Race report by Karrbon Copy.
Welcome back. Folks, to yet another instalment of WorldSBK Shenanigans, featuring a healthy sprinkling of new faces, quite a few of whom you might recognise from MotoE.
Phillip Island, as usual, greeted us with open arms, just to bombard us with its weather-related Multiple Personality Disorder throughout the weekend. Blistering sun, stinging rain, maiming wind – PI had it all!
On the upside, they’ve abolished the mandatory pit stop for 2026. They’ve apparently also moved the Start line nine metres forward for 2026.
By: The Karr report.
SSP:
RACE 1
The first race of the season kicked off under a balmy sky, the sun beating happily down on the track.
It was such a nice day that Garcia decided to take the scenic route through Miller Corner on Lap Six, before returning to the race at hand.
During the seventh lap, while riding hard in second place, Booth-Amos got his approach into Turn Two entirely wrong, resulting in him being ejected from his seat at full tilt. While Tom was tumbling through gravel and grass, his bike treated the fans to a spectacular mid-air ballet performance. Eight out of ten!
About two laps and a few corners later, Casadei’s machine tried to copy this display at Turn Six. Not quite as dramatic, but worth a six-and-a-half out of ten, we think.
Debise had a gentle slide off the track at Turn Four on the eleventh lap, whereafter he remounted, popped into the pits for some fresh rubber, and then returned to the track to at the very least try and set a good laptime.
By this time, Masià was leading the race by miles, with the first real battle for position happening over third.
On exiting Turn Six on Lap Fifteen, Bayliss decided the grass at the edge of the exiting curb needed a wee trim, and ran over the curb edge in order to give the grass said trim while simultaneously giving his team and Australian fans minor heart attacks. To everyone’s relief, he didn’t crash, but might be considering starting his own landscaping business soon.
A lap later, Mahias went twirling off while entering a corner, but was back in the seat faster than you could cry out ‘Blimey!’.
Masià crossed the finish line far enough ahead of the rest for him to grab a beer while he waited, winning the race with ease.
Oettl came through for second place with enough time to spare to down half a beer, while Aussie rider Bayliss made his home crowd puff up like mating penguins as he crossed the line in third, his maiden podium finish – something made ever the more special when achieved in front of your home crowd.
A little while later, we spotted Aegerter kick-pushing his bike towards the finish line like a kick-scooter. Apparently, he’d encountered a small technical gremlin somewhere near the end of the final lap, but was determined to finish the race.
RACE 2
Sunday’s race was officially deemed a ‘Wet Race’, though we would say ‘clammy’ was a more accurate descriptor.
While the majority of the field opted for wet tyres, a select few decided to bet on slicks – and were ultimately rewards for their bravery.
One of these gamblers was Mahendra, who’d started the race from the very last slot and basically had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Like yeeting himself up into tenth place right off the bat, even leading the race for a while by Lap Two.
This time it was Booth-Amos who went sightseeing at Turn One, eventually returning to the track to continue racing.
On Lap Five, Zaccone’s ride decided to test its rider’s rodeo skills between Turns Two and Three, a test Zaccone passed most impressively, though we’re not so sure about his underwear…
As the track dried, and the rain tyres began sweating from the heat, riders finally began dipping into the pits for slicks at the end of Lap Five. Droves of bikes entered and exited pit lane for the next five to eight laps, and eventually everyone from seventh back were a lap behind the leaders. Said leading, unlapped riders were, in turn, spaced out quite ridiculously.
Now every time we have a race where riders needed to pit, there would, without fail, be at least one who’d cut the minimum time a little short. This time around, it was Alcoba, who was handed a penalty for this math-blunder.
During the penultimate lap, Aegerter was spotted coasting down the track, his hands pressed together in prayer. It would seem that his team was unable to evict the gremlin who’d climbed into Domi’s machine the previous race.
The Race Two podium was probably one with the most ‘firsts’ we’ve ever had to list for a single podium, so do try to keep up.
Arenas claimed victory, as a rookie in the class, and thus making this his maiden podium as well as his maiden win in WorldSSP.
Mahendra, from the back of the grid, snatched up second place, making him the first-ever Indonesian rider to stand on a WorldSSP podium with his maiden podium finish.
And lastly, Ferrari took third, also being a rookie on his maiden podium in WorldSSP.
May we speculate that the WorldSSP Championship this year is going to be spectacular?
SBK:
RACE 1
Our buddy from MotoGP, Oliveira, made his Superbike debut this weekend, and dare we say it was a fiery baptism.
It started off on a broken foot – metaphorically – when he crashed during the Superpole session before he could set a qualifying laptime, leaving his team with some intense pre-race mechanic-ing in order to get him out in time for the start. Which they did, by the way.
Allow us a moment to congratulate Petrucci on his one-hundredth Superbike race start!
Then, a word of sympathy for two of the rookies who would miss their debut race: Dixon, with a broken left wrist, and Chantra, after injuring himself in training.
On the second lap, Bautista earned the (unwanted) accolade of becoming the first rider to crash from a race in 2026, as his Ducati kicked out its rear wheel though Turn Eleven, resulting in Álvaro tumbling into the litter. There he sat, frog-legged, for what seemed an eternity, while quietly asking the racing gods what he’d done to deserve this.
Somewhere around Lap Three, Bassani barged through on Lowes – the Sam version – bumping the Brit out of the way before immediately lifting a hand in apology. Unfortunately, a hand raised in apology would not be enough, and Bassani was told to drop a position.
At the front of the pack, Bulega bolted. The last anyone saw of him was when he shot off the start grid.
Manzi quietly retired at the end of Lap Eleven.
On the approach towards Turn Four, on the seventeenth lap, Vierge was shot from his seat at speed, resulting in him writhing on the grass as he tried to figure out which way was up, while his motorcycle disassembled itself, shifting the graveltrap so it was now situated across the track instead of next to it.
Bulega led the all-Ducati podium trio across the line with days to spare, with both Montella and Baldassarri finishing on the podium for the first time in the Superbike class as they passed the checkered flag in second and third respectively.
SUPERPOLE RACE
Sunday morning came with cloudy skies and drizzly weather, and a relatively dry Superpole Race.
Not the most exciting of races, we’d admit. Hardly worth waking up before 4AM on a Sunday for.
On a side note: Gerloff celebrated two hundred race starts this weekend, becoming the first American rider ever to reach this milestone. Well done, Garrett!
Vierge was left stranded I the pits with a technical issue, making him a spectator for the Superpole Race while he would really rather have been a contender.
Unlike I Race One, Bulega did not bolt from the start – instead, he had to fight for almost four laps before he could do so.
By the end of Lap Four, some white flags began waving, not in surrender, but to indicate that rain was starting to fall in those sectors.
Oliveira’s weekend went from somewhat annoying to ‘Oh for f….. sake!’ as his bike developed a rear-end technical issue on the very last lap.
It was later revealed that his quickshifter stopped doing the quick and/or the shifting.
By the end of Lap Four, some white flags began waving, not in surrender, but to indicate that rain was starting to fall in those sectors.
Oliveira’s weekend went from somewhat annoying to ‘Oh for f….. sake!’ as his bike developed a rear-end technical issue on the very last lap.
It was later revealed that his quickshifter stopped doing the quick and/or the shifting.
Again, Bulega won the race by miles, while the teammates Bassani and Lowes (Alex) claimed second and third respectively, snatching Bimota’s first double podium since 1988 – their first since their return to the class.
RACE 2
Between the finish of the SuperSport race and the Superbikes lining up for their second race, the weather had decided to dampen things around Phillip Island a little more.
And by a little, we mean a decent amount.
It also felt that it needed to switch the fan to maximum velocity, just to add some dimension.
The wind had picked up to such an extent that the flag-guy waiting at the back of the grid for the riders to complete their outlaps had to be stuck to the track with industrial double-sided tape lest he got blown away, and every umbrella girl and guy got a free upper body gym session in.
It was declared a Wet Race. For obvious reasons.
During the Warm-Up Lap, Oliveira’s onboard camera obtained a natural face-blurring dot, made of 100% pure, natural rain water.
It was during the Warm-Up Lap that it became clear that being at the head of the pack in this race had an A) Downside: you’re the first one into corners, and B) Upside: you could actually see the corner coming.
On the opening lap Rato – one of the fresh, new faces, slid off the track at Miller Corner. Awww, rats!
Someone’s winglet abandoned them on the first lap, flying off into the rain clouds. Whose, we might never know…
We were soon informed that Baldassarri would have to serve a Double Long Lap Penalty for jumping the start.
On Lap Eight, Lowes – the Sam variant – tumbled off at Turn Four, whereafter the marshals quickly rigged up his stricken bike to plough the gravel fields with. That’s one expensive hand plough.
Vickers retired stealthily from the race.
During the thirteenth lap, Vierge dismounted at Turn Two.
Montella’s bike decided it had had enough of this nonsense by Lap Sixteen, and promptly tossed him into the air as he tried to lean into Turn Nine. Yari thus went ragdolling off into the gravel, instead of racing in second place as he was doing moments before.
With four laps to go, the surviving Lowes brother dropped it on the approach into the first corner. He went barrel-rolling across the pebbles occasionally using his head to lever him back off the ground as he tried to remain airborne for as long as possible.
Much to nobody’s surprise, Bulega snatched up the victory again, claiming his first hattrick of the season right from the get-go. Second place went the way of Bassani, while Bautista made up for his Race One blunder by finishing Race Two in third.
With this win, Bulega surpassed Melandri as the Italian with the most WorldSBK victories under his belt. In his Parc Fermé interview, he noted how he was unsure of the wet conditions, and eventually opted to ‘push like in the dry’.
And with that, the season-opener drew to a close, with one very clear favourite for the Superbike Championship already chalked up. But will Bulega’s splendid form last throughout the entire season?
