Tom Sykes (above) was ultimately the man of the moment in two days of Superbike testing at Phillip Island, the Kawasaki man holding on to the top slot in today's warmer afternoon session that saw only two riders improve. Sykes's time of 1 minute 31.648 seconds remains the benchmark as the riders now gear up for the opening round of the 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship this coming weekend.

Second place overall went to 2011 champion Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati), who ended up just a whisker behind. The Spaniard set the quickest time of the warmer afternoon session and then packed up for the rest of the day. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) was third on another Ducati 1098R, not far off the pace of the top 2, while Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike) was the only other rider to get into the 1 minute 32 seconds bracket.

Primed and ready to go at the weekend, Ducati's Carlos Checa

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) showed remarkable consistency as he took the fifth slot, while Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad) failed to improve on day 2 and his time set yesterday was good enough for sixth. Superbike rookie Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati) crashed harmlessly for the fourth time in this test but was impressive enough for seventh, while Leon Camier (Crescent Suzuki) completed the top 8.

Sydney’s Josh Brookes (above) drafted in to replace injured American John Hopkins in the Crescent Fixi Suzuki team looks to have the job ahead of him at the weekend. Brookes will be joined by compatriots Mark Aitchison (BMW), David Johnson (BMW) and Bryan Staring (Kawasaki) in the WSBK races.

Meanwhile Leon Haslam, who crashed on Monday, has returned to hospital: the doctors are deciding if and how to operate on his right leg tibia fracture.

Broc Parkes in action at  Phillip Island

Australian Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) ended up at the top of the results sheet after two days of World Supersport testing with a time of 1 minute 34.585 seconds. On aggregate over four sessions on Monday and Tuesday Parkes was able to finish ahead of the Kawasakis of Kenan Sofuoglu (Deltafin Lorenzini) and Fabien Foret (Intermoto Step). Britain's Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) also put in a good overall run, after going quickest in the morning session.

The final session saw the red flags come out for Russian rider Vladimir Leonov who suffered a few cuts and bruises to his right elbow and left ankle in a crash but the Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha man will make the race on Sunday.

The championship warm-up threw up a number of surprises. The first was 23-year-old Frenchman Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda), who has moved over from the mid-class GP category this year, and who was fifth quickest. The second was Vittorio Iannuzzo, back up amongst the front-runners once again with sixth quickest time on a three-cylinder Power Team by Suriano Triumph.

After five days of testing - private and official - the Superbike and Supersport teams and riders now have a chance to wind down before opening round action begins on Friday.

World Superbike Times (Monday-Tuesday)
1 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'31.648
2 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'31.652
3 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'31.800
4 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.913
5 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'32.034
6 33 Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.232
7 34 Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.319
8 2 Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'32.320
9 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.347
10 91 Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.397
11 17 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.540
12 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.605
13 59 Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.746
14 4 Aoyama H. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.910
15 121 Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.911
16 86 Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.948
17 87 Zanetti L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.136
18 19 Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'33.358
19 44 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'33.385
20 67 Staring B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'33.418
21 25 Brookes J. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'33.623
22 18 Aitchison M. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'34.169
23 35 De Rosa R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.341

World Superbike records at Phillip Island
Fastest Lap: Troy Corser (Yamaha) 1'31"826 (2007)
Best Lap: Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1'30"882 (2011)

World Supersport Times (Monday-Tuesday)
1 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.585
2 54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'34.604
3 99 Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'34.866
4 11 Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.957
5 16 Cluzel J. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 1'35.131
6 31 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 1'35.362
7 32 Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'35.701
8 34 Quarmby R. (RSA) Honda CBR600RR 1'35.824
9 38 Nemeth B. (HUN) Honda CBR600RR 1'35.873
10 19 Szkopek P. (POL) Honda CBR600RR 1'36.009
11 25 Baldolini A. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 1'36.085
12 20 Scholtz M. (RSA) Honda CBR600RR 1'36.217
13 65 Leonov V. (RUS) Yamaha YZF R6 1'36.256
14 10 Toth I. (HUN) Honda CBR600RR 1'36.410
15 52 Pesek L. (CZE) Honda CBR600RR 1'36.439
16 55 Roccoli M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'36.513
17 22 Tamburini R. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'36.559
18 3 Metcher J. (AUS) Yamaha YZF R6 1'36.798
19 69 Jezek O. (CZE) Honda CBR600RR 1'36.832
20 64 Day J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'36.985
21 40 Jessopp M. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 1'37.140
22 87 Marconi L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'37.146
23 98 Lanusse R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'37.679
24 61 Menghi F. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'37.703
25 13 Lombardi D. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 1'38.057
26 8 Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'39.507
27 27 Caiani T. (SUI) Honda CBR600RR 1'39.856
28 33 Polzer Y. (AUT) Yamaha YZF R6 1'39.938

Supersport records at Phillip Island
Fastest Lap: Fabien Foret (Honda) 1'34.941 (168.485 km/h) - 2011
Best Lap: Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1'33.847 (170.512 km/h) - 2010