Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) carried on his incredible testing form into Free Practice 1 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as he topped the times ahead of Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoEleven), with 0.367s between the two. ‘Bulegas’ was both fast and consistent, as he showed during the Official Test, as he laid down a marker for the WorldSBK field at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit during the Australian Round.

Bulega's best time was a 1’28.922s as he was the only rider in the 1’28s bracket, but it was his consistency that was impressive. He completed just one stint during the 45-minute session, but it was nine laps in length, and seven of those were within a quarter of a second. Iannone lapped 0.367s slower than the #11 and did three stints, posting 1’29s, with Bulega’s teammate Alvaro Bautista in third. He was 0.593s slower than Bulega but, like his teammate, show consistency across his three stints as he primarily lapped in the 1’29s.

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) completed the quartet of Ducatis that led the field, posting a 1’29.584s to lap more than six tenths down on Bulega. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) posted a late lap to move into fifth place with a 1’29.739s ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in sixth. The reigning Champion had a disrupted session after crashing at Turn 4, but he was able to re-join the session and, after his bike was checked by mechanics in the box, returned to the track.

Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) led the Bimota charge during FP1 although both he and teammate Axel Bassani were in the top ten. The #22 set a 1’29.837s to claim seventh place while Bassani was just two positions and less than a tenth back. The pair were separated by Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in eighth place after posting a 1’29.849s. Alex Lowes' twin, Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), rounded out the top ten as he lapped 1.007s slower than Bulega’s pacesetting time.

Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing) finished down in 17^th place in his first official WorldSBK session after he crashed at Turn 10, but the rookie was able to return to the track. Other rookies showed their potential too, with Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) in 12^th and Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) in 20^th but just a tenth down on teammate Tito Rabat.

The top six from WorldSBK FP1, full results here:

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 1’28.922s

2. Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) +0.367s

3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.593s

4. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.662s

5. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.817s

6. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.857s

Watch WorldSBK FP2 from 16:00 Local Time (UTC+11) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!