Italian gun continues his 2-year domination of every session at ‘The Island’ as Ducatis lock out the front row
The first WorldSBK Superpole of 2026 was, as expected, taken by the hot pre-season favourite, Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). He ended up 0.419 seconds ahead of the next best runner, Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati), with another Ducati rider, Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati), third.
On Row Two for the first two races of the Australian weekend will be Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team). His fourth place was the first by a non-Ducati rider, while his teammate Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) ended up fifth quickest. The second row will be completed in Race One by Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
His teammate, WorldSBK debutant Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), crashed early in the session and did not set a Superpole time.
Lorenzo Baldassarri (GO Eleven Ducati) was seventh in his first Ducati-powered Superpole, with Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) eighth, Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) ninth, and another rookie Alberto Surra (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) tenth. A Ducati festival in many ways on Saturday saw Tarran Mackenzie (MGM BONOVO Racing Ducati) 11th, Álvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) 12th, Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 13th. Local rider Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was 14th.
Next up is a 22-lap Race One for the 2026 season WorldSBK hopefuls.
2026 ROUND 1 WSBK SUPERPOLE
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N. Bulega | DUC | 1'28.244 |
| 2 | Y. Montella | DUC | 1'28.663 |
| 3 | S. Lowes | DUC | 1'28.729 |
| 4 | A. Lowes | BIM | 1'28.943 |
| 5 | A. Bassani | BIM | 1'28.972 |
| 6 | D. Petrucci | BMW | 1'29.049 |
| 7 | L. Baldassarri | DUC | 1'29.191 |
| 8 | G. Gerloff | KAW | 1'29.237 |
| 9 | X. Vierge | YAM | 1'29.245 |
| 10 | A. Surra | DUC | 1'29.287 |
| 11 | T. Mackenzie | DUC | 1'29.333 |
| 12 | A. Bautista | DUC | 1'29.363 |
| 13 | I. Lecuona | DUC | 1'29.374 |
| 14 | R. Gardner | YAM | 1'29.435 |
| 15 | A. Locatelli | YAM | 1'29.760 |
| 16 | R. Vickers | HON | 1'29.969 |
| 17 | T. Nagashima | HON | 1'29.986 |
| 18 | S. Manzi | YAM | 1'30.380 |
| 19 | B. Sofuoglu | YAM | 1'30.500 |
| 20 | M. Rato | YAM | 1'30.977 |
