2026 title favourite Nicolo Bulega carried his pre-season dominance into Free Practice 1 for the opening WorldSBK round at Phillip Island, Australia.
The Aruba.it Ducati rider, quickest in all four track sessions earlier this week, was fastest for all but the opening minutes of FP1.
Worryingly for his rivals, Nicolo Bulega’s best time also came on the penultimate lap of a long 12-lap run.
Sam Lowes, second in testing for Marc VDS, was again Bulega’s nearest rival, albeit half a second adrift.
Bimota’s Axel Bassani was third ahead of Yari Montella (Barni), team-mate Alex Lowes and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Goeleven).
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Garrett Gerloff was the top Kawasaki in seventh, WorldSBK rookie Miguel Oliveira the fastest BMW in ninth and Xavi Vierge the leading Yamaha in 11th.
Jake Dixon joins HRC team-mate Somkiat Chantra on the sidelines after being injured in testing earlier this week.
Dixon has now undergone surgery for multiple fractures in his left hand and wrist.
Wild-card Ryan Vickers took up the baton as the leading Honda rider with 15th in FP1.
Second practice takes place from 4:00-4:45pm local time…
2026 Phillip Island World Superbike – Friday Practice Results (1)POSRIDERNATTEAMTIME1Nicolo BulegaITAAruba.it – Ducati1:28.858s2Sam LowesGBRELF Marc VDS Racing Team+0.524s3Axel BassaniITAbimota by Kawasaki Racing Team+0.689s4Yari MontellaITABarni Spark Racing Team+0.703s5Alex LowesGBRbimota by Kawasaki Racing Team+0.757s6Lorenzo BaldassarriITATeam Goeleven+0.811s7Garrett GerloffUSAKawasaki Team+0.834s8Alvaro BautistaESPBarni Spark Racing Team+0.852s9Miguel OliveiraPORROKiT BMW Motorrad Team+0.888s10Iker LecuonaESPAruba.it – Ducati+0.901s11Xavi ViergeESPPata Maxus Yamaha+0.951s12Danilo PetrucciITAROKiT BMW Motorrad Team+1.034s13Tarran MackenzieGBRMGM Optical Express Racing+1.035s14Alberto SurraITAMotocorsa Ducati+1.059s15Ryan VickersGBRHonda HRC+1.455s16Andrea LocatelliITAPata Maxus Yamaha+1.561s17Remy GardnerAUSGYTR GRT Yamaha Team+1.696s18Tetsuta NagashimaJPNHonda HRC+1.702s19Stefano ManziITAGYTR GRT Yamaha Team+1.719s20Bahattin SofuogluTURMotoxracing Team+2.192s21Mattia RatoITAMotoxracing Team+2.754s
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Fastest 2026 Phillip Island WorldSBK Test Time:
Nicolo Bulega, Ducati, 1m 28.630s.
Official Phillip Island WorldSBK Records:
Best lap:Â Nicolo Bulega, Ducati, 1m 27.916 (2024)
Fastest race lap:Â Nicolo Bulega, Ducati, 1m 28.564 (2024)
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