WSBK test times from Phillip Island

THE WORLD Superbike paddock has commenced their two day 'unofficial' test at Phillip Island before the official test on the 18th and 19th of February and it's Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty who's proving the man to beat.

With no official timing in place, these times are to be taken with a pinch of salt. Leon Camer looks to be on form with the second quickest time and hot on his heels are the Pata Honda pairing of Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam. Sylvain Guintoli put in a strong show in sixth, closely followed by hard-charging rookie Jules Cluzel.

Ducati have a lot of ground to make up on the established rivals, but despite being at least a season down in terms of development both Ayrton Badovini and Max Neukirchner proved the new Panigale is already within striking distance.

Tom Sykes suffered a violent crash early in the day and didn't complete the test due to a suspected wrist injury.

As the World Superbikes start to pester MotoGP laptimes, new owners Dorna want to distance MotoGP from the production-based class and so this year all WSB bikes will feature stickers that look like the headlights from a production bike.

World Superbikes 'unofficial' test times from Phillip Island

1. Eugene Laverty    Aprilia Racing RSV4 1m 31.7s
2. Leon Camier    Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 31.9s
3. Jonathan Rea    Pata Honda CBR1000RR 1m 32.0s
4. Leon Haslam    Pata Honda CBR1000RR 1m 32.0s
5. Marco Melandri    BMW GoldBet S1000RR 1m 32.2s
6. Sylvain Guintoli    Aprilia Racing RSV4 1m 32.3s
7. Jules Cluzel    Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 32.5s
8. Davide Giugliano    Althea Aprilia RSV4 1m 32.7s
9. Ayrton Badovini    Alstare Ducati 1199R 1m 32.8s
10. Max Neukirchner    MR Ducati 1199R 1m 32.9s
11. Chaz Davies    BMW GoldBet S1000RR 1m 33.0s
12. Loris Baz    Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 33.2s
13. Michel Fabrizio    Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 33.7s
14. Tom Sykes    Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 34.5s