Phillip Island 2026: Bulega dominates the first two free practice sessions

The 2026 Superbike championship officially opened today, during the Italian night, with the first two free practice sessions of the Phillip Island Round, both sharing the same rider setting the fastest lap. Just as happened earlier this week in the tests, Nicolò Bulega reconfirmed himself in Friday’s practice as well, impressing particularly in the first session: in addition to stopping the clock at 1:28.858, the rider from Emilia of the Aruba.it team finished half a second ahead of Sam Lowes, with Axel Bassani once again highlighting the good pace of the Bimota with a final 3rd place. Another good performance from the Italian riders, with Montella and Baldassarri on the ‘second row’ (4th and 6th respectively), while BMW failed to push on the accelerator, as evidenced by Oliveira’s 9th place.

Read more Phillip Island 2026, Race 1: Bulega leads an all-Italian top four

Phillip Island 2026, FP1 standings

The Bavarian manufacturer also struggled during the second session, with the Portuguese rider slipping to thirteenth position and Danilo Petrucci still outside the top-10, who in the difficult role of replacing the reigning world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu did not go beyond 11th place. A swap of brothers in second position, with Alex Lowes setting the second fastest time (two tenths behind Bulega) ahead of Bassani, again in third place. FP2 was however not entirely positive for the British riders, both of whom crashed during the session but without any consequences. Finally, a curious event occurred during FP2, which was momentarily interrupted by the showing of the red flag due to a kangaroo invading the track. All attention is now focused on the first Superpole of the year, scheduled for tomorrow at 3:00 AM Italian time.

Read more Phillip Island 2026, Race 1: Bulega leads an all-Italian top four

Phillip Island 2026, FP2 standings