Practice 2: Bulega a Ducati juggernaut, Yamaha in troubled waters

Nicolò Bulega’s dominance at Phillip Island seems carved in stone: three wins last year and, this time, six sessions already swept, between testing and the start of the World Championship weekend. The new Ducati Panigale V4 R is increasingly a steamroller, while the others are in tears: Yamaha, in particular, has vanished from the radar.

The fantastic up-and-down of Victoria, with its three ultra-fast sweepers, is very different from European circuits, and here Nicolò Bulega is unleashed. The absolute supremacy of the rider from Romagna, who won here on his Superbike debut two years ago, brings to mind the dominance of great specialists of the past, Troy Bayliss above all. The advantage is such that the outcome of the three Australian races seems a foregone conclusion, barring unforeseen variables, such as the rain expected on Sunday. With no Toprak Razgatlioglu in the mix, Bulega is dancing alone: we’ll see if the same scenario plays out again in the European phase. The risk is real.

In this session Bulega focused heavily on race pace, closing with a blistering final stint. Bimota, at least on this track, appears to be Ducati’s only serious challenger. The Ducati-powered KB998 continues its steep rise, despite a harmless tumble by Alex Lowes at the hairpin. The great moment for Axel Bassani also continues: a splendid third fastest time. Here, in 2000, the Rimini marque celebrated its last victory with the unforgettable Anthony Gobert. A different era, but history could soon repeat itself.

In this second session Alvaro Bautista closed in on the front, fourth fastest, ahead of a rampant Lorenzo Baldassarri: the Go Eleven team is enjoying a post-Andrea Iannone period with bells on. This Friday Yamaha’s slump continued, as in testing: newcomer Xavi Vierge is the only one to save face in the overall gloom, tenth. Andrea Locatelli, who has always gone well here, is a second off (twelfth). The atmosphere is heavy at BMW too: Petrucci and Oliveira are both outside the top ten. Honda doesn’t really count here, having been left without riders with Somkiat Chantra injured in training and Jake Dixon suffering a fracture last Tuesday.

The session was halted 27 minutes from the end due to a kangaroo at the edge of the track: Nicolò Bulega spotted it while sweeping through the ultra-fast Turn 3 and picked up the Ducati as a precaution. Fortunately there was no contact, but Race Direction had to stop everything: Phillip Island is a nature park; scenes like this are commonplace.