Ducati narrowly leads Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha in World Superbike title chase

“Things are obviously getting better and better,” said Barros after his second podium of the day. “I lost a little bit of concentration when Troy Corser crashed right in front of me, and I could not avoid him. I was afraid that I injured him, but I was told he was OK. But in this moment I could not avoid hitting him. I had some good fights today, especially with Haga. I really enjoyed today’s races, and to get two podiums was great for our team at this stage.”

Fabrizio ran off the track in race one, and finished the second lap dead last, which explained the discrepancy in his race one and two results.

“My rear tyre was finished five laps before the end of race one,” said Michel. “I had the same problem in race two, but without the earlier problem, I kept my position better, and managed the lack of grip. I am 80% happy but for sure I must have more feeling with the bike in a short space of time.”

Chili was philosophical about his Phillip Island experiences, as he scored a 16th and a 14th in difficult circumstances.

“It was very taxing in race one because the bike had a lot of chatter,” said Chili. “It felt very hard and operating the clutch was very difficult for so many laps in a row, considering my broken finger on my left hand. That meant that I was completely finished before the end of race two.”

Muggeridge was blunt in summation of his latest race weekend, but knows that all the indications are for better performances quite soon.

“A terrible weekend in the office, but at least in the second race we had the bike a lot better,” said Muggeridge. “We made a bit of a mess on Friday so we had to catch up all weekend. Even though it was a crash from someone else that took me out of race two, I can walk away confident for the next few. The bike is a lot better now so we can do it for sure.”

The first European round of the year will be at Valencia, on 23 April.

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