With the skies and cloud looming a light drops of rain filling the air, it was looking like the Tissot Sprint Race could have been affected by rain – to which it was, but luckily held off enough that the race could continue as scheduled.

Yesterday’s podium-finisher Yari Montella was the early rising star, leading the way as the 21 rider field entered Turn 1, defending against Bulega from leading the way for the first time this weekend.

The unstoppable Bulega made the race hard for himself, dropping back to as low as 4th place for the opening laps of the race, giving fans the first taste of character for Bulega going into 2026 – with the Aruba .IT rider so far being dominant and leading the way in every session so far at the Australian Round.

In the opening laps, Sam Lowes was riding a very defensive race, charging hard to ensure he could keep Bulega behind him for as long as possible.

Meanwhile further down the grid, Miguel Oliveira worked his way in 14th positioning from the back of the grid early into the race, with his debut in World Superbikes not quite going as smoothly as what he hoped for after crashing on his first and only flying lap in yesterdays Superpole.

The opening four laps made for some of the closest racing we have seen so far in the Australian WorldSBK Round, with just 1.1 seconds covering the Top 6.

Yari continued to defend well, but once Bulega hit the lead in the final sector he immediately pulled 0.3 seconds clear, the factory Ducati showing its strength even as white flags were displayed at half distance with rain falling in sectors two and three.

As the race reached two-thirds distance, Montella began to struggle to maintain podium pace. A major moment into Turn 1 saw him run wide and rejoin in fourth, losing 0.8 seconds but crucially keeping the bike upright.

Garrett Gerloff impressed by hanging onto the back of the leading group, while Baldassari was unable to repeat his Race 1 podium performance, slipping back to eighth in the 10-lap sprint.

Oliveira’s comeback continued as he climbed into ninth after a tough scrap with teammate Danilo Petrucci for a vital top-nine finish and improved Race 2 grid position. Unfortunately, what looked like either a mechanical failure or a rider error on the final lap cost him 10 seconds and dropped him to 18th, meaning he will once again start from the rear in the final race of the weekend.

At the front, Bulega controlled the closing laps to secure his 22nd career WorldSBK victory. Behind him, Bassani and Lowes delivered a strong response for Bimota with a 2-3 finish, the final podium position decided by the narrowest of margins at the line.

Lowes said:
“Today I really enjoyed it. We made some massive changes to the bike overnight and I was trying to understand the best I could. The bike was great. Axel really deserves his first podium with our team. I am really proud of him.”

Bulega added:
“Yeah very good result, another one. It was more difficult because the first laps with the little drops of rain were not very easy to have confidence. After some laps I rode better and I won also this race and for this I am really happy.”