Tom Sykes got his 2012 World Superbike campaign off to a good start, topping the timesheets after the first day of testing at the private WSBK test at Phillip Island. The Provec Kawasaki rider ended the day ahead of reigning World Champion Carlos Checa, and Aprilia's new recruit Eugene Laverty, while the two BMWs of Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam took spots 4 and 5.
Without any unofficial timing, several versions of the timesheets were circulating, based on various sources from the teams - GPOne.com has a timesheet showing two of the sets of times supplied. According to the official World Superbike website, sources inside the Althea Ducati team said Checa matched Sykes' pace of 1:33.0, despite the Ducati having had a weight penalty of 6kg imposed as part of the performance-balancing rule changes made over the winter. Checa's day was brought to an end when the Spaniard encountered what were described as "large waterfowl" crossing the track, which Checa just managed to miss. Less lucky was John Hopkins: the Fixi Crescent Suzuki rider highsided off at Turn 2, breaking a bone in his right hand, just weeks after having a finger on the same hand amputated due to complications from a previous fracture.
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