The GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team got off to a superb start on Friday despite changeable weather at the opening round of the 2018 FIM Supersport World Championship at Phillip Island. Reigning WorldSSP Champion Lucas Mahias put in a dominant performance to top the combined timesheets by 0.400s after setting a 1:31.130 in the morning's dry FP1 session before a damp FP2 saw most riders fail to improve their times in the afternoon. His teammate Federico Caricasulo also impressed in the tricky conditions as he finished in fifth overall with a best time of 1:31.827, set in FP1, 0.724s off the pace of his teammate.