Supersport Phillip Island: Jaume Masia untouchable, Bayliss back on the podium

Jaume Masia dominated the opening round of the Supersport World Championship in Australia: his third career win was never in doubt. At Phillip Island, the hunting ground of dad Troy, heir Oli Bayliss clinched his first podium.

There were few doubts after what we saw in the early-week tests and in Superpole: Jaume Masia and Ducati truly had something extra here. The superiority of the former Moto3 world champion from Spain was crystal clear, and the Panigale V2 looked out of this world, also shining in the hands of the German Phillip, who still finished five seconds behind the winner. Last year the little Ducati had been hamstrung by the limitations imposed by the Next Generation regulations, to the advantage of the Yamaha R9, which duly dominated. Now the situation seems decidedly flipped.

Jaume Masia squandered pole by leaving room for Can Oncu’s lightning start, the warm-up pacesetter. But it took the Valencian rider just one lap to set things straight. Once in front, Race 1 was never in doubt again. With Oettl alone in second, the fight for the final step of the podium was spectacular. Tom Booth-Amos, who topped Race 1 last year, fired the Triumph into the escape road approaching Turn 3, fortunately getting back up unhurt, as he did the day before. Can Oncu and Alberto Arenas, the former Grand Prix rider making his Yamaha debut, yo-yoed a bit, but Oli Bayliss’s other British triple was far too strong for them to have any hope of beating it.

In his fifth year in Supersport, it’s do-or-die for the rider born to it. For now he celebrates this first career podium, to his father’s delight. It’s a first step; the real challenge will be to sustain this pace when the series returns to Europe: the Triumph is there. The Yamaha that swept 2025 with Stefano Manzi and Can Oncu himself is paying here for the RPM cut imposed to prevent further domination. At the final corner Arenas managed to settle the in-house duel: for Oncu, who moved to Ten Kate after Evan Bros switched to ZXMoto, it wasn’t exactly a stellar start.

On its World Championship debut, the Chinese Supersport outfit earned a sensational front row with the gritty Valentin Debise, who was highly effective in the opening laps as well. A low-speed tumble at the hairpin, however, put him out of contention—see you in Race 2. Same fate for Lucas Mahias, who had mounted a frenzied comeback, quickly making up the three-place grid penalty.

Matteo Ferrari began the championship with an encouraging sixth place, at the tail of the chasing pack. A beautiful comeback for Alessandro Zaccone, eighth with the Ducati fielded by the team of the late Genesio Bevilacqua. The boss would have been pleased with such a performance.