Practice 1: Bulega's overwhelming dominance, Dixon undergoes surgery

Everything as expected: Nicolò Bulega immediately went to the front in the first Superbike practice at Phillip Island. The Ducati rider’s superiority on this track is starting to become embarrassing.

The session that opened the first weekend of the 2026 World Championship was the logical continuation of the two days of testing at the start of the week: around here Bulega is on another planet. In almost perfect weather conditions (air 21 °C, asphalt 39 °C) Nicolò pushed to 1'28"858, now very close to the race record he himself set two years ago in 1'28"564. Twelve months ago Bulega pulled off a sensational hat-trick of wins, in addition to the triumphant Superbike debut the previous season. At the moment, from here to Sunday, it’s hard to see who could trouble him.

The further reduction in fuel flow seems to have somewhat affected the Panigale V4 R’s performance on the straight: the leading number 11 clocked 314.5 km/h, only eighth in the top speed standings. At Phillip Island the straight isn’t very long, but you hit it at very high speed coming out of turn twelve. Topping the charts was Xavi Vierge’s Yamaha R1 with 318.2: the Japanese brand, together with Honda, thanks to the super concessions, has the flow meter set to 46.5 kg/hour, compared to the 45 kg/hour imposed on Ducati and BMW.

FP1 mirrored the results of the final stretch of preseason even for the trailing positions. Ducati went extremely fast again with the satellite riders as well: Sam Lowes (Marc VDS) is second, Yari Montella (Barni) fourth ahead of the on-fire Lorenzo Baldassarri (Go Eleven). The rider from Romagna, making his top-class debut, impressed everyone in testing and is confirming it in a big way: the post-Andrea Iannone era has truly started with a bang.

Toprak Razgatlioglu’s ears will be burning a lot this weekend. Without the superstar, the BMW M1000RR isn’t flying for now: Miguel Oliveira is ninth, Danilo Petrucci twelfth. The deficit remains more or less the same as in preseason; there’s a one-second gap to Ducati. It’s true that the two former MotoGP riders still need to get to know the bike well, but the sessions are ticking by and the delta isn’t shrinking.

The former Moto2 British rider will not be able to take part in the Australian round due to the heavy crash in preseason, last Tuesday here at Phillip Island. The multiple fracture to his left wrist and hand required surgery, which was performed today at The Avenue Hospital in Melbourne. The operation went well, but the injuries are quite serious. It’s by no means certain that Jake Dixon will be able to return for the next round in Portimão (Portugal) in a month’s time.