MirSBK

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made history in the first race of the Australian Grand Ridge Brewery round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, becoming the first rider to win on his WorldSBK debut since teammate Alvaro Bautista in 2019. He topped the all-Italian podium for the first time since the first race at Misano in 1993, accompanied by Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) and Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven). Iannone led the race and finished on the podium upon his return to competition.

IANNONE LEADS ON RETURN: Impressive exit

Iannone got off to a great start and took the lead in his first race after four years away from competition, showing he still has what it takes to fight at the front. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was able to resist him and took the lead with an incredible move at Hayshed and held the lead until braking for Turn 1 on lap two.

Several riders were in contention for the lead, including Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who came back from ninth place to move into the top three, although he crashed at Turn 10 on lap four. The group of leaders constantly changed positions until the pit stop window opened between laps 9 and 11. Then the order changed a little.

BULEGA’S DREAM COME TRUE: victory on debut and Iannone on the podium

On lap 9, Iannone, Bulega, Loves, Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) and Bautista came out. Bulega was leading before the stop, passing Iannone at the first turn of lap seven, and took his first victory in the Panigale V4 R, finishing first on the All-Italian podium. Locatelli moved up from sixth place to second thanks to an alternative strategy. He stopped in the pits on the 11th lap.

Iannone started third from the pit lane and had to battle with Lowes and Razgatlioglu to secure his first podium finish, his first since the 2018 MotoGP™ Australian Grand Prix, finishing just two seconds behind Bulega. Locatelli was strong in the second half of the race, passing Iannone and taking advantage of him going wide at Turn 4 to increase his lead. Bulega thus becomes the first rider to win consecutive races in different championships (2nd Jerez in WorldSSP and 1st Phillip Island in WorldSBK) and also the third Italian to win on his debut after Max Biaggi and Davide Tardozzi. This is the first podium without the “three tenors” since Portimao in 2021, when it was filled by Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) and Loris Baz.

VERY LITTLE: Razgatlioglu finishes fifth in his first race for BMW, Egerter returns

Despite fighting for the podium, Lowes finished fourth, although he showed very good pace over 20 laps and finished just four seconds behind the leader. Razgatlioglu took fifth place, although he finished fourth. The Turk was penalized by 1.225 seconds for a time violation in the pits during a stop, which dropped him to fifth position for the top BMW. Dominik Egerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) took sixth place. He started in fourth position but dropped to 14th in the first half of the race before returning to the top 6.

IN THE TOP 10: Gerloff suffers, Redding disqualified and all five brands in the top ten

The speed of the BMW drivers was evident: van der Mark was seventh on his return. He set fast laps in the first part of the race and finished just a tenth behind Aegerter. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) was ninth ahead of Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW), who returned from the back of the grid after a difficult Tissot Superfield. His teammate, Redding, finished just behind. He received a penalty of 2.030 seconds, leaving him behind Javi Vierge (Team HRC), who crossed the line 11th, but Redding’s penalty moved him into the top ten.

POINTS DESPITE SANCTIONS: Bassani starts 12th, Bautista 15th after fall

Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) scored points on his KRT debut despite having to serve a long lap penalty after colliding with Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) at turn 10 of lap three when Bassani tried to move forward ambitiously. . The Italian was given a long lap penalty by the FIM stewards and finished ahead of Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), who lost ground after a great start, and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing), who finished 14th. Bautista added a point after his fall.

DISASTER FOR REA: no points for new contract with Yamaha

Philipp Ettl (GMT94 Yamaha) showed incredible speed at Phillip Island both at last year’s stage and in testing and free practice this year, but failed to repeat his top-five finish in 2023. He finished 16th, ahead of Jonathan Rea (Pat Prometeon Yamaha), who had problems throughout the weekend and finished 38 seconds behind Bulega. Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 18th, followed by the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda duo of Tarran McKenzie and Adam Norrodin, while Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) was 21st and last classified after crashing in the first half of the race . race.

Top 6 WorldSBK Race 1, full results here:

1 Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +2,280 pp.
3. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) +2630 p.
4. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +4.728 sec.
5. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +5.706 pp.
6. Dominik Egerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +8.333 s.

Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), 1’28.564 s – new record

Enjoy the Tissot Superpole race on Sunday starting at 13:00 local time (UTC+11) with WorldSBK VideoPass!