WorldSBK 2026
Round One – Phillip Island
Superbike Rider Reflections
Nicolo Bulega – 62 points (P1)
“It was an amazing weekend. Honestly, it was incredible. The Superpole Race this morning was a bit tricky because it started to rain and we were on slick tyres. I had to be very careful but we won and I really enjoyed the race. I was a bit angry before Race 2 because I knew I had a very good feeling and strong pace in the dry but it started to rain. I tried to turn that frustration into positive energy to win in the wet as well. I started well and had a good feeling from the start. The track became quite slippery but I managed to win again. I’m really happy.”
Axel Bassani – 42 points (P2)
“This is my most successful weekend in WorldSBK, 100%. I enjoyed Race One a lot yesterday as I was able to do a lot of overtakes, but today we were able to do what we wanted to do. We are second in the championship, but for me the most important thing is to have a good feeling with the bike and especially inside the team. At this moment, it is working, so we can continue like this. Today, before Race Two, I was not expecting a race like this in the wet conditions. In winter testing, I did a few laps in the wet, but my feeling was not really good. I could not make more days due to the test limitations, so in Portimao Xavi Fores made a very good job, and with the team they found a nice base for wet conditions. That was so useful today. So at the start of Race Two, I tried to be clean, consistent, and make no mistakes. In the end, this paid off. We finished with a double P2 today, so we are happy!”
Yari Montella – 26 points (P3)
“It’s been a positive weekend. The work we started already in testing allowed us to be consistently fast. Today in the Superpole Race we had good pace; we started strong, led the race for a few laps and the feeling was good. It’s a pity for the slight slowdown for a couple of laps when I saw some raindrops, I lost a few positions and that cost us the podium by a very small margin. Still, it was a performance I’m satisfied with. Race 2 was particular, with very difficult conditions. Unfortunately I crashed, a strange fall that is happening again in wet conditions with this bike and that we still can’t fully explain. It wasn’t a riding mistake nor a team error, but we need to find a setup that allows me to feel more confident in the wet. Now we keep our heads down and continue working in this direction.”
Lorenzo Baldassarri – 25 points (P4)
“Today, in some ways, motivated me even more than yesterday. The conditions were unusual, the weather changed frequently, and it rained heavily in Race 2. I had to manage everything directly in the race for the first time, without any practice. I made a few riding mistakes in the morning, but I didn’t know how much I could push with the slicks in the wet, but we did it. In Race 2, I had an incredible pace, catching up with my rivals quite easily. It’s a shame I threw away a result at the start. The positive thing, however, is that I didn’t give up, and we were very fast. Here at Phillip Island, I found a special feeling with this bike, which I hope to bring to Europe as well. I want to thank the team, Ducati, and all the people with me for the results achieved. I can’t wait to get back on the bike!”
Álvaro Bautista – 19 points (P5)
“In the morning we were able to try the electronic changes we made yesterday and I immediately felt better, with more feeling on the bike. In the Superpole Race we made a good comeback from twelfth to seventh and, most importantly, we confirmed the progress compared to the tests and the rest of the weekend. We are working in the right direction and lap after lap my confidence is increasing, which allows me to keep pushing. In Race 2 the conditions were very difficult. In the first laps it was hard to find reference points because of the riders in front of me and the spray, but then I found my rhythm. I’m happy because I always felt in control and had a good pace without taking excessive risks. At the end, as the track started to dry, it became more difficult to manage the rain tyres. After yesterday’s mistake it was important to finish the race and doing it on the podium is a great satisfaction for the whole team. It was a demanding weekend, our first together, but the team’s work has been exceptional and I’m confident for the next races.”
Iker Lecuona – 19 points (P6)
“To be honest, on the one hand, I’m a bit frustrated with how things went in Race 2. From the first few laps, the feeling with the rear wasn’t what I wanted. On the other hand, I’m happy to have recovered positions and finished a weekend I consider positive, having gained a lot of experience. We are doing a great job with the team, step by step, and I can’t wait to be in Portimão.”
Miguel Oliveira – 17 points (P8)
“It was an eventful race but our progress is clear. I’ve shown more speed and I feel better with the bike. I’ve raced in all conditions, with both a full wet and a full dry race. Starting from the back of the grid made things difficult so we need to improve our qualifying. I’m confident we can do that in Portimao. That will allow us to understand our potential when starting much further up the grid. We can go to Portimao with our heads held high because we’ve improved the bike. We also have two extra days before the race and I’m sure we can show even more competitiveness there.”
Danilo Petrucci – 16 points (P10)
“Finally, we had our first race weekend. We knew it would be tough because of not much testing this winter, so we mainly started to work on the bike last Monday during the test here. I set my target to be into the top ten and we always achieved that. We are aiming for more but I can be happy. Especially because race two today was really difficult in regards of visibility and the lack of grip but we managed to stay up to finish in sixth place to score a bit of points. I must say that I feel really confident about the future because I‘m working really well with my team and my crew, so this makes me happy. I can‘t wait to ride the bike again at Portimao.”
Alex Lowes – 16 points (P11)
“The Superpole Race was good. Our base setting we had in Europe, that we found from the second half of last winter, I had been really happy with. But it has not been working here. Between Saturday and Sunday we made probably the biggest change on the bike inside a race weekend. I was quite happy with the Superpole Race because I was on a bike setting that I had more or less never ridden before warm-up, for ten minutes. I think I can be quite positive going back to Europe. We started with a dry bike setting but wet tyres in Race Two, and I didn’t have any grip. I was up for it off the start, again I had a good start, and nearly led it on the first lap. Then I realised that I could not lean the bike like the other guys, so I started going backwards.”
Garrett Gerloff – 15 points (P12)
“The weather was crazy on Sunday. Compared to how we finished yesterday, I am so much more happy with how we finished today. I am happy with our performance in the Superpole Race, mainly. I feel like we made a big step with the bike in general. I was feeling really good riding it, and in a good position for Race Two. I tried my best in the rain, and felt really good initially. Then as the pace dropped, and everybody started going faster and faster, I started having more and more ‘moments’ on the bike. I tried to keep up but was not able to. We got a top ten finish, so we will take it for now. I am really looking forward to the next round in Portimao.”
Andrea Locatelli – 14 points (P13)
“It was not an easy weekend for us for sure. The positions that we got, let me say are not enough because we know that we can do a lot more. We came here with the focus to try to be faster and faster, but for some reasons we were not able to do it. We need to keep working hard, but I want to be positive – today, the challenges were different and I tried to do my best. I gave all the effort from the beginning of the weekend, but we didn’t have enough confidence or speed. Fortunately, today in the wet, at least I was able to improve to fifth place. This is what we got from this weekend, for sure we lost many points, but the championship is not finished – it’s only the first race and I want to stay positive. Now, we have Portimão where we were on the podium last year and then we won in Assen – so we need to keep looking forward, push hard and get back to our usual level.”
Tetsuta Nagashima – 7 points (P15)
“Today was a challenge, especially because it was the first time this weekend that we faced wet conditions, so it wasn’t easy for me to find the right feeling straight away. On top of that, the conditions were changing constantly during the day, and we didn’t have much data for this situation, so we tried to approach the setup in the smartest and calmest way possible. After a demanding Superpole race, I have to say that the overall feeling with the bike in Race 2 was not at all bad. There were only a few areas where I felt uncomfortable due to the amount of water on track, but that’s quite normal in these conditions. My start was really bad. There was a lot of spray through the first corner, and I could barely see the front. I dropped to last place midway through the opening lap, but I tried to stay calm and find my rhythm again. Step by step, I managed to pass a few riders. My pace was not amazing, but not too bad either and I feel there is still some margin – that’s important for me. The key thing today was to avoid mistakes. It was very important to finish the race without crashing and without pushing like crazy. I tried to manage the race and collect as much useful data as possible for the future. Looking at the whole weekend, I really enjoyed working with the team. They are pushing hard and we are improving step by step. We will continue working together to take another step forward in the next races.”
Remy Gardner – 3 points (P16)
“It’s been a tough weekend, honestly, but we can still take some positives. We made progress overall, and I was able to ride despite the injury, which is important. I’m happy to have finished the races and gathered valuable data. Now we head back to Europe, where we’ll return to the tyres we’re more familiar with. We also have a test in Portimão before the race, so hopefully we can find more speed, regroup, and come back stronger.”
Stefano Manzi – 2 points (P17)
“It was a crazy Sunday due to the changing weather conditions, even from the morning. Thankfully, we were able to complete some dry laps in Warm Up and then race in dry conditions in the Superpole Race. The feeling improved a lot compared to yesterday, and I really enjoyed the battles. Unfortunately, Race 2 was much more difficult. I felt confident going into the wet race after our test in Jerez, but the feeling wasn’t there, and I couldn’t ride the way I wanted. We’ll keep working to improve and, back in Europe, I hope we can make a step forward.
Xavi Vierge
“So, even if it’s been so difficult, we need to take the positives – I think the job we did in preparing for the race weekend has been good, we were fast, we found a good set-up for me to exploit the strongest points of my riding style and also of the R1. Unfortunately, in the races, we didn’t get the results that we expected, but as I say – we try to take the positives. Also, I had a massive 250km/h crash yesterday and physically, I’m very good – so we need to be super happy with that! In Race 2, I tried to find confidence in the wet, but I never had a good feeling on the rear. When I overtook a few riders, I tried to go forward because I had a good pace and unfortunately, I lost the rear on the exit of Turn 2, so I’m sorry to the team for this mistake. Luckily very soon we are back on the bike for two days testing at Portimão and I hope to recover the good feelings and to believe strongly that we go in the right direction again.”
Marco Barnabò – Barni Racing Team Team Principal
“We arrived in Australia with a completely new bike, without having done much testing and with a new rider in the team. Despite that, we managed to bring both riders onto the podium, which gives great value to the work done. I’m sorry for Montella’s crash in Race 2, he deserved the podium, but in the wet the conditions were truly critical and it only took very little to make a mistake. The important thing is that we were fast and competitive from the start, also with Álvaro. In a short time we found a base setup that he likes and from which we can continue improving. I want to thank the riders and all the team members, who worked hard and well throughout the weekend. Thanks also to our sponsors who support us and allow us to be competitive at this level.”
Paul Denning – Pata Maxus Yamaha Team Principal
“Phillip Island in 2025 was a really challenging event, but unfortunately this year’s has been even more so! Xavi has found such a good rhythm and feeling with the R1 WorldSBK already, so we had high hopes going into the races – following a strong qualifying – that he would be able to capitalise on that potential. The huge Race 1 accident was extremely unfortunate – and then, a technical issue with the freshly-rebuilt bike cost him the chance to compete in the Superpole Race today. A lack of rear grip and the crash this afternoon in the rain only rounded-off a really unlucky first event, but looking past all of that – what we’ve seen so far gives us a lot of hope for the future with Pata Maxus Yamaha. He’s physically fine despite the two accidents and we’re looking forward to him showing what we all believe he’ll be capable of. Loka’s known the R1 for many years now and has always been fast wherever we go, but in reality this was his most difficult event since joining the team in 2021. A positive was that he pushed really hard in the early laps of the wet Race 2 to go from 15th on the grid all the way up to fifth position, which showed that his determination hasn’t been dampened at all. Overall, not at all what we hoped for this weekend at Phillip Island. Clearly there are many frustrations, because the results don’t truly reflect the capabilities of the R1 WorldSBK, as we have been more competitive here in previous years. Together with Yamaha, we need to ensure that the issues faced here are solved and that we again maximise our potential, ahead of the European campaign which kicks off with the Portimao test in March.”
WorldSBK Race Two Results
 |
||||
|
Pos |
Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
|
1 |
N. Bulega |
Duc |
37m21.038 |
312.7 |
|
2 |
A. Bassani |
Bim |
+11.336 |
301.3 |
|
3 |
A. Bautista |
Duc |
+17.790 |
312.7 |
|
4 |
T. Mackenzie |
Duc |
+28.356 |
309.1 |
|
5 |
A. Locatelli |
Yam |
+30.966 |
306.5 |
|
6 |
D. Petrucci |
BMW |
+31.901 |
306.5 |
|
7 |
M. Oliveira |
BMW |
+32.135 |
306.5 |
|
8 |
I. Lecuona |
Duc |
+32.608 |
303.9 |
|
9 |
L. Baldassarri |
Duc |
+33.241 |
299.7 |
|
10 |
G. Gerloff |
Kaw |
+48.734 |
301.3 |
|
11 |
T. Nagashima |
Hon |
+52.224 |
302.2 |
|
12 |
A. Surra |
Duc |
+58.908 |
300.5 |
|
13 |
R. Gardner |
Yam |
+1’06.503 |
299.7 |
|
14 |
S. Manzi |
Yam |
+1’33.080 |
298.0 |
|
15 |
B. Sofuoglu |
Yam |
+1’40.750 |
298.8 |
|
RET |
A. Lowes |
Bim |
4 Laps |
304.7 |
|
RET |
Y. Montella |
Duc |
7 Laps |
310.9 |
|
RET |
X. Vierge |
Yam |
10 Laps |
307.3 |
|
RET |
S. Lowes |
Duc |
15 Laps |
304.7 |
|
RET |
R. Vickers |
Hon |
15 Laps |
290.0 |
|
RET |
M. Rato |
Yam |
22 Laps |
238.8 |
WorldSBK Superpole Race Results
|
|||
|
Pos |
RIder |
Bike |
Time/Gap |
|
1 |
N. Bulega |
Duc |
14m56.175 |
|
2 |
A. Bassani |
Bim |
+2.752 |
|
3 |
A. Lowes |
Bim |
+3.563 |
|
4 |
Y. Montella |
Duc |
+3.585 |
|
5 |
S. Lowes |
Duc |
+3.985 |
|
6 |
G. Gerloff |
Kaw |
+4.250 |
|
7 |
A. Bautista |
Duc |
+5.118 |
|
8 |
L. Baldassarri |
Duc |
+8.178 |
|
9 |
I. Lecuona |
Duc |
+9.291 |
|
10 |
D. Petrucci |
BMW |
+9.512 |
|
11 |
T. Mackenzie |
Duc |
+9.893 |
|
12 |
A. Surra |
Duc |
+11.264 |
|
13 |
S. Manzi |
Yam |
+14.366 |
|
14 |
A. Locatelli |
Yam |
+14.565 |
|
15 |
R. Vickers |
Hon |
+14.887 |
|
16 |
R. Gardner |
Yam |
+15.151 |
|
17 |
T. Nagashima |
Hon |
+19.065 |
|
18 |
M. Oliveira |
BMW |
+19.207 |
|
19 |
B. Sofuoglu |
Yam |
+22.042 |
|
20 |
M. Rato |
Yam |
+29.157 |
WorldSBK Championship Points
|
|
||
|
Pos |
Rider | Points |
|
1 |
N. Bulega |
62 |
|
2 |
A. Bassani |
42 |
|
3 |
Y. Montella |
26 |
|
4 |
L. Baldassarri |
25 |
|
5 |
A. Bautista |
19 |
|
6 |
I. Lecuona |
19 |
|
7 |
T. Mackenzie |
17 |
|
8 |
M. Oliveira |
17 |
|
9 |
S. Lowes |
16 |
|
10 |
D. Petrucci |
16 |
|
11 |
A. Lowes |
16 |
|
12 |
G. Gerloff |
15 |
|
13 |
A. Locatelli |
14 |
|
14 |
A. Surra |
11 |
|
15 |
T. Nagashima |
7 |
|
16 |
R. Gardner |
3 |
|
17 |
S. Manzi |
2 |
|
18 |
B. Sofuoglu |
1 |
|
19 |
R. Vickers |
1 |
2026 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship calendar
|
|||||
|
……Date……. |
Country |
Circuit |
WorldSBK |
WorldSSP |
WorldSPB |
|
20-22 Feb |
AUS |
Phillip Island GP |
X |
X |
|
|
27-29 Mar |
POR |
Algarve Int’l |
X |
X |
X |
|
17-19 Apr |
NED |
TT Assen |
X |
X |
X |
|
1-3 May |
HUN |
Balaton Park |
X |
X |
|
|
15-17 May |
CZE |
Most |
X |
X |
X |
|
29-31 May |
ESP |
MotorLand Aragon |
X |
X |
X |
|
12-14 Jun |
ITA |
Misano – Marco Simoncelli |
X |
X |
X |
|
10-12 Jul |
UK |
Donington Park |
X |
X |
|
|
4-6 Sep |
FRA |
Nevers Magny-Cours |
X |
X |
X |
|
25-27 Sep |
ITA |
Cremona |
X |
X |
X |
|
9-11 Oct |
POR |
Estoril |
X |
X |
|
|
16-18 Oct |
ESP |
Jerez – Angel Nieto* |
X |
X |
X |
2026 World Superbike Championship Entry List
|
||
|
Rider |
Bike |
Team |
|
I.Lecuona |
Duc |
Aruba.It Ducati |
|
N.Bulega |
Duc |
Aruba.It Ducati |
|
D.Petrucci |
BMW |
ROKiT BMW Motorrad |
|
M.Oliveira |
BMW |
ROKiT BMW Motorrad |
|
A.Locatelli |
Yam |
Pata Maxus Yamaha |
|
X.Vierge |
Yam |
Pata Maxus Yamaha |
|
Y.Montella |
Duc |
Barni Spark |
|
A.Bautista |
Duc |
Barni Spark |
|
A.Lowes |
Bim |
bimota by Kawasaki |
|
A.Bassani |
Bim |
bimota by Kawasaki |
|
S.Chantra |
Hon |
Honda HRC |
|
J.Dixon |
Hon |
Honda HRC |
|
S.Manzi |
Yam |
GYTR GRT Yamaha |
|
R.Gardner |
Yam |
GYTR GRT Yamaha |
|
S.Lowes |
Duc |
ELF Marc VDS |
|
L.Baldassarri |
Duc |
Goeleven |
|
T.Mackenzie |
Duc |
MGM Racing |
|
G.Gerloff |
Kaw |
Kawasaki WorldSBK |
|
A.Surra |
Duc |
Motocorsa |
|
M.Rato |
Yam |
Motoxracing |
|
B.Sofuoglu |
Yam |
Motoxracing |
|
A.Iannone |
Duc |
Cainam Racing |