World Superbike riders were amazed to find such a high level of grip on the Chang International Circuit’s hot tarmac — especially after last year’s PR disaster.

Back then, the organisers had re-laid two sections of asphalt – without notifying the FIM or Dorna – and the result was so slippery and treacherous the riders opted to avoid them altogether, which resulted in weird lines and embarrassment all round.

Despite no work being done since then, the hastily patched pieces of tarmac have improved with time and use, and bedded in so well that riders were able to use all areas of the track with little or no change in feel. There was even no degradation of grip despite rain of biblical proportions on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

“I didn’t really notice a difference; I just ran over it and the grip is really good,” Red Bull Honda’s Nicky Hayden said after the first practice session. “The track is quite a lot faster than last year already.”

Proof that all the circuit was offering good grip came from the first two sessions on Friday. Jonathan Rea (KRT) piled in with a first session 1m33.742s, then a 1m33.573s, both of which were better than the existing race lap record. The Brit then fired in a new track best 1m32.997s (better than Superpole on qualifying tyres from any previous race) in Friday’s FP3 and went quicker again in Superpole 2 with a 1m32.957s set on race tyres.

By Gordon Ritchie