In perfect sunshine and with blue skies all around, the peace and serenity of Phillip Island was broken by the sound of the 2023 FIM Supersport World Championship roaring into life. Despite two red flags in the opening session, it was the #11 Ducati of Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) who was on top, with more than three tenths over his nearest rival.

Bulega set 32 laps on his way to top spot, with a 1’33.564 seeing the Italian consolidate a strong pace, lapping nearly half-a-second quicker than the fastest race lap of 2022. Also, with the fastest top speed at 274km/h, Bulega hopes to maintain his form into the second session later on. He was ahead of Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), who set 28 laps and was the only other rider in the 1’33s. Third place went to Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), with the Italian rider a race winner at Phillip Island last year. Whilst he continues to adapt to Ducati, Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) hopes to hit the ground running in his second year aboard the Italian bike, as he took fourth. The first non-Italian was Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph), who made his debut aboard the bike and was straight into the top five.

Sixth place went the way of Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team), with the #64 suffering a crash with Harry Truelove (Dynavolt Triumph) 40 minutes into the session. Both were declared fit after a quick visit to the medical centre. There’s plenty of reason for home Australian fans to be excited as Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing) took seventh, one place ahead of 2021 WorldSSP300 Champion Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki). Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was ninth but suffered a technical problem at Turn 2, whilst rookie Andrea Mantovani (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) took tenth and top rookie honours. Fellow headline rookie names such as Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) were 13^th and 15^th respectively, whilst Malaysian Adam Norrodin (MIE-MS Racing Honda Team) was top Honda in 19^th.

Full results from FP1 in WorldSSP here, top six below:

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 1’33.564s

2. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.343s

3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.781s

4. Raffaele De Rose (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +0.909s

5. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +1.228s

6. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) +1.238s

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