A predictable winner in WorldSBK season opener but plenty of drama down the order

WorldSBK 2026

Round One – Phillip Island
Superbike Race One

The track temperature reached 46 degrees as the riders formed up on the grid.  All were on the SC1 front, while it was about 50-50 across the field between the D0922 and E0829 options.

Nicolo Bulega scorched away from pole ahead of Yari Montella and the Lowes brothers when the 22-lap contest got underway on schedule at 1600 on Saturday afternoon.  After a big crash in Superpole, Miguel Oliveira was making his WorldSBK debut from the back of the grid.

WorldSBK 2026 – Round One – Phillip Island – Race One

A 1m34.592 from a standing start for Bulega saw him cross the stripe to start lap two half-a-second clear of Montella.

WorldSBK 2026 – Round One – Phillip Island – Race One

Alvaro Bautista crashed out at turn 11 from eleventh place on lap two after losing the front, which saw officials put the yellow flag out in that sector.

Axel Bassani forced his Bimota up the inside of Sam Lowes at turn four to take fifth place early on lap four, forcing the Briton to stand his bike up and take evasive action.  Officials subsequently gave Bassani a drop one position penalty for irresponsible riding.

WorldSBK 2026 – Round One – Phillip Island – Race One

Lorenzo Baldassarri took third place from Alex Lowes early on lap five with a brave move at turn one.  Further up front, Bulega now led Montella by 1.7 seconds, with Baldassarri equidistant in third for an Italian 1-2-3.  Alex Lowes was in fourth and hanging on to the tail of Baldassari while also trying to fend off the advances of Axel Bassani and Sam Lowes.

WorldSBK 2026 – Round One – Phillip Island – Race One

Miguel Oliveira had forged his way up to 13th place by lap seven after starting from the back of the grid. And two laps later, Oliveira had caught his team-mate Danilo Petrucci, and the Portuguese rider was lapping eight-tenths quicker than the Italian.  Oliveira took that 12th place position on the next lap and set his next target as Tarran Mackenzie.

Up front, Bulega was just controlling the race with ease as he balanced his three-second buffer over Yari Montella by half-race distance. Two seconds further behind was Lorenzo Baldassarri, who had now shaken his pursuers and looked set for a podium result.  Axel Bassani was in fourth but still had Alex Lowes up his pipe, but that duo had started to put a little distance between themselves and Sam Lowes. Iker Lecuona was in seventh, ahead of Xavi Vierge and Alberto Surra, while Garrett Gerloff rounded out the top ten.

Both Oliveira and Petrucci slipped past Mackenzie with six laps to run, but still needed to gain a fair bit of ground on Gerloff over the final laps to challenge for a top ten.

Xavi Vierge had a big crash out of the very fast turn three on lap 18 and was very lucky to walk away after what had been a scary front end lose. Garrett Gerloff ran wide at turn four the next time around, and I believe that might have been from him trying to avoid the scattering of rocks from the gravel trap strewn across the braking area at turn four. That allowed Oliveira and Petrucci to sneak inside the top ten with five laps to run.

With two laps to run, Bulega now led Montella by over four seconds while Baldassarri continued to stave off the advances of Axel Bassani and Sam Lowes as he strove to hold onto that podium position. Iker Lecuona was four seconds further back on his Ducati debut while holding down sixth place.

Nicolo Bulega the clear victor by almost five seconds.

Yari Montella finished in a clear second place while Lorenzo Baldassari managed to hold off a determined challenge from Bassani to take a podium on his Superbike debut.

Nicolo Bulega – P1

“This has been amazing! We’ve been fastest in every session, we started from pole and then we won Race 1. It’s been incredible. This track is unbelievable for me and every time I ride here I enjoy every lap. When you have a good feeling with the bike at a track like this, it’s something you can’t really explain. I’m very happy and I want to continue like this. Winning a race is never easy. You have to stay focused for the full race because anything can happen. You need to be precise, almost perfect, to manage the tyre and still ride fast.”

WorldSBK 2026 – Round One – Phillip Island – Race One

Yari Montella – P2

“It is a dream to have my first podium in WorldSBK. I want to thank the team for all the work we did over the winter and during the test here. We had a good base setup from Monday and today we just had to finish the job. We did our job during Superpole and then in Race 1 we did our job again. After a tough season last year, it is so special to have my first podium. I’m so, so happy.”

Lorenzo Baldassarri – P3

“This was like my debut in WorldSSP when I won my first race at Aragon. Today I felt that I truly arrived in WorldSBK and to finish on the podium is great. I’m very, very excited for this season. It was a big relief for me because we have been doing a very good job this week. There is a great atmosphere in the box and we are all working together step by step. The feeling from our first laps was good and it has improved. We were building towards Race 1 and today we achieved our first podium together. It means a lot to us.”

WorldSBK 2026 – Round One – Phillip Island – Race One – Lorenzo Baldassarri

Sam Lowes took the flag a further two seconds behind in fifth but well clear of the sixth-placed Iker Lecuona.

WorldSBK 2026 – Round One – Phillip Island – Race One – Iker Lecuona

Alex Lowes was not far behind in seventh.

An encouraging performance from Oliveira to come from the back of the grid and forge his way to eighth place ahead of Alberto Surra, who also made an encouraging Superbike debut.

Danilo Petrucci rounded out the top ten ahead of Garrett Gerloff and Tarran Mackenzie.

Remy Gardner was pushing towards the top ten early but ultimately pulled out late in the race with a tyre problem.

Superbike Race One Results

Superpole

The pace had been hot in what had been perfect conditions on Saturday morning at Phillip Island for the 20-minute FP3 session that was held at 1000, which raised expectations ahead of Superpole that a new lap record might come in Superpole. The track conditions had evolved somewhat by the time the pit exit opened at 1300 for the Superpole session, with the surface registering over 40 degrees, but the track was still expected to run fast, and that was how it played out.

The session was disastrous for Miguel Oliveira, though, with a big crash early on that put him at the back of the grid.

WorldSBK Superpole Times

2026 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship calendar

……Date…….	Country	Circuit	WorldSBK	WorldSSP	WorldSPB
20-22 Feb	AUS	Phillip Island GP	X	X
27-29 Mar	POR	Algarve Int’l	X	X	X
17-19 Apr	NED	TT Assen	X	X	X
1-3 May	HUN	Balaton Park	X	X
15-17 May	CZE	Most	X	X	X
29-31 May	ESP	MotorLand Aragon	X	X	X
12-14 Jun	ITA	Misano – Marco Simoncelli	X	X	X
10-12 Jul	UK	Donington Park	X	X
4-6 Sep	FRA	Nevers Magny-Cours	X	X	X
25-27 Sep	ITA	Cremona	X	X	X
9-11 Oct	POR	Estoril	X	X
16-18 Oct	ESP	Jerez – Angel Nieto*	X	X	X

2026 World Superbike Championship Entry List

Rider	Bike	Team
I.Lecuona	Duc	Aruba.It Ducati
N.Bulega	Duc	Aruba.It Ducati
D.Petrucci	BMW	ROKiT BMW Motorrad
M.Oliveira	BMW	ROKiT BMW Motorrad
A.Locatelli	Yam	Pata Maxus Yamaha
X.Vierge	Yam	Pata Maxus Yamaha
Y.Montella	Duc	Barni Spark
A.Bautista	Duc	Barni Spark
A.Lowes	Bim	bimota by Kawasaki
A.Bassani	Bim	bimota by Kawasaki
S.Chantra	Hon	Honda HRC
J.Dixon	Hon	Honda HRC
S.Manzi	Yam	GYTR GRT Yamaha
R.Gardner	Yam	GYTR GRT Yamaha
S.Lowes	Duc	ELF Marc VDS
L.Baldassarri	Duc	Goeleven
T.Mackenzie	Duc	MGM Racing
G.Gerloff	Kaw	Kawasaki WorldSBK
A.Surra	Duc	Motocorsa
M.Rato	Yam	Motoxracing
B.Sofuoglu	Yam	Motoxracing
A.Iannone	Duc	Cainam Racing