The Yamaha Finance round of the Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) is always a favourite on our calendar and this year produced some fascinating action across the race week. Here are just some of CycleOnline.com.au’s observations from the event.

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6. Honda’s hard time:
You had to feel for Red Bull Honda duo Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl at the opener, unable to make any major impact aboard the new CBR1000RR SP2. Hayden went 11-DNF, while Bradl went 15-15, which wasn’t what they’d ordered to start out with a brand new bike. There’s work to do, but the base should enable them to eventually fare better than what the old bike did.

5. New grid, same results:
There was a lot of interest in the new grid format introduced for this year, however as expected, it made little difference in the final results. The opening race podium finishers were bumped back to row three, while after finishing fourth in race one, Alex Lowes started from pole. It’s a bit confusing, but adds interest nonetheless.

4. Aussies shine in WorldSSP:
The local fans had plenty to celebrate on Sunday afternoon when the drama-packed World Supersport race resulted in three Aussies finishing inside the top 10. Wildcard Ant West starred once again in third, but not far in arrears were series regulars Aiden Wagner (seventh) and Lachlan Epis (10th), both sealing career-best results.

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3. Brookes battles on:
It was a tough, tough week for Josh Brookes competing as a wildcard, on the 2015 YZF-R1 that he took-out the British title aboard. He and the ER Motorsports squad experienced all kinds of hiccups along the way, but 12th in the final race was a nice way to finish the weekend off. He’s already headed to the UK after a massive past month or more.

2. That WorldSSP finish:
It doesn’t get any tighter than that finish in World Supersport at the Island, when Robbie Rolfo edged out Lucas Mahias by just 0.001s! In the end Mahias actually received a one-second penalty for leaning on Rolfo down the straight, but the results stayed the same regardless. Aussie Ant West was right behind them in P3.

1. Tension builds between Rea and Davies:
You could see the frustration of Chaz Davies following both races at Phillip Island, unable to stop Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki, but insisting he’s in it for the ‘long-game’. The pair expressed differences of opinion following race one when Davies claimed the Kawasaki was faster, but aside from that, expect them to do their talking on-track more often than not.