Round 1 of the 2026 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is officially underway at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, with Friday’s 45-minute Free Practice 1 session setting the tone for the season opener.

It was a familiar name at the top of the timesheets, as Nicolò Bulega carried his pre-season form straight into race weekend. The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider was the only competitor to break into the 1’28s bracket, posting a 1’28.858 to finish 0.524 seconds clear of the field. Bulega built into the session with an extended opening stint, improving steadily before setting his quickest time on the penultimate lap of the run. The long-run pace was just as impressive as the outright time, sending an early message to the rest of the grid about his strength around Phillip Island.

Closest to the Italian was Sam Lowes, who continued his strong momentum from testing to secure second place. The Brit was comfortably clear of Axel Bassani in third, as Bassani once again showed competitive speed after a positive pre-season.

Yari Montella backed up his encouraging test performance by claiming fourth with a 1’29.561, narrowly ahead of Alex Lowes, who completed the top five for bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team. Lorenzo Baldassarri made an immediate impression on his WorldSBK return, placing sixth in the opening session of the year and firmly positioning himself in the mix.

Further down the order, Garrett Gerloff secured seventh aboard the Kawasaki ZX-10RR, edging out Alvaro Bautista by just 0.018 seconds. Miguel Oliveira finished ninth, while Iker Lecuona rounded out the top ten, narrowly ahead of Xavi Vierge, who was the leading Yamaha rider in FP1.

With Bulega already stretching clear and showing consistency across a race-distance style run, Friday morning’s session suggests the Australian Round could once again revolve around the #11 if his rivals cannot close the gap heading into qualifying and the opening races of the 12-round championship.