Bird strike fails to slow flying Corser.

Troy Corser put his local knowledge to work on the first day of the Foggy Petronas Racing test at Phillip Island.

The team says the Australian former world champ was setting lap times that were quicker than his best qualifying times of his previous visit, in 2001, within just six laps of action at the coastal circuit near Melbourne.

However, no exact lap times were released to the media making comparisons with last year's WSBK race pace impossible.

Nevertheless, under a cloudy morning sky, which sent temperatures plummeting from the sweltering heat of the previous day, Corser was clearly pleased with the new package at his disposal. He was also able to brush off a skirmish with a local seagull, which didn't fare quite as well as the rider!

"We have got new engines out here and they have a lot more power and better grip. I surprised myself at how quickly I got down to the times I did," revealed Corser. "The new slipper clutch is working well and we did some work on the mapping, which also helped. So, hopefully, there is a lot more to come as I wasn't really pushing. It was also good to see that we didn't have to make radical set-up changes from the last test at Valencia, which is a very different circuit, which proves the chassis is working well."

Team-mate James Haydon quickly got to grips with the circuit to end the day on a positive note on his FP1.

"There was no point in me pushing too hard to try and match Troy round here on the first day," he acknowledged. "It took a while to get into my rhythm but I ended up with 12 quick laps in a row which was good to end the day on a positive note."

While things may have been running smoothly on track, two FPR team members found themselves locked out of their Hotel rooms after leaving their keys behind at a Reception that wasn't used to working Foggy Petronas Racing hours.

But, in the face of spending the night sleeping on the beach, one resourceful team member (to remain nameless) managed to use a breakfast table knife to work the door lock...!