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As best rookie, Dominique Aegerter impressively performed on the second day of the official test immediately before the World Championship opener.

Dominique Aegerter has once again impressed with his ability to adapt quickly to new conditions during the final preparations before the first real showdown this weekend at the beautiful Phillip Island Circuit in South Australia. After a total of around 150 laps over the past two days in beautiful summer weather, the Yamaha rider finished the test in sixth place overall and once again as the best newcomer in the class. He already achieved this feat at the winter test in Jerez de la Frontera just under a month ago.

In the final session of the test on Tuesday afternoon, the 32-year-old two-time Supersport champion and overall winner of the 2022 MotoE World Cup from the canton of Bern set a blow with second-fastest lap time in his time chase. This weekend sees the start of the twelve-event FIM Superbike World Championship 2023. After two free practice sessions and Superpole, which decides the starting grid, Saturday afternoon will see the very first battle for points this year.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF R1)
P6 - 1´30.739 +0.467

"I am very happy about my lap time. The SC0 tyre offers a lot of grip for a few laps and apart from that it is incredible fun to ride the powerful Yamaha R1 at Phillip Island. For me, the last two days were enormously important to test at the same track before the actual season opener. It was also helpful to get to know my new package in warmer temperatures. Although it was a bit windier today than yesterday, we were able to work well again. We paid attention to different areas, tried different parts and used the new tyres too. Despite our strong conclusion to the test, there is still a lot of work ahead of us and we still have a lot to learn to keep up with the front runners. It is mainly about race pace, because we lost a bit too much time in our race simulation this afternoon. That means the process is not quite complete done in terms of my changeover."

"I still have to understand the bike and the tyres much better and adapt my riding style further. But when it comes down to a super-fast lap, we are already there. It is difficult to find a main reason why we struggled a bit in our long run today. A lot of things come together in a test, because even in a run like this there is a lot of experimentation with the setting. I also did not know how much I could push over the long distance. So maybe I started a little too cautiously. But once I found a rhythm, I was able to keep the pace consistent, even if I could not go faster. But I am convinced that if I adapt my riding style even better to the superbike and we also get the setting better, then we will also make up these tenths. The most important thing before the first race weekend is that we have collected a lot of good data again. Especially with regard to the electronics, which are so extensive in this category. In this respect, I still have a lot to learn in order to understand everything. But I think we are on a good path. That is why I am already looking forward to the first race weekend."

Combined Practice Times WorldSBK Test Phillip Island:
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´30.272
2 Andrea LOCATELLI / ITA / Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´30.344 +0.72
3 Michael Ruben RINALDI / ITA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´30.501 +0.229
6 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´30.739 +0.467