News

After a complicated start to the season’s opening race weekend, Dominique Aegerter was well on his way to scoring World Championship points in Saturday's race at picturesque Phillip Island when his bike let him down two corners before the finish line.

The first race day of the new season did not bring Dominique Aegerter any luck. However, the day had started promisingly for the 35-year-old Kawasaki rider from the canton of Bern, and not just because of the consistently good conditions. In his fastest lap during this morning’s warm-up session, Aegerter broke the 1´33 barrier for the first time this week and finished in P15, less than a second behind the fastest time.

After this encouraging progress, he went into the afternoon race feeling confident. Starting from 23rd place, however, it took him a few laps to get past some stubborn opponents. But the longer the race went on, the better Aegerter got, until he had moved into the points scoring position a few laps before the checkered flag. On the final lap, he raced in 14th place when the bike turned off. Using the last drive, Aegerter coasted through the last few corners and finally brought his bike across the finish line under his own power.

The second race of the weekend will take place at the same time on Sunday. Early risers will need to set their alarm clocks for 4:30 a.m. CET.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636)
Grid position 23 / Race 1: P23

«Of course, it was not the race we had expected. But we gathered a lot of information in each of the 18 laps. Unfortunately, we had some bad luck in the last lap when the bike suddenly turned off. We are still investigating what caused the problem. Apart from that, we are confident because we are getting closer to the top in terms of lap times with practically every run. But we still have a lot of laps to complete with the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636. We just have to ride and rack up the miles to improve. Even if the results do not show it, we are not that far off. The Supersport category with the current bikes is very competitive. Tomorrow, we have another chance. During warm-up, we will check everything to make sure everything is working. In the race, I will give it my all to get a good result and score my first points with Kawasaki.»

#AustralianWorldSBK - WorldSSP Warm Up 1:
1 Can ÖNCÜ / TUR / Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing / Yamaha YZF R9 / 1´32.038
2 Tom BOOTH-AMOS / GBR / PTR Triumph Factory Racing / Triumph Street Triple 765 RS / 1´32.154 +0.116
3 Philipp ÖTTL / GER / Feel Racing WorldSSP Team / Ducati Panigale V2 / 1´32.302. +0.264
…
15 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Kawasaki WorldSSP Team / Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 / 1´32.974 +0.936

#AustralianlWorldSBK - WorldSSP Race 1 (18 Laps):
1 Jaume MASIA / SPA / Orelac Racing Verdnatura / Ducati Panigale V2 / 27´57.193
2 Philipp ÖTTL / GER / Feel Racing WorldSSP Team / Ducati Panigale V2 / +5.521
3 Oli BAYLISS / AUS / PTR Triumph Factory Racing / Triumph Street Triple 765 RS / +7.266
…
23 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Kawasaki WorldSSP Team / Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 / +2´58.774

WorldSSP Standings:
1 Jaume MASIA / SPA / Ducati / 25
2 Philipp ÖTTL / GER / Ducati / 20
3 Oli BAYLISS / AUS / Triumph / 16
…
#77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Kawasaki

#AustralianWorldSBK - WorldSSP Time Schedule for Sunday Februar 22nd (CET):
00:50 - 01:00 Warm Up
04:30 Race 2 (18 Laps - 80.,010 km)