The 2026 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Official Test opened in commanding fashion at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, with Nicolo Bulega leading the way in both FP1 and FP2. The Italian set a 1’29.451 in the morning session before lowering the benchmark to a 1’29.345 in the afternoon, underlining his continued strength at the Australian venue. Bulega remains the current lap record holder at Phillip Island, courtesy of his 1’27.916 set during his remarkable 2024 debut weekend.
Phillip Island has become synonymous with Bulega’s rise in the Superbike World Championship. In 2024, he stunned the paddock by claiming pole position and victory on debut, becoming the first debutant on pole since Ben Spies in 2009 and the first Italian ever to achieve the feat at the circuit. He went on to secure his maiden WorldSBK win first time out on a Ducati, joining an exclusive list of Italian winners and becoming the eighth rider in championship history to win on debut. Returning the following season, Bulega elevated that performance further with a dominant triple victory from pole, cementing Phillip Island as one of his strongest hunting grounds.
It was an impressive first day for Bimota’s Axel Bassani, showing impressive form to finish the day in 2nd place, 0.3s adrift from Bulega, wedging his Bimota KB998 Rimini machine in between a fleet of Ducati Panigale V4R’s. Rounding out the Top 3 was Sam Lowes, who also finished the day as the top Independent rider, with his fastest time of 1’29.907.
Attention also turns to Australia’s sole representative on the 2026 WorldSBK grid, Remy Gardner. 61 laps were completed by Remy across the day’s running but concluded the Official Test 21st on the combined timesheets. As he continues to build momentum in the Superbike World Championship, Gardner’s current WorldSBK tally stands at nine races, with a best race finish of sixth and a best Superpole result of seventh.
It was a relatively clean session in Free Practice 2 for all 22 World Superbike riders, with 4 out of the 5 crashes occurring at Miller Corner. Early fallers included Alvaro Bautista [Barni Spark Racing Team], with the Spanish rider coming to grips with his new team for the 2026 season. Other fallers included Sam Lowes, Bahattin Sofuoglu and Mattia Rato all at Turn 4, and Ryan Vickers at Lukey Heights; all riders uninjured.
Completing the most amount of laps for the day was Loreno Baldassari [Team GoEleven] with 78 laps in total across the two, 2-hour long Free Practice sessions, followed by Iker Lecuona [Aruba.It Racing – Ducati] at 76 laps, and Tetsuta Nagashima [Honda HRC] with 73.
The top six from Day 1 at Phillip Island, full results here:
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’29.345s, 72 laps
2. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.291s, 61 laps
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.562s, 68 laps
4. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.576s, 69 laps
5. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) +0.670s, 72 laps
6. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.914s, 58 laps
