Rookie Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) was one of the stars of the Friday show in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship with a top-ten finish and lapping just two tenths away from teammate Danilo Petrucci. The #5 was seventh during Free Practice 2 as he impressed on his first official day as a WorldSBK rider on the Panigale V4 R as the 2025 season kicked off at the picturesque Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

During Free Practice 1, Montella posted a best time of 1’30.289s with two stints. The first stint was a bit more inconsistent – perhaps no surprise for a rookie – but a bit more consistency came in the second stint, which was a race stint. His best time of that stint, and session, came on the third-last run, showing that the #5 was still finding time throughout the stint as he continued adjusting to WorldSBK machinery after several seasons in WorldSSP.

In FP2, Montella completed two runs of 10 laps each, performing a race simulation given the mandatory pit stops in place for Race 1 and Race 2. In the first run, all but the first two laps were in the 1’30s brackets and only one was slower than 1’30.5s – and only by 0.029s. In the second stint, all but three again were slower than 1’30s while he set his 1’29.815s on the second-last lap of the run, perhaps showing there’s more to come in terms of race pace for the Italian.

Reviewing his first day as a WorldSBK rider during a round, Montella said: “It was a good day for us. I enjoyed it a lot. We have been in a process, always getting better. We’re pushing to the limit because I need to understand the bike, to know it and the limit of the bike. At the same time, I’m happy because every session, I’m getting better, and I close the gap to the top. That is what I see overall, more than the position. My goal is to close the gap. I’d be happy today if I finished 10^th or 12^th, but I’m much happier for the one second, I have to the top!”

Montella has shown good pace since starting his testing programme on the Panigale V4 R. After finishing third in WorldSSP last season, Montella moved into WorldSBK with the same Barni Ducati squad, racing alongside Petrucci. It’s given the 25-year-old a good yardstick and during Free Practice 2, the rookie was only two tenths away from the two-time MotoGP™ winner as he continued his quick adaptation to the Panigale V4 R and also continued to impress.

Discussing what his goals for his first round in WorldSBK are, Montella said: “My goal is something that we can catch because I think we have, at the moment, the possibility to finish in the top ten. I think it’s something we can achieve but we’ll see. If I’m P5, I won’t close the gap to finish P10! At the moment, this is my goal.”

Can Montella secure a debut top ten finish? Find out with Race 1 on Saturday at 16:00 Local Time (UTC+11) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!