WSBK Superbike Test Phillip Island J2: Who will catch Nicolò Bulega? Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci on the hunt.

The Ducatista Nicholas Bulega closes the Superbike pre-season in the best possible way at Phillip Island but IA29 does not give up. Toprak and BMW lagging behind? The last session was disrupted by rain.

By Paul Gozzi / Corsedimoto.com

Is there a new sheriff in the Superbike paddock?
Nicholas Bulega finished the pre-season dominating the stage, with his usual style: precise, methodical, determined. In the third session, the only one of the day with a dry track, he went down to 1'28.680, halfway between the time of the day before (1'28.765) and the race record he set last year (1'28.564). At Phillip Island, the Ducatista made a great demonstration of superiority, an ideal continuation of his triumph on his debut in this category twelve months ago. In the three challenges of next weekend, beating him will be a feat. The Australian roller coaster is always a story in itself, but let's not forget that "Bulegass" had also been ultra-fast in the European pre-season stages, between Jerez and Portimao. The second session of the day was no exception: the track was wet at the beginning and almost dry only in the last minutes. But even in complicated conditions, guess who was in the lead…

Third session: the fastest, superlative Ducati
Tuesday morning's session was the fastest, with the top twelve improving on their times from the day before. Remember that the two long races of the Australian round (20 laps) will be conditioned by the mandatory tire change, to be carried out between the 9th and 11th lap. So, like last year, grip management will not be a problem, because in practice, we will see five sprint races. This is the reason why the teams did not carry out long-distance tests.

In the third round, Nicholas Bulega has completed five outings of six laps each, with a cruising speed of around 29 seconds. The Ducati has worked hard this winter and, at least at Phillip Island, it shows absolute superiority. Behind Bulega, we find the two terrible "privateers", namely Andrea Iannone et Danilo Petrucci, andAlvaro Bautista, weighted, finished the pre-season in fifth position.

BMW conquers the Superbike
In the middle of the Panigale V4 squadron is Troprak Razgatlioglu with a BMW orphaned from the more flexible prototype chassis that had been decisive in 24. The Germans were convinced that they could use it again this time, despite having lost the super concessions, but in November Dorna clarified and had the International Motorcycling Federation rewrite the rule that was not clear in the regulations: if you lose the advantages, you have to race with the road chassis, which is more rigid. Is this a decisive handicap for the world champion? We will have to wait a few rounds to have a clear idea. For now, the certainty is that Ducati has taken a significant step forward and has an ace up its sleeve: Bulega.

The reds who accelerate!
Even on the last day, the Superbikes ran without any fuel consumption limit, because the FIM stewards indicated 48,9 kg/hour as the regulatory value, far from the threshold indicated in the regulations of 47 kg/hour. We explained here what this means and what it implies. The fact is that on the Phillip Island straight, the Ducatis are flying: Petrucci (who is also quite heavy…) went to 324,9 km/h, Iannone and Bulega to 322,9, Bautista (with 5 kilos of ballast) to 321,9. Even the rookies Montella and Vickers with the Panigale flew: 320,1 for both. The Honda defended itself (Virgin 320.1) but the BMW fell seriously behind: Toprak did not exceed 317.2, barely better than the other M1000RR of van der Mark. The Bimota (powered by Kawasaki) did 318,2 while the Yamaha stopped at 315,4 with Locatelli. The top speed in Australia is also influenced by the speed in the last corner, but it remains indicative.

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Paul Gozzi