Bulega on top as Ducati dominates Friday WorldSBK practice at Phillip Island
Nicolo Bulega fastest in both Friday practice sessions for the 2025 Australian World Superbike round.
Fastest throughout the Phillip Island test, Nicolo Bulega extended his Australian dominance to a clean sweep of Friday practice for the season-opening World Superbike round.
The Italian was the first of six Ducatis in the top seven, broken only by Toprak Razgatlioglu, who jumped up to third while chasing Bulega.
However, BMW’s reigning world champion, who fell at Turn 4 this morning, soon lost touch with the Aruba rider.
As in the morning, Andrea Iannone proved Bulega’s closest challenger. But the Go Eleven rider finished a substantial 0.406s behind as Bulega topped all four Sectors of the Phillip Island lap.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni), Alvaro Bautista (Aruba), Sam Lowes (Marc VDS) and Yari Montella (Barni) filled fourth to seventh places on the timesheets, followed by the Bimota of Alex Lowes.
Bonovo's Scott Redding overcame this morning’s technical issues to make it seven Ducatis in the top ten, ahead of Razgatlioglu’s team-mate Michael van der Mark.
Andrea Locatelli was the leading Yamaha in eleventh place, with Xavi Vierge the top Honda in 15th.
Final practice, Superpole and Race 1 take place on Saturday, when temperatures are predicted to rise into the 30s.
Both main races will again feature a mandatory pit stop, due to tyre concerns, with riders and teams practicing wheel changes at the end of the afternoon session.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
