The 2026 FIM Supersport World Championship’s Official Australia Test is underway as your WorldSSP are ushered back into the boxes by the first chequered flag of the Australian Round. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) got his round Down Under off to a flying start, leading FP1. Behind him on the timesheets, home hero Oli Bayliss (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) and Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) took second and third, a promising sign of their pace ahead of this weekend.

MASIA MAKING PROGRESS: The Spanish sophomore steals P1 in the last moments

FP1 at Phillip Island brought, at long last, dry running for the WorldSSP grid to work on their machines! The teams eagerly took to the track and showed just how tight the field is shaping up to be. With 30 minutes left in the nearly two-hour session, five riders sat within half a second of P1. Jaume Masia was the fastest rider on Monday morning in Australia, the sophomore rider clocking in a 1’32.541s time as he looks to build on his 2025 third-place finish in the title race. Oli Bayliss (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) plays host to the WorldSSP field in his home country, and he represented Down Under well in FP1. His time of 1’32.885s saw him place only 0.344s off of P1 pace. Phillip Oettl’s hardworking preseason continued to bear fruit as he and his 1’32.991s took P3 on the session, showing the Ducati V2’s strength after a 2025 season dominated by the newly released Yamaha R9.

ONCU POSTS PACEY FP1: fourth place for the title juggernaut

Having joined forces with the vaunted Ten Kate racing squad this offseason, Oncu took P4 with a 1’33.123s in his first showing on track this preseason and rode the second-most laps of all riders with 36. Vostatek struggled with consistency in his 2025 season, but his P5 is a promising result for the rider if he hopes for a breakout 2026 campaign, placing just 0.042s off the title favourite. Roberto Garcia (GMT94-YAMAHA) landed in the last position of the top six to start out 2026 strong through his time of 1’33.371s after popping the cork on the session as the first rider to emerge from the boxes.

CASADEI CRASHES THE PARTY: The Italian is setting himself up nicely for a strong start to 2026

Mattia Casadei (D34G WorldSSP Racing Team), despite suffering a late crash in the session took P7 with a time of 1’33.441s. In what might be one of the most impressive results of the session, newcomer to the grid Josh Whatley (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) landed P8 with a very strong first session as a permanent grid rider via his time of 1’33.470s. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) made it three Triumph Street Triple 765 R’s in the top ten with his P9 result, his time 0.142s off of his compatriot, Whatley. Rounding out the top ten, French rider Valentin Debise (ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) rode his brand-new ZXMOTO 820RR to an impressive P10, given it is the bike’s first appearance in an official test capacity, with a time of 1’33.758s.

ARENAS TAKES A SPILL: The Spanish WorldSSP rookie taken to the medical centre after a fast crash, ruled ok to continue

Leonardo Taccini (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) was the first to see gravel on the session on Turn 6 but was A-OK to continue later on. Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing) was the next to fall on Turn 9, cancelling a batch of laps as it caused a red flag due to debris on the track, but the Italian was similarly fit following the incident. Around 20 minutes later, Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) took a high-speed spill on Turn 11 and was taken to the Medical Centre, where he has since been given the all-clear. Lastly, as the session wound down, Mattia Casadei (D34G WorldSSP Racing Team) saw gravel in Turn 11 but was quickly back up and in his box.

The top six from FP1 of the Official Australia Test: full results HERE!

1. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) 1’32.541s
 2. Oli Bayliss (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) +0.344s
 3. Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) +0.450s
 4. Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +0.582s
 5. Ondrej Vostatek (Compos Racing Team) +0.624s
 6. Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.830s

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