2026 Phillip Island WorldSBK Test Results—Day Two
The preseason Phillip Island WorldSBK tests completed on Tuesday, February 17, with once again Nicolo Bulega and his official Aruba.it Ducati topping the rankings.
Bulega took his Ducati V4-R to a 1’28.630 best lap time, which he set in the very last session at the 4.445km long PI circuit.
Second fastest at the finish was Sam Lowes on his Independent ELF Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati, but he was 0.666 of a second (make of that what you will) slower than Bulega’s best pace.
Third overall was another Ducati rider, but it was the second day surprise man and WorldSBK returnee, Lorenzo Baldassarri, on his all-new GoEleven V4-R.
All of the top three set their best lap times in the fourth and final track outing for the WorldSBK riders, when the conditions should not have been as advantageous as they were in the earlier sessions.
An overall top four clean sweep was completed by the Barni Spark Racing Team rider, Yari Montella, who posted his PB time in the Tuesday morning session.
Two bimotas brought the fight closest to Ducati on the final day, with Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes fifth and sixth, respectively.
Recent MotoGP rider, Miguel Oliveira, took his factory BMW to seventh best time, one place up on new Ducati factory signing, Iker Lecuona.
Lecuona’s recent HRC Honda teammate, Xavi Vierge, was ninth best overall (on his Pata Maxus Yamaha) while American rider Garrett Gerloff rounded out the overall top 10 on his Kawasaki WorldSBK team Ninja.
Day 2 Combined Results (Top 10)
- Nicolo Bulega (Duc) 1:28.630
- Sam Lowes (Duc) +0.666
- Lorenzo Baldassarri (Duc) +0.698
- Yari Montella (Duc) +0.721
- Axel Bassani (bim) +0.743
- Alex Lowes (bim) +0.945
- Miguel Oliveira (BMW) +1.046
- Iker Lecuona (Duc) +1.139
- Xavi Vierge (Yam) +1.182
- Garrett Gerloff (Kaw) +1.193
Jake Dixon joined his new HRC Honda teammate Somkiat Chantra in the pre-season injury list after breaking his left wrist on the final day.
In the WorldSSP class, Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura Ducati) led the way on day two, with Oli Bayliss (PTR Triumph Factory racing) second (by just 0.034 of a second) and his teammate Tom Booth-Amos third.
The overall WorldSBK season kicks off at PI this coming weekend, between February 20-22.
2026 Phillip Island WorldSBK Test Results—Day Two
| 1 | Nicolo Bulega | ITA | Aruba.it – Ducati | 1:28.630s |
| 2 | Sam Lowes | GBR | ELF Marc VDS Racing Team | +0.666s |
| 3 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | Team Goeleven | +0.698s |
| 4 | Axel Bassani | ITA | bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team | +0.852s |
| 5 | Alex Lowes | GBR | bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team | +0.945s |
| 6 | Yari Montella | ITA | Barni Spark Racing Team | +1.030s |
| 7 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | Aruba.it – Ducati | +1.238s |
| 8 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team | +1.275s |
| 9 | Tarran Mackenzie | GBR | MGM Optical Express Racing | +1.327s |
| 10 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Kawasaki Team | +1.456s |
2026 Phillip Island WorldSBK Test Results—Day One
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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