Wrong tyre choice for many in Sunday WorldSSP race at Phillip Island

Round One – Phillip Island
WorldSSP Race Two

The AS BLU CRU Racing Team saw the new-look outfit taking a stunning 1-2 finish in challenging conditions in the second FIM Supersport World Championship race of 2026 at Phillip Island with Albert Arenas and Aldi Satya Mahendra.

After stunning conditions at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the past week, things took a turn on Sunday with intermittent rain showers throughout the day, including one not long before the second 18-lap World Supersport race, leaving riders and teams in a quandary on the grid as they had to decide between wet and dry tyres.

While Phillip Island is a track that dries notoriously fast, many weather forecasts were predicting further rainfall, but a bold call, led by the riders on the grid, saw Arenas and Mahendra among only a handful of riders to opt for dry tyres from the start.

While the riders at the front of the grid, mostly on wet tyres, led in the early stages, it didn’t take long for Arenas to break through to the leading group, but the surprise came on lap two, when Aldi Satya Mahendra took the lead from his team-mate despite having started 28th and last on the grid.

Arenas, Mahendra, Oncu

The AS BLU CRU Racing duo battled it out for a few laps while leaving the riders on wet tyres behind, before Arenas broke free of his team-mate to cruise to a comfortable debut victory in his first weekend in the class.

Mahendra crossed the line just under five seconds behind for his maiden podium in World Supersport, and the first in history for an Indonesian rider.

Aldi Mahendra the first Indonesian to claim a WorldSSP podium

Realising his mistake in choosing wet tyres, 2025 series runner-up Can Öncü (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate) pitted on lap seven and finished highest out of the riders who had to stop to change tyres in fifth place and was the only rider on the leading lap when the chequered flag came out.

WorldSSP Phillip Island Sunday Podium 2026

Arenas’ strong weekend sees him take the lead in the championship standings by 7 points over Jaume Masia. Aldi Mahendra sits fifth and Can Öncü sixth. The second round of the season takes place at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve (Portimão).

Albert Arenas – P1

“It feels good to win again, it has been a very special weekend! It has not been easy, we started with some issues but we overcame them and this made it very sweet to take this win in Phillip Island. It was a difficult decision on the grid with the tyres, I have been looking at the forecast all day, on six or seven apps, and I decided on the grid to gamble and it paid off as the bike felt incredible on the slick tyres. I am also very happy for my team-mate as he made the same decision and was able to also finish on the podium with a 1-2 for the team. I feel really good with the team, the team members are so professional and I am working with them very well – it’s been a special weekend for us all. Now we must focus on getting back to Europe and understanding our level on the more ‘normal’ layouts!”

Albert Arenas celebrates with team-mate Aldi Mahendra

Oli Bayliss had a ripper opening round on home soil in by far his best start to a WorldSSP campaign in his career. A podium on Saturday and a battling 12th place after pitting to change tyres and setting the fastest lap of the race in the difficult conditions.

Oli Bayliss

“Unfortunate end to the weekend. We showed really strong speed in the race, but unfortunately made the wrong tyre call at the start, which made things pretty difficult and saw us finish P12.  We leave Phillip Island with a podium in race one (P3) and P12 in race two, plus the fastest lap of race two with a 1:32.452 — definitely a positive to take away. We’ve got a solid base heading into Algarve International Circuit at the end of March, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do there. After round one, we’re sitting seventh in the championship with 20 points on the board. Big thanks to PTR Triumph Racing, all my sponsors, and everyone who came out to support us this weekend — it means a lot. Roll on round two.”

Oli Bayliss has made his best ever start to a WorldSSP season

WorldSSP Race Two Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap	Speed
1	A. Arenas	Yam	29m19.159	285.4
2	A. Mahendra	Yam	+4.937	286.9
3	M. Ferrari	Duc	+13.967	281.7
4	A. Giombini	MV	+50.953	276.7
5	C. Oncu	Yam	+1’25.203	278.1
6	R. Garcia	Yam	+1 Lap	280.3
7	A. Zaccone	Duc	+1 Lap	285.4
8	L. Mahias	Yam	+1 Lap	283.9
9	J. Alcoba	Kaw	+1 Lap	277.4
10	J. Masia	Duc	+1 Lap	288.5
11	P. Oettl	Duc	+1 Lap	287.7
12	O. Bayliss	Tri	+1 Lap	285.4
13	F. Farioli	Yam	+1 Lap	282.5
14	X. Cardelus	Yam	+1 Lap	275.3
15	T. Booth-Amos	Tri	+1 Lap	283.2
16	S. Jespersen	Duc	+1 Lap	282.5
17	J. Whatley	Duc	+1 Lap	284.7
18	L. Taccini	Duc	+1 Lap	281.0
19	F. Caricasulo	ZXM	+1 Lap	278.8
20	J. Cretaro	MV	+1 Lap	278.1
21	O. Konig	Tri	+1 Lap	279.5
22	Y. Okamoto	Yam	+1 Lap	276.0
23	R. Rossi	Duc	+1 Lap	281.7
24	V. Debise	ZXM	+1 Lap	278.1
25	O. Vostatek	Tri	+1 Lap	278.1
26	B. Jimenez	Duc	+2 Laps	281.7
27	M. Casadei	Duc	+3 Laps	277.4
RET	D. Aegerter	Kaw	+2 Laps	283.9

WorldSSP Championship Points

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