The sun continued to shine over the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship returned to the track for Friday afternoon’s Free Practice 2 session. With the light turning green at 4pm, riders headed out for the second 45-minute session of the day under soaring track temperatures that peaked at 44.7 degrees, creating challenging grip conditions around the fast and flowing Australian circuit.
The session was briefly interrupted in true Phillip Island fashion, with a red flag caused by a wallaby making its way across the track. Wildlife-related stoppages have become part of the Island’s character, and this one added an unexpected pause.
When the action resumed, long runs and consistency proved to be the priority for much of the field. As has been the case since the start of the Official Test earlier in the week, the same core group remained at the sharp end. Nicolò Bulega once again set the benchmark, continuing his flawless run by topping every session so far. His best lap of 1’29.101 secured P1 and underlined his dominance heading into the opening round of the 12-round championship.
Behind him, Alex Lowes emerged as the closest challenger, posting a 1’29.354 to claim second fastest. However, the Brit suffered a late crash at the Turn 4 hairpin. Fortunately, it was a low-speed fall and he was able to walk away unharmed, even remounting before ultimately returning to pit lane and ending his session early. His teammate Axel Bassani completed a strong afternoon for bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team in third with a 1’29.468.
The session was not without further drama. Earlier, a yellow flag at Turn 1 followed a high-speed crash for Sam Lowes. The #14 had been running consistently inside the top four before the incident. Like his brother, he was quickly back on his feet, but the yellow flags resulted in several cancelled laps during a critical stage of the session. Lowes ultimately finished sixth with a 1’29.558.
Alvaro Bautista showed late-session improvement aboard the Barni Spark Racing Ducati. After appearing to struggle for outright pace earlier in the day, the Spaniard produced his best lap in the final minutes to climb to fourth, just 0.381 seconds off Bulega’s time. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Baldassarri continued to impress as a leading Independent rider, placing fifth and reinforcing his strong form this weekend.
For Iker Lecuona, progress remains steady as he builds confidence on the factory Ducati package after limited seat time during the European winter. Phillip Island marks his first meaningful dry running on the machine, and each session has shown incremental gains.
Garrett Gerloff briefly pushed into the top five midway through the session on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR before being displaced, highlighting the close margins throughout the field, ultimately finishing out the session inside the Top 10.
With Bulega fastest in every session so far this week and race pace appearing to be the central focus in FP2, the Italian continues to look like the rider to beat as the Australian Round gathers momentum.
