After many private and collective tests, the moment of real fire has arrived and, although everything is yet to be decided and we have 12 rounds and 36 races ahead of us, the feeling is that in Australia a book will begin to be written in which Nicolo Bulega is the protagonist.
And the Ducati rider has dominated the preseason with an iron fist, including precisely the tests on Australian soil and, in fact, at Phillip Island that were held at the beginning of the week. The new Panigale V4 R seems even more dominant than Borgo Panigale’s previous bike and Nicolo seems to be in top shape, and with the necessary experience to carry the favorite banner.
That does not prevent there from being other Ducati riders such as Yari Montella, Lorenzo Baldassarri, Sam Lowes and, of course, both Iker Lecuona and Álvaro Bautista. In the case of the Italians and the British, they have been fast during the tests in which the Spaniards have been getting the pulse of the bike. In the case of Lecuona, Bulega’s partner, he has to finish getting used to the bike, while Bautista looks for a way to get the most out of a machine that, due to its weight, has to be weighed down.
Outside of the Ducati universe, things seem a little more complicated. The Bimota of Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes seem to be one step closer than the BMWs of Petrucci and Oliveira, who are still adapting to the German motorcycle if we talk about the Italian and also to the category and the tires in the case of the Portuguese.
From there things are even more complicated because at Honda their two official riders will miss the first round due to injury and at Yamaha, although fortunately everyone is fine, it does not seem that the R1 has had any notable evolution and a priori they will have to suffer. The good thing about races, yes, is that they are not decided until the checkered flag falls and everything is perfectly possible.
Phillip Island Details
Phillip Island is one of the most peculiar and emblematic tracks of the entire season and not only because it is the only one where WSBK is competed outside of Europe both in 2026 and for a few years now.
Its main characteristic is that it is a track with very fast curves and mainly to the left. Although the first curve of the layout is to the right, we are facing a circuit in an anti-clockwise direction, with a predominance of left-hand curves, which are precisely the ones that fatigue those rear tires the most. And there is a certain parity in curves, since of the twelve curves, five are right and 7 are left.
However, right-hand corners are slower and softer, but left-hand corners tend to be accelerated, such as turns two, three, seven, eleven and the one that ends up straining the tires the most, turn twelve, which is the entrance to the finish line.
Where to watch Superbike Australia 2026
One of the great advantages that WSBK has over MotoGP is that its coverage is much greater and it can also be seen for free. The one that will allow you to see the most sessions live is DAZN both through its platform and on the channels it has on different televisions.
It can also be followed for another year through Teledeporte and RTVE Play despite being fully involved in the Winter Olympic Games. We find the same situation on Eurosport, a pay channel, where they will also have their place despite the fact that most of the channel’s programming is focused on Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Superbike Australia 2026 schedules
Friday February 20
- 00:25 – 01:05: WorldSSP – FP
- 01:20 – 02:05: WorldSBK – FP1
- 04:55 – 05:35: WorldSSP – Superpole
- 06:00 – 06:45: WorldSBK – FP2
Saturday February 21
- 00:00 – 00:20: WorldSBK – FP3
- 00:30 – 00:40: WorldSSP – WUP 1
- 03:00 – 03:15: WorldSBK – Superpole
- 04:30 – WorldSSP – Race 1
- 06:00 – WorldSBK – Race 1
Sunday February 22
- 00:30 – 00:40: WorldSBK – WUP
- 00:50 – 01:00: WorldSSP – WUP 2
- 03:00 – WorldSBK – Superpole Race
- 04:30 – WorldSSP – Race 2
- 06:00 – WorldSBK – Race 2
