The weather finally turned halfway decent for a test, with the sun out and temperatures rising for the World Superbike test at Phillip Island in Australia. The improved conditions saw Max Biaggi once again top the - admittedly very limited - timesheets with a lap of 1'32.3, but 2010 World Superbike champion - out on an Aprilia bearing the #1 plate - was only a couple of tenths faster than both Yamaha's Eugene Laverty and Biaggi's Aprilia teammate Leon Camier. Slowest man of the day was Laverty's teammate Marco Melandri, but even Melandri was just three tenths off Biaggi's fastest .
Biaggi and Camier spent the day testing the 2011 Ohlins forks once again, as well as a new swingarm, fuel tank and engine update, aimed at smoothing power delivery. The pair also tested new Pirellis, though whether those tires will be ready for the season opener on February 27th remains to be seen.
The day was spoiled by a couple of crashes, both happily ending without serious injury. Marco Melandri crashed and hurt a finger, though that did not slow him down, while Leon Camier came away from his crash unhurt, only to suffer a bird strike, the Englishman hitting one of Phillip Island's ubiquitous seagulls at high speed. That incident was painful enough for Camier to call an early halt to the test, after Camier suffered swelling in his arm
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