Results from the opening Superpole session of 2026 at the Australian WorldSBK at Phillip Island.
Nicolo Bulega opened the season with a pole position, finishing over 0.4 seconds ahead of Yari Montella while Sam Lowes completed a Ducati front row lockout. For Bulega, he has still not been beaten in a session this week, including the test on Monday and Tuesday.
Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani put both Bimotas on the second row ahead of Danilo Petrucci on the lead BMW. Petrucci’s teammate, Miguel Oliveira, crashed on his first flying lap at turn two and was unable to set a time despite being able to get the bike back to the pits.
Row three sees the returning Lorenzo Baldassarri ahead of Kawasaki’s Garrett Gerloff and the sole Yamaha in the top-10, that of Xavi Vierge.
Alberto Surra also qualified in the top-10 on his World Superbike debut in 10th. He’ll be alongside fellow satellite Ducati riders Tarran Mackenzie and Alvaro Bautista on row four for Race 1.
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Iker Lecuona qualified 13th on his factory Ducati debut, while Andrea Locatelli’s difficult weekend continues: 15th for the Italian and 1.5 seconds off the pace of Bulega.
2026 World Superbike Championship | 2026 Australian Round | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Superpole | Result
PosRiderNat.WorldSBK TeamSuperbikeTiming1Nicolo BulegaITAAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R1:28.2442Yari MontellaITABarni Spark RacingDucati Panigale V4 R1:28.6633Sam LowesGBRMarc VDS Racing TeamDucati Panigale V4 R1:28.7294Alex LowesGBRBimota by Kawasaki Racing TeamBimota KB9981:28.9435Axel BassaniITABimota by Kawasaki Racing TeamBimota KB9981:28.9726Danilo PetrucciITAROKiT BMW MotorradBMW M1000 RR1:29.0497Lorenzo BaldassarriITATeam Go ElevenDucati Panigale V4 R1:29.1918Garrett GerloffUSAKawasaki WorldSBK TeamKawasaki ZX-10RR1:29.2379Xavi ViergeESPPata Maxus YamahaYamaha R11:29.24510Alberto SurraITAMotocorsa RacingDucati Panigale V4 R1:29.28711Tarran MackenzieGBRMGM Optical Express RacingDucati Panigale V4 R1:29.33312Alvaro BautistaESPBarni Spark RacingDucati Panigale V4 R1:29.36313Iker LecuonaESPAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R1:29.37414Remy GardnerAUSGYTR GRT YamahaYamaha R11:29.43515Andrea LocatelliITAPata Maxus YamahaYamaha R11:29.76016Tetsuta NagashimaJPNHonda HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R1:29.98617Ryan VickersGBRHonda HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R1:30.04618Stefano ManziITAGYTR GRT YamahaYamaha R11:30.38019Bahattin SofuogluTURMotoxracing YamahaYamaha R11:30.50020Mattia RatoITAMotoxracing YamahaYamaha R11:30.97721Miguel OliveiraPORROKiT BMW MotorradBMW M1000 RRNo Time Set
Official Phillip Island WorldSBK Records:
Best lap: Nicolo Bulega, Ducati, 1m27.916s (2024)
Fastest race lap: Nicolo Bulega, Ducati, 1m28.564s (2024)