Round 1 of the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship made its grand return to the Phillip Island Circuit last week with 49,512 overall attendees flowing through the gates to catch a glimpse of the adrenaline fuelled world class racing.

Kicking off the event and the first round of the season, the final lot of pre-season testing took place over February 17 and 18.

Dominant throughout the WorldSBK categories test sessions, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) topped all four charts over the two days and completed a total of 107 laps.

The sophomore WorldSBK competitor set consistent pace, showcasing his talents as the only rider to tip into a 1'28 lap time - a prediction of what was to come for the Italian in the days that followed.

Moving further on into the week, Friday kicked off in sunny conditions for the world class free practice sessions.

Bulega hit the tarmac and topped the time sheets throughout all three sessions on his factory Ducati, again consistently clocking into the 1'28s.

Second on the charts for Free Practice 1 and 2, Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) clocked a best time of 1'29.196 during FP2 (and 1'29.289 during FP1).

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) rounded out the top three in FP1 with 1'29.515, whilst Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) slotted into third during FP2 at 1'29.599.

In FP3 Razgatlioglu set the second fastest pace (1'29.106), whilst Bautista was relegated to third (1'29.128).

Home hero, Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha) placed 16th at the end of both FP1 and FP2 before pushing up to ninth in FP3 with a best of 1'29.565.

Saturday

As practice wrapped, the upcoming Tissot Superpole took to the forefront of everyone's minds.

In sweltering Saturday conditions, Bulega's consistent skill and speed prevailed as the factory Ducati rider took out victory, in turn claiming pole position for the afternoon's first main race of the categories season (Race 1).

Alongside the Italian, 2024 World Champion Razgatlioglu and Iannone made up row one of the grid.

At lights out Bulega fended off the rest of the field creating a comfortable four-second gap in the process after taking the holeshot at Turn 1, solidifying his lead for the 20-lap race and setting the pace for his three-for-three that came to fruition in the 24-hours that followed.

Looking down to the remainder of the troop, Razgatlioglu ensued his battle for second against Iannone, Bautista and Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing).

Razgatlioglu held the pace and crossed the finish line with P2 secured, nearly five seconds behind Bulega.

Bautista followed suit in third with just under three-tenths of a second separating the factory Ducati rider and second placed Razgatlioglu. 

Excelling in the independant manufacturers, Danillo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) crossed the line in fourth place 1.7 seconds later.

Redding tailed closely behind, rounding out the top five for Race 1.

Gardner qualified for Race 1 just inside the top 10 at ninth on the grid.

However his commendable efforts came to an early end after suffering a technical issue during the second half of the 20-lapper, resulting in a DNF for the factory Yamaha rider at the end of Lap 12.

Sunday

Heading into Sunday's Tissot Superpole Race and the day's main event, Race 2, riders were met with a much needed southerly cool change as they took to the grid for their final competitions of the Australian round.

Sunday's Superpole Race was to be a Ducati top three, with pole-sitter, Bulega's victory streak continuing in the 10-lap sprint after a battle for first against Iannone, putting away 12 points on top of his 25 from Race 1.

By the time the chequered flag was waved a nearly three-second gap had emerged between the two Italians, relegating Iannone to second place whilst Petrucci piloted his satellite Ducati to third another two-and-a-half seconds later.

Crossing the line to complete the top five, Redding took out fourth - a strong result as the Brit gets comfortable with his new Ducati machinery and Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing) followed in fifth with just under two-tenths of a second separating the pair.

In the final race for the round, Bulega put away his first hat-trick during the late afternoon's Race 2.

The Italian crushed any competition that might have had their eyes on a race win across the entire weekend.

Crossing the finish line at the Phillip Island Circuit for the final time this season, a 2.6 second gap had emerged between Bulega and his Ducati teammate, Bautista who took out second place.

In third, Iannone piloted his satellite Ducati over the line 1.3 seconds later - also taking out first in the 20-lapper for the independents.

Redding and Petrucci took out fourth and fifth.

Bulega entered Parc Ferme ecstatic at the results, greeting his Ducati team with hugs and smiles.

His stellar performance sets him well and truly in lead of the riders championship with a rock solid 62 points in the bag - 26 ahead of Bautista and 27 ahead of Iannone who sit one-point apart in second and third.

The Italian taking out three-for-three and topping every respective test and practice time sheet sets the standard beyond high for the rest of the grid as they gear up for Round 2 in Portugal on March 28 - 30.

To see more WorldSBK news and the week's WorldSSP news go to www.worldsbk.com

For the week's Australian Superbike, Australian Supersport and Australian Supersport 300 news go to www.asbk.com.au