Superbikes, 2025: Nicolo Bulega rules at Phillip Island after dominant week
Ducati star Nicolo Bulega had been quickest in testing, practice and qualifying - he then made his dominance complete when it mattered, reigning supreme over 20 laps.
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World Superbike pace-setter Nicolo Bulega thanked his pit crew for their perfect preparation but the Italian himself was close to perfection at Phillip Island, streeting the field in the opening race of the 2025 championship.
The Ducati star had been quickest in testing, practice and qualifying - he then made his dominance complete when it mattered, reigning supreme over 20 laps.
The 25-year-old paid tribute to his mechanics for providing an unbeatable motorcycle: “They were perfect, I was good. I hope to continue for the rest of the weekend.’’
Bulega led from pole and triumphed by almost five seconds, easing to the line – a stunning performance in punishing conditions as hot, dry winds swept across the island and the temperature neared 37C.
By the second lap, it was already a race for second place as Bulega cleared out on the Ducati Panigale V4R, increasing his lead by about a second every time around.
“I knew that I had a good pace, but honestly, the first two or three laps I did quite good and I just managed my gap.’’
Defending champion Toprak Razgatlioglu was happy enough to be runner-up, putting a difficult few days behind him on the BMW.
“I feel I am still fighting the bike,’’ he said, hoping to improve for Sunday’s 10-lap Superpole sprint and the 20-lap Race 2.
Bulega’s teammate Alvaro Bautista completed the podium, ahead of three more Ducatis – Danilo Petrucci, Scott Redding and Andrea Iannone.
Known as “The Maniac”, Iannone was in contention among the chasing pack but suddenly dropped back a few places approaching Turn 4, only to recover his speed.
Australian Remy Gardner was again left to rue his bad luck at his home circuit. The Yamaha rider started from ninth on the grid but slid off at Turn 4 on the opening lap.
The 26-year-old was able to remount and rejoin the race laying down solid pace, only for his race to terminate on the final corner because of technical problems with the R1 nine laps from the end.
The compulsory pit stop and tyre change for all riders caused chaos mid-race but Bulega was able to avoid the mayhem and managed his lead.
Bimota rider Alex Lowes, who finished eighth, was the only competitor to incur a time penalty for a pit infringement.
In the World Supersport support category, Aussie Oli Bayliss finished an encouraging seventh in his first race on the Triumph Street Triple RS765. Teammate Tom Booth-Amos crossed the line second, 0.322sec behind Italian Stefano Manzi on the Yamaha R9.
Australian Luke Power recovered from an injury on Friday to bring home his MV Agusta F3 in 12th place.
Spaniard Jaume Masia had crossed the line in second on the Ducati but he was penalised 3.5sec for a pit infringement and relegated to sixth.
* Tara Morrison created a slice of history late on Friday, becoming the first woman to win an Australian Supersport 300 race.
Morrison, 21 from South Australia, has ambitions to join fellow Aussie Tayla Relph in the women’s world championship series.
WHY BULEGA IS THE MAN TO BEAT
It’s one thing to ride a motorcycle fast, it’s another to be consistently fast. Italian Nicolo Bulega showed his clear ability for the latter, recording quick times around the Phillip Island circuit with metronomic regularity.
The Ducati star and 2024 World Superbike runner-up commanded the opening practice sessions at Phillip Island, making him as the man to beat this weekend.
His lap times were just fractions of seconds apart and earnt comparisons to the super-consistent Jorge Lorenzo when riding the factory Yamaha in MotoGP a decade or so ago.
Just 0.132sec separated Bulega’s best time from the morning to the afternoon session and he was the only rider on track to go under the 1min 29sec mark. His best time of the day was 1min 28.79sec and he will be hard to beat.
Second quickest was fellow Italian Andrea Iannone, also on a Ducati, who was 0.406sec back, while third was defending champion Toprak Razgatlioglu who put a morning crash behind him for some solid laps on the BMW.
Ducatis ruled the island, filling six of the seven fastest spots on the Superbike timesheets.
Australian Remy Gardner again struggled to find competitive pace on the Yamaha and was 17th fastest out of 23 competitors, on combined times.
The best Yamaha rider was Andrea Locatelli in 10th position who was still 1.315sec behind Bulega.
Bulega, 25, had earlier dominated the morning practice, heading four Ducatis at the top of the timing records.
“The Maniac” Iannone, 35, was 0.367sec back, ahead of Bulega’s teammate Alvaro Bautista and Danilo Petrucci.
Dominique Aegerter showed some hope for Yamaha in the opening session, piloting his bike to fifth spot with a fast late lap, followed by Razgatlioglu who had earlier crashed his BMW at Turn 4.
In the World Supersport superpole, Australian Oli Bayliss qualified seventh fastest on his debut aboard the Triumph Street Triple RS765.
Triumph teammate Tom Booth-Amos was second fastest in an encouraging start for the bike, and was just 0.189 sec behind pole-sitter Beau Bendsneyder who crashed his MV Agusta F3 800RR after setting the best lap time.
WHY BULEGA IS THE MAN TO BEAT
Italian Nicolo Bulega will likely be the frontrunner for the opening round of the 2025 World Superbikes series but the Ducati rider will be well aware of the unpredictability of the Phillip Island circuit.
Bulega won the first race of 2024 but Alex Lowes then popped up for his first win, and then his second, in four years.
Lowes is back this time on the returning Bimota machine and was strong in testing at the island earlier this week.
Bulega was fastest in all four testing sessions and deserves favouritism status.
But the famous island track rarely fails to deliver thrills -18 World SBK finishes have been decided by less than a tenth of a second.
Defending champion Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed in spectacular fashion at Siberia on the BMW on Monday but has recovered and still should be among the contenders.
However the 28-year-old Turk has rarely found his groove in Australia, his only triumph at the island coming five years ago.
Australian Remy Gardner has also struggled to find his best form at his home track and was 1.5 seconds behind Bulega on Tuesday, after impressing on the Yamaha in the Portugal test sessions late last month.
“There’s work to do, we’re aware of that, but let’s take the positive things from the test,’’ Gardner said on Wednesday.
“We were able to clock a decent amount of laps and gain useful data for the beginning of the season. We tried many things during these two days and now it’s time to put everything together to be ready for the first round.’’
Andrea Locatelli has emerged as the strongest rider for the Yamaha line-up after solid times this week.
But teammate and six-time champion Jonathan Rea, 38, will not be on the grid after breaking his left foot in four places on the opening day of testing.
It will be a bitter blow for the Northern Irishman who considers Phillip Island his second home – his wife Tatia is from Cowes – and he had a stunning record at the track in his championship years on the Kawasaki.
A warm forecast will give riders hope of fast times for opening practice on Friday (11.20am and 4pm), ahead of Superpole and Race 1 on Saturday and then Race 2 on Sunday.
In the World Supersport category, Aussie Oli Bayliss is hopeful of a strong showing after finishing seventh fastest in testing this week on the Triumph 765.
Countryman Luke Power was 18th on the timesheets on the MV Agusta F3 800 RR.
Originally published as Superbikes, 2025: Nicolo Bulega rules at Phillip Island after dominant week
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