Nicolo Bulega sealed a convincing flag-to-flag WorldSBK Superpole victory at Phillip Island, winning his second race of the weekend.
No rider could reach the levels displayed by the 25-year-old, but Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci finished as his closest challengers to round off the podium list.
All riders started in the same positions as in Race 1, and once again, Bulega sustained his lead into Turn 1.
Iannone and the second Aruba.it Ducati rider of Alvaro Bautista snatched second and third off defending champion Toprak Razgatlioglu from the get-go.
As the field headed into Turn 4 chaos ensued as Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista weren’t able to brake heading into the corner on their respective bikes.
Quite incredibly, both riders were able to avoid crashing into other riders nearby. Fortunately, Razgatlioglu found a small and fortunate spot between Iannone and Bulega to slot his bike towards as he went into the gravel traps.
This incident was well anticipated by Bautista who steered his bike off course into the gravel traps to avoid any further chaos.
Garrett Gerloff and Xavi Vierge crashed out at this very corner, too, but both riders rejoined and avoided injuries. Two laps later HRC rider Vierge was issued a long-lap penalty for irresponsible riding as he was the root cause for this particular incident.
Bautista suffered a crash on Lap 2 himself but later rejoined despite sustaining damage to his V4 Panigale.
Back on track, Bulega established a near-second advantage in the opening half of the race. Behind the Italian were three of the leading satellite Ducati teams as2 Petrucci and Scott Redding squabbled for the final podium spot.
As the leading four riders spaced out by Lap 5, Marc VDS rider Sam Lowes entered the fold after displaying rapid lap times as he caught up to the back of his fellow countryman, Redding.
Razgatlioglu recovered his way through the field to pass WorldSBK rookie Ryan Vickers on Lap 6, though question marks loomed over a potential penalty for his riding on Lap 1.
The Turkish rider will start 10th for Race 2 later in the afternoon as he had not reached ninth place by the end of the race.
After the ten laps, Bulega crossed the line to win once again with ease, where the Italian established a 2.324s advantage to win once again.
Four independent Ducati teams finished in second to fifth place, led by Team GoEleven rider Iannone who made up for his woes in the first race.
Petrucci fended off Redding despite the Brit’s continued pressure, as the 2024 lead independent rider finished one better from Race 1.
Lowes managed an impressive fifth, finishing ahead of Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli who endured a quiet race considering the drama from the start.
Alex Lowes established seventh for Bimota on its return to the Superbike paddock, edging out the second Barni Spark rider of Yari Montella.
Axel Bassani’s ninth-placed finish ensured an impressive top-ten display for both Bimota riders, as the Italian pipped hometown hero Remy Gardner to ensure the best possible start for Race 2 later on today.
Dominique Aegerter finished in 11th place as Razgatlioglu recovered to an uncharacteristic 12th place finish.
Vierge recovered from his fall to finish ahead of the second BMW rider Michael van der Mark, who relinquished multiple positions on the final lap due to bike troubles.
Vickers picked up 15th spot after occupying the vast majority of the race there as he continued his adaption to the series.
