Image: Rusty Colvin.

It was the first day back at school for Australian Superbike and Supersport riders as they tackled their first pre-season test of the year at Victoria’s Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit today.

A selection of teams are preparing for the first race meeting of 2014, which is next weekend’s Phillip Island Championship, to be run in conjunction with the opening round of the QBE round of the FIM Superbike World Championship season opener.

Taking part in the test included Team Honda Racing’s Jamie Stauffer, Josh Hook and the 2013 Australian Superbike Champion Wayne Maxwell, who made his return to Honda today (click here for earlier story).

For Maxwell it was a welcome return to riding the Honda and explained it as like “slipping back into a old pair of shoes”. This was Maxwells’s first ride back on a road bike since last year’s MotoGP support races at the Island.

“Over one year Team Honda has made some great improvements to the bike since I have been away,” said Maxwell. “I’m just trying to find my feet as the first ride of the year is always a bit rusty let alone when there are so many changes.

“Also my mechanics Warren and Gary, they’re also trying to find their way with the bike as well as its unfamiliar to them. But it’s been a good start and I’m happy with it, let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Fellow Honda rider Josh Hook debuted the brand new Honda CBR1000RR SP alongside Stauffer, happy with earlier progress and all three were circulating on Pirelli tyres.

“Today was awesome on the all new Honda CBR1000RR SP model,” Hook said. “The bike worked really well straight out of the box. We didn’t have to change much for it to be a fairly competitive package. I’m pretty stoked with how today went, we made a big step forward and where not too far off from what we did at MotoGP last year on the Superbike.

“I think we have a pretty strong package for this year, so I’m over the moon to be working with new Honda and the same team. Everyone is working really well. I think tomorrow will be another good day if this weather holds out and will be able to go faster again.”

Also riding was Next Gen Motorsports BMW rider Glenn Allerton, who was riding with an injured right knee after a crash at Phillip Island late last year while testing.

Other Superbike/Prostock riders on track were Phil Lovett, Mike Jones, Sean Condon and now Kawasaki-mounted Ben Henry.

While a raft of Supersport riders were having a ‘dip’ as well, which saw Michael Blair, Aiden Wagner, Callum Spriggs, Hudson Pitt and Victorian Ryan Taylor (pictured), the Oz Wildcard Racing rider who will line up on the World Supersport grid next weekend as a wildcard rider.

Taylor and his team were working on suspension setup, engine tuning and also the new data logging system. This is a whole new area for Taylor as he has never used data logging before, but by the end of the day he said he made a lot of positive steps forward and is looking forward to tomorrow’s test.

“Not a bad day at all” said Taylor. “With new things on the bike it takes a while to get your head around things but the whole Oz Wildcard Racing Team are working really hard and I see us only getting better for tomorrow.

“I can’t thank Wayne Howe from Rider Logic enough for his support with the data logging and of course Stewart Winton for all his hard work that he has been putting in.”

Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow including lap times as CycleOnline.com.au will again be live at the circuit during the first major shakedown of the season.