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A few hours south of Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria, Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a ribbon of tarmac standing alone by the sea. High speed, flowing and technical, it has been the stage for some of the greatest two-wheeled races in recent history. This weekend will see the track once more beckon the fastest and bravest to tackle the 12 corners and undulating layout on the way to the final push towards the finish line, reaching sixth gear as the track seems to disappear down the Gardner Straight and over the edge of the world.

2016 sees the dawn of a new era in WorldSBK: Race 1 will now be held on Saturday. To make the weekend of a WorldSBK Round as action-packed as possible, the top class will now face each other down on both Saturday and Sunday, with Friday times providing them with a shot at entry to the Tissot-Superpole 2 session to fight for the top positions on the grid. In addition, all other riders will now compete in Tissot-Superpole 1, ensuring that the fight for grid positions will be more exciting than ever. 

Last year saw Jonathan Rea race a Kawasaki ZX-10R around Phillip Island for the first time. After a long record with Honda and no wins at the Island, Rea was nevertheless confident aboard his new Ninja. He knew victory was more than a possibility, telling his team he hadn’t joined the team to come fifth; he’d joined Kawasaki to win, and that he did. His first victory of 2015 was also the first in what would go on to prove a record-breaking run at the start of the season. This year, the target is less in front of the reigning Champion and more on his back.

Sporting the number 1 plate for the first time, Rea is the man to beat and wants it to stay that way. 2016, however, sees a new era in WorldSBK with a new weekend schedule and new rivals to boot: Nicky Hayden, 2006 MotoGP World Champion and MotoGP Legend, joins the WorldSBK paddock for a new challenge, hoping to do the double and further cement his place in history as a winner of both titles. The man Rea replaced at the top, Sylvain Guintoli, looks to win back his crown aboard the new Yamaha YZF R1 as the Japanese manufacturer returns to WorldSBK with the bike that took victory first time out in the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hours. Alex Lowes, 2013 British Superbike Champion, lines up alongside the 2014 WorldSBK Champion on the Yamaha; his new bike one he claims to already have an affinity with. And Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano, the Ducati duo with Aruba.it Racing, hope to take their title challenge a step further after coming so close in 2015: Davies, the only man who stood in between Rea and the title by the time WorldSBK got to Sepang last year, has taken the 1199 Panigale R from podium hopeful to proven race winner. And Giugliano, fast as previously proven, starts the season with a point to prove; healthy after a 2015 marred by injury.

Then there’s the newer kids on the block and their rookie replacements: Jordi Torres, rookie last year and winning his first WorldSBK race in Qatar, moves from an Aprilia to a factory supported BMW alongside German talent Markus Reiterberger at Althea BMW. Rookie Reiterberger, the youngest rider to line up full time in 2016, comes from national glory at home to a whole new challenge at world level. Flying Dutchman Michael Van Der Mark, 2014 WorldSSP Champion and 3 times on the podium last year in his rookie season, looks to maintain his own trajectory and cement himself at the top alongside new teammate Nicky Hayden. Home hopeful Josh Brookes returns, now onboard a BMW, to partner Grand Prix winner Karel Abraham as the Czech rider moves to WorldSBK from MotoGP. Australian Brookes, who has previously raced in both WorldSBK and WorldSSP, moves up from British Superbikes as the reigning Champion in the Milwaukee team with whom he won the BSB crown. Also confirmed is Alex De Angelis, two-time Moto2 winner at Phillip Island, who recovers from a near career-ending crash at Motegi during the Japanese GP last year to find a fresh challenge as IodaRacing switch from the sister MotoGP paddock. Alongside him on their Aprilia machines is young Italian talent and STK1000 Cup winner Lorenzo Savadori.

And then there's the man on the other side of the Kawasaki garage: Tom Sykes.

2013 WorldSBK Champion Sykes, who joined KRT in 2010, struggled through much of 2015 with a Ninja he wasn’t immediately comfortable on. Unable to match the pace of his teammate in the latter stages of races except at Donington Park, where he showed another flash of the brilliance that has seen him become a reference point in WorldSBK and won both races, Sykes however knows that a difficult year ending in a third place still places him firmly in the higher echelons of WorldSBK glory. Fastest through the majority of preseason testing, 2016 sees the Yorkshireman look to win back what he believes is rightfully his: the WorldSBK crown.

The winner of the first race of the year often takes that crown. Phillip Island will see Rea attempt to defend his for the first time in 2016 as the lights go out and the new dawn arrives: WorldSBK Round 1, Saturday the 27th of February at 04:00 GMT.

Keep track of all the action on the free Live Experience App and on WorldSBK.com, with live streaming and timing to make sure you never miss a lap.