The sight of a fully dry track was a novelty for some of the 22-strong rider WorldSBK field, as this year’s many winter tests in Europe have been virtual wash-outs for virtually all teams.
On day one of the official organizer’s tests at Phillip Island in Australia (Monday 16 February) held just a few days before the start of the season itself, it was a surprise to no-one that the fastest rider across both opening sessions was strong championship favourite, Nicolo Bulega. He took his new (and heavily revamped) official Ducati V4-R to top spot in both sessions. He was almost a third of a second faster than the next best rider.
After the predictable Bulega lead in the timesheets, surprises began there, because that rider was Axel Bassani on the bimota KB998 Rimini. He has really hardly turned a wheel in the dry all winter, so second place straight off was one of many slight surprises in the day one chasing pack behind Bulega.
The next closest rider, Sam Lowes on his Independent ELF Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati, as half a second behind Bulega.
Sophomore season WorldSBK Independent rider, Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing), was fourth, and the amazing sight of Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) was placed fifth. The return of his favourite crew chief, Les Pearson and some immediate set-up changes to his existing bike (now with big winglets) saw him 0.576 behind Bulega.
The second bimota, for Alex Lowes, was sixth best.
More surprises on the eve of a season with many rider and machine updates/swaps in WorldSBK, Lorenzo Baldassarri, slotted into his GoEleven Racing Ducati team nicely with a seventh placed ranking on day one.
Alvaro Bautista, a two-time WorldSBK champion and now an independent for the first time alongside Montella, was eight. Former Honda rider now Yamaha rider Xavi Vierge placed ninth and rookie WorldSBK rider Jake Dixon was a respectable tenth in a shaken up HRC effort for 2026.
Serial MotoGP race winner, Miguel Oliveira, was 11th of the 22 WorldSBK riders on show, 1.218 seconds from Bulega. New official Aruba.it rider Iker Lecuona was 12th.
Inside the top 12, fully half of the bikes were the new Ducati V4-R, with all the teams now having the new model with its double-sided swingarm and many other updates. In general, the new Ducati is lower, flatter and slightly fatter in the middle of the chassis.
Danilo Petrucci was a slightly lowly 14th on his factory BMW.
In the WorldSSP day one test rankings, 2025 rookie and proven double race winner, Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Ducati) was the fastest rider, heading-up local star Oli Bayliss (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) by 0.344 seconds. Phillip Öttl (Feel Racing Ducati) put himself into third place, with 2025 potential champion Can Öncü fourth. He now rides for the all-time most successful WorldSSP team in history, Ten Kate Racing.
The new Compos Racing Team saw Ondrej Vostatek fifth, on a non-factory Triumph.
One more day of testing will be the final ‘phoney war’ sessions before the first qualifying day takes place at PI, on Friday 20 February.
2026 Phillip Island WorldSBK Test Results—Day One
| 1 | Nicolo Bulega | ITA | Aruba.it – Ducati | 1:29.345s |
| 2 | Axel Bassani | ITA | bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team | +0.291s |
| 3 | Sam Lowes | GBR | ELF Marc VDS Racing Team | +0.562s |
| 4 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Kawasaki Team | +0.670s |
| 5 | Alex Lowes | GBR | bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team | +0.914s |
| 6 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | Team Goeleven | +0.935s |
| 7 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Barni Spark Racing Team | +0.952s |
| 8 | Yari Montella | ITA | Barni Spark Racing Team | +1.143s |
| 9 | Jake Dixon | GBR | Honda HRC | +1.147s |
| 10 | Xavi Vierge | SPA | Pata Maxus Yamaha | +1.178s |
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