Nicholas Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) had dominated the private winter tests and continued in the same vein yesterday, during the first day of Official Test of the FIM Supersport World Championship in Phillip Island, Australia.
Author of a best lap in 1'33.564, the Italian has already beaten his 2022 benchmark, a time of 1'34.027 achieved in FP2 since the Superpole took place on a wet track. The official Ducati Supersport rider is therefore truly a scarecrow this year and has so far only left access to his direct competitors, starting with Stefano manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), 2nd in FP1 and FP2 who bravely defends the colors of Iwata in the middle of the productions of Borgo Panigale.
Combined results WSBK Supersport Test Phillip Island J1:
After yesterday's blue sky, it's time for clouds this morning for a first Supersport session where Stefano manzi takes the track first in front Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Valentine Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) and Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha).
1'33.527 to beat and 1'34.702 achieved by the Italian from the Ten Kate team in his first flying lap, then 1'34.379 on the next pass: It seems possible...
In the meantime, Nicolò Open up takes all his time and stays in his box for a while. When he decides to leave, he quickly interferes between Stefano manzi
et Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), thus placing three Italians at the top of the standings.
Logically, the leader of the winter tests did not stop there and recorded 1'34.133 at the end of the first quarter of an hour, perpetuating for the moment the same start of the classification as the day before. Behind the three transalpines, we find the two KawasakisAdrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) and Can Öncü, at least until the Ducati of Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) slots in between the ZX-6Rs. Before the end of the first run, Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) places its Street Triple RS in 4th position.
At the start of the 2nd run, Valentine Debise progressed from 15th to 9th place, but the thunderbolt came when Nicolò Open up slams a 1'33.111! The spearhead of Borgo Panigale now has more than a second ahead of his immediate pursuer! Phillip Island is (momentarily) stunned…
Once the mid-session mark has been reached, Stefano manzi reacted and produced his effort by bringing his Yamaha R6 to within 0,785 seconds of the official Panigale V2, whileAdrian Huertas places the Kawasaki in 3rd position. A few minutes later, the Ten Kate Yamaha rider was still demoted by Yari Montella et Can Öncü.
In the last quarter of an hour, Nicolò Open up repeats his best time several times to within a few thousandths, losing a little time in the 4th sector.
Can Öncü progresses to 2nd place whileOliver Bayliss (D34G Racing), like yesterday, enters the Top 5.
6 minutes from the checkered flag, Stefano manzi made one last attempt and recovered his 2nd place from yesterday by achieving a beautiful 1'33.277. We still remember that the 2019 Superpole was in 1'32.604, by Federico Caricasulo. We'll see this year...
Results WSBK Supersport Test Phillip Island J2 FP1:
Classification credit: Worldsbk.com
