WSBK Superbike Australia Superpole: Nicolo Bulega barely contains Toprak Razgatlioglu!

Sunshine, temperatures of 32° in the air and 32° on the ground, a moderate wind at 10 km/h, these were the usual conditions at Phillip Island, in Australia, to welcome the 23 drivers of the World Championship. World SBK Superbike during the 15-minute qualifying Superpole.

23 drivers in the absence of Jonathan Rhea (Pata Maxus Yamaha), after multiple fractures to his left foot suffered during the first day of testing on the southern island.

After these tests and the first sessions of the weekend, Nicholas Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was clearly the scarecrow, having dominated all the sessions so far, having been the only one to lap under 1'29 in FP3, in 1'28.903 this morning, and keeping his 2024 pole position in 1'27.916 from last year…

At the opening of the track, it is first of all the rookie Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) who stood out by setting the first reference in 1'30.232, just before Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) lost control of his CBR 1000 RR-R at turn #9, which led to red flags and the return of the competitors to the pits. The Spanish rider was evacuated on a stretcher and taken to the circuit medical center, before being declared unfit for the rest of the weekend due to a fracture of the 4th metatarsal.

After a 4-minute break, the session resumed and alex lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) improved to 1'30.053 before the final minutes brought their usual batch of decisive attacks.

As expected, these were led by official Ducati riders, firstly under the impetus of a Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in search of redemption in 1'29.523, then the unavoidable Nicolo Bulega who delivered a 1'29.058 before hammering home the point with a 1'28.824.

Good luck to him because Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), despite his complaints about the 2025 configuration of his M1000RR, finished the session only 94 thousandths behind, in the slipstream of the red Ducati. Clearly, the Turkish rider is ready to give his all to defend his title!

The brave Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Gp Eleven) completes the front row despite a mistake in the third sector due to traffic, clearly aiming for a podium on the island that has often brought him luck in MotoGP…

Looking forward to the first flag to flag race which will start at 6am French time!

Superbike Superpole Results at Phillip Island in Australia:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com

Superbike Superpole