Nicolo Bulega names three WorldSBK riders to challenge him in Australia

Nicolo Bulega dominated the opening day of the Australian WorldSBK, but the Italian thinks three riders could challenge him for victory at Phillip Island.

The Australian circuit is clearly Bulega’s best track on the World Superbike calendar. He won his first WorldSBK race there in 2024, then won all three races in 2025. He also topped every session last year across the test and the race weekend, and is on course to do the same this year, having been fastest in all four test sessions on Monday and Tuesday earlier this week before setting the best time in both practices on Friday.

Bulega’s margin on the combined times was almost 0.5 seconds over Alex Lowes at the end of the day. Axel Bassani was not too far behind, and neither was Sam Lowes, but despite the margin between himself and the pack Bulega thinks these three will be his closest competitors in Saturday’s Race 1.

“For sure the Bimota guys are fast, also Sam Lowes,” Nicolo Bulega told WorldSBK.com after FP2 in Australia.

“There are, I think, three, four, five guys I think are fast.”

Making progress: “We tested something”

After the test this week, Bulega said there were still areas he wanted to work on on the updated 2026 Ducati Panigale V4 R.

A setup change on Friday brought some progress in dialling in the new bike.

“The test today was good, because today we tested something new on the bike – just settings,” the Italian said.

“It worked, especially this morning I had a very good feeling with the bike. 

“This afternoon, a bit less, but I think for the track conditions – it was much hotter. When it’s hotter it’s a bit more difficult to be fast, and this morning the track was very fast and I had a good feeling. 

“In general, I like the bike, I can push, so it’s good and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Pirelli has also brought a new development tyre to the Phillip Island race, the E0829. It uses the SC1 compound but a different construction to both the standard version of that tyre and the D0922 development option that was available in testing. 

The difference in construction is intended to improve consistency over a race distance, and Bulega indicated a positive first impression when he tried it on Friday.

“I tried one [E0829] today and honestly it was not bad,” he said.

“Maybe it has a little bit less grip but in the exit it’s good because the bike is moving less. 

“So, we have to consider also that tyre.”