GRT Yamaha Impress on Friday at Phillip Island

Free practice

The GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team got off to a superb start on Friday despite changeable weather at the opening round of the 2018 FIM Supersport World Championship at Phillip Island. Reigning WorldSSP Champion Lucas Mahias put in a dominant performance to top the combined timesheets by 0.400s after setting a 1:31.130 in the morning's dry FP1 session before a damp FP2 saw most riders fail to improve their times in the afternoon.

Mahias was determined to get his title defence off to the best possible start at Phillip Island and even the mixed weather could not knock the 2017 WorldSSP Champion off his stride. Morning rain saw FP1 take place on a drying track, but the 28-year-old French rider still managed to set a blistering pace on his Yamaha R6, topping the session by four-tenths of a second with a 1:33.130. Rain before the afternoon's FP2 session meant that most riders could not improve their times on a drying track, with Mahias instead focusing on finding a good setup in the wet, which could be vital with a mixed forecast for the race weekend.

His time from FP1 secured his place at the top of the combined timesheets and Mahias now heads into Saturday confident whatever the weather. Mahias automatically makes it through to Saturday's SP2.

Lucas Mahias

GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team - 1st - 1:33.103

"Today was a very good day! I finished in first overall and my pace felt really good, which is a positive sign ahead of qualifying tomorrow. The problem with Phillip Island is that the information we gained during the test is not that relevant to the race, especially in the 600 class, because the slipstream can play such a big part here and you often see maybe, seven or eight riders fighting for victory. It always goes right down to the last corner! For tomorrow, my target is to start from the front as it is better for the race, but maybe it will rain. I managed to do about ten laps in the wet today and set the fastest time, so whatever the weather I am feeling confident for tomorrow!"

Filippo Conti

GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team Manager

"The first day of practice has gone really well! Lucas put in a great performance and I am very happy as he looks really comfortable on the bike and it looks like he can do what he wants with it, which is very important to allow him to ride to his full potential. I want to thank the whole team for doing such a great job and also Yamaha for always giving us such good support that allows us to go out and be fighting at the front!"