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Dominique Aegerter was one of the busiest riders at the two-day test at Phillip Island. Nevertheless, he still has a lot to do when he starts his third season in Superbike World Championship this weekend.

In contrast to the weather-related mixed tests in January in Jerez and later in Portimao, the weather gods had mercy on the riders at the end for their preparations for Superbike World Championship starting this weekend when glorious Australian summer weather returned to Phillip Island on Monday. During the break between last outing in Portimao and travelling to Australia, Dominique Aegerter had to undergo an operation on February 1st to remove a plate from his right shoulder. The operation went without complications.

On Monday and Tuesday, Aegerter had a mammoth program to complete during both days. The consistently good conditions were a help, even if the 34-year-old Yamaha rider still has some catching up to do in terms of overall performance. Not at least because of the lengthy injuries following his training accident last August.

Aegerter only managed to set decent lap times on day two. In the final session on Tuesday afternoon, he was the only rider in the high-calibre field to set his fastest lap time of the test alongside reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu. This fact is remarkable, as at this point the track had dried out again after a brief rain shower and the wind was stronger. With a gap of 1.7 seconds to the best time, the Bernese finished 17th overall.

The twelve-round FIM Superbike World Championship 2025 kicks off this weekend with its traditional opening round on the picturesque island in the south of Australia. 

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF R1)

«At our last test before the first race weekend, we had good conditions until the last session this afternoon. But the temporary change in the weather also had a positive effect, as we were able to try out the rain tyres. Apart from that, we worked through a tight program. This included many pit stops to change tyres, which are obligatory in the long races this Saturday and Sunday. In the last two days, we mainly worked on the tyres, but also on the set-up and on new parts from Yamaha, which required some comparison tests.»

«Overall, however, a bit of work is still needed. The fact that I have not ridden my race bike in recent weeks has also made itself felt. I can feel my body and of course my shoulder. We certainly need some time to catch up with the others, because we were a bit stronger in the tests here compared to last year. Hopefully we can improve between now and the weekend. We have enough data to analyze and we will do that very carefully together with the Yamaha guys. We will do everything we can to get the weekend off to a good start on Friday. Finally, I would like to thank everyone for their good work over these two days.»

Combined Practice Times WorldSBK-Test Phillip Island:
1 Nicolo BULEGA / ITA / Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´28.680 (FP3)
2 Andrea IANNONE / ITA / Team Pata GoEleven / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´29.162 +0.482 (FP3)
3 Danilo PETRUCCI / ITA / Barni Spark Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´29.179 +0.499 (FP3)
…
17 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´30.471 +1.781 (FP4)