good feeling and good pace with the bike. There was a lot of grip; from last year’s race pace, I think I went 2s quicker than last year and it’s good tarmac for sure.”

Continuing, talking about his preparation for the first round of the 2024 season, the 24-year-old said: “Now, we need to rest because today we did a lot of laps. We’ll eat well and enjoy this island. I saw a lot of riders faster in this test: Caricasulo, Huertas, Manzi, Schroetter, Oncu, a lot! Let’s see but I hope to stay where I am and enjoy the weekend and the start of the season. I like this circuit; we were fast last year but in Race 1, I broke my collarbone. I hope this year is better than 2023 and we’ll try to do our best!”

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