Briton Leon Haslam ended the first day of the Infront Motor Sports Phillip Island World Superbike tests with the third fastest lap just behind Carlos Checa (Ducati) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati).

Despite missing his flight due to a snowbound Birmingham airport, and only arriving in the early hours of this morning, Sylvain Guintoli managed to stay awake all day and finished a very creditable 12th.

Leon Haslam - 3rd, 1:32.484:

“I am really happy because we got through a lot of stuff and also managed to work through some of the tyres that we may use in next weekend’s race. I feel we’ve got a good bike set-up and good ideas which directions to take tomorrow and it has all been very positive so far.

“Phillip Island is always hard on tyres because there are so many left-handers, so you really have to choose your tyres carefully. The teamwork today has been very good and we are all getting along great. Tomorrow we’ll set up the two bikes the same and then do a back-to-back test using different tyres.”

Sylvain Guintoli - 12th, 1:33.190:

“I felt fine in the morning session, but the afternoon one was a bit of a struggle towards the end. My flight was cancelled because the airport was more or less closed and so I only arrived this morning. But, I like this track and I like riding this bike at this track, so I enjoyed myself despite the jet-lag. I felt very comfortable on the bike today and now I just want to race it!”

Sunday test results: 1 Checa (ESP-Ducati) 1:31.959, 2 Fabrizio (ITA-Ducati) 1:32.349, 3 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki Alstare) 1:32.484, 4 Haga (JPN-Ducati) 1:32.518, 5 Rea (GBR-Honda) 1:32.544, 6 Byrne (GBR-Ducati) 1:32.671, 12 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki Alstare) 1:33.190.