WorldSBK: Testing at Phillip Island concluded with Nicolo Bulega setting the pace for Ducati.
The strong form of the Italian brand was proven as they locked out the first four spots on the timesheet. The bimota duo of Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes were the closest challengers as the paddock now gears up for the first race of the season this weekend.
Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) topped all four sessions during testing and completed 138 laps of the 4.445km circuit. The Italian is the clear favourite, having set a time of 1’28.630 while also being the most consistent rider.
Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) was the closest challenger to Bulega, with the Brit six tenths of a second slower. His morning session ended with a consistent 15-lap stint, as many riders used the slightly cooler conditions for race simulations.
Bassani and Lowes showed strong pace for bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team, with the Italian setting his fastest time of the day in the morning, while Lowes left it until his final lap. The duo completed a combined total of 140 laps.
A Turn 11 crash for Jake Dixon opened the day and left the Honda HRC rider sidelined for the opening round with a fracture to his left wrist. The incident occurred on his first flying lap of the day. Later in the session, Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) crashed at Turn 2. Alvaro Bautista crashed at Turn 10 in the afternoon session, but the Barni Spark Racing Team rider still completed 74 laps to top the mileage charts.
Lorenzo Baldassari’s comeback to the Superbike class continues to impress. The Team GoEleven rider ended the test third fastest. Miguel Oliveira was the leading rookie with ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team’s Portuguese rider seventh fastest.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati)
“I feel good with the bike. We tried something different during the second session but then we decided to go back to the previous setting. When you already have a good feeling and you can push with confidence but changing things is not always better. So we returned to the morning setting and everything went well again. At the moment it’s just a test so the goal is to improve. I think there are still many areas where we can take a step forward, and I want to do that together with my team. We’ll work during these days before the race weekend and then we’ll see where we are.”
P2 – Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team)
“I had a really good day. We improved the bike this afternoon and I started to find a good rhythm after doing a longer run this morning to understand my feeling with the bike. I did my best lap on the second run of the tyre which is positive at Phillip Island. I feel competitive. With the hard tyre I think we’ll be a bit closer and that’s the tyre that we’ll have for the race. The team has done a great job to improve the bike session by session. I still have areas we can work on but we’re in the mix.”
P3 – Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven)
“It was another positive day. I enjoyed the bike and the track and I could improve lap after lap. We’re working on the base setting to suit me better. It was good to confirm yesterday’s speed and today we focused on consistency with the race tyre. Honestly, the results from testing is a bit unexpected because during tests I prefer to build step by step rather than push too much. But we improved the pace, built a strong feeling with the bike, and I think we’re ready for the first race weekend.”
Day 2 Combined Results:
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’28.630s
2. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.666s
3. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +0.698s
4. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.721s
5. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.743s
6. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.945s
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