Image: Russell Colvin.

As the saying goes, ‘there’s no rest for the wicked’. Well that saying got put into practice yesterday as the factory YRT with YMI team and a host of Supersport riders went back to the office at Winton Motor Raceway for a shakedown test for the upcoming round of the 2014 Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship next month.

It was an up and down day in regards to the weather as on and off rain proved to be the real test for riders.

Robbie Bugden, who currently sits in eighth position in the ASC championship, posted the fastest time of the day which was a 1m24.8 unofficially, while his best time in the soaking wet weather was a 1m38.8.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Queenslander as he did hit the deck running after touching a white line with his rear wheel that sent him hurdling over the top coming out of turn three.

“It was just good to just get some laps in here,” Bugden said. “The track has a good layout, however it’s quite skinny, the ripple strips are quite high and the surface is quite bumpy, but overall it’s not too bad.”

Second to Bugden was Cru Halliday with a 1m25.5 who set out to mainly object find a good setting for the Yamaha R1 for the round. His best lap time recorded in the wet was a 1m39.8.

“The day wasn’t ideal, but we had to make the most out of what we had,” said Halliday. “The time we did on slicks was not a bad time on, considering the track was super cold and patchy.

“We didn’t even have enough time to really test enough with dry settings, but I’m confident that we can get that all sorted on the Friday practice.

“The guys at team Yamaha know what they doing, they’ve been here before and they have data to work from. I’m sure it will be a good round for us.”

Rick Olson will have to do a bit of overtime come the race weekend after not finding enough laps in the dry to find a set up nor put down a quick lap time. His dry lap time was a 1m29.1, while his wet time was 1m40.5.

Olson regards Winton as not his favourite track on the calendar, however every year he has gone to the rural country circuit it has seemed to have grown with him and believes this will be one of the team’s best shots to run at the pointy end of the field.

In Supersport it was Aaron Morris (Maxima Yamaha/YRD/Bell/Alpinestars/Watson Demolition) setting the pace lapping in around the 1m29s. Morris produced around 30-40 laps, but was not looking for lap times.

His main target was to get a feel for a few changes after making some slight tweaks from the last round to stop the front-end from tucking going into corners.

Next man on the list was Justin Di Giandomenico. Di Giandomenico guided his Indeco/Stafford Motorcycles/Wurth Australia Yamaha R6 to a total of 20 laps, doing five laps per session because of his shoulder. His main focus was to make sure his left shoulder was up for the job after dislocating it at Queensland in race two, part two of the race.

“I feel alright, but the shoulder is quite sore on the bike,” explained Di Giandomenico. “I’m happy enough with the times we have done today.” Di Giandomenico will require a shoulder reconstruction at the end of the year.

His older brother Adrian nailed a 1m30.174 lap time who is gearing up for the ASBK round next weekend at Phillip Island, which will mark his first race meeting back since the last round of the FX-Superbikes at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2012.

Aiden Wagner was pulling double duties on his Wagner Soil Testing R6 and was also behind the helm of the Oz Wildcard Racing machine doing a few laps. Wagner’s best lap time was 1m30.9 and churned out 62 laps during the day.

It was a welcome return for 20-year-old Michael Blair, who has returned to riding since hurting his left hand in a crash at the Phillip Island World Superbikes. Blair was just ‘easing’ back into the swing of things and was just trying to get as much bike time as possible and did that by completing 53 laps. He recorded a time of 1m30.854.

A very ill Will Davidson clocked a 1m31.527, while his wet lap time was in the mid-41s. To make things worse, he threw his Thomas Brother’s Toyota/Valvoline machine away twice during the day. His first crash he high sided at turn seven and copped a footpeg in his right calf in the process.

Luke Mitchell (JNL Racing/Maxima Racing Oils) did a 1m29.986. For the first part of the morning Mitchell just wanted to pack up and head home as he felt like he was just fighting the bike everywhere and couldn’t find a ‘rhythm’. He did a total of 10 laps in the dry and 25 in the wet, which was his first ever time riding the bike in wet weather conditions.

Mason Coote (Dynoverks Racing/MSC Safe Co/YRD) experienced his first-ever outing at Winton, stopping the clock with a 1m33.147.

Round four of the Swann Insurance Australasian Superbike Championship will take place at the Victorian venue on 1-3 August.

2014 Superbike test results (unofficial):
1. Robbie Bugden 1m24.8
2. Cru Halliday 1m25.5
3. Rick Olson 1m29.1

2014 Supersport test results (unofficial):
1. Aaron Morris 1m29
2. Luke Mitchell 1m29.986
3. Adrian Di Giandomenico 1m30.174
4. Justin Di Giandomenico 1m30.372
5. Michael Blair 1m30.854
6. Will Davidson 1m31.527
7. Mason Coote 1m33.147