Superbike at Phillip Island speaks Italian: ready, set, go! The 2024 season begins under the sign of the Italian flag, with an electrifying Race 1 which saw Nicolò Bulega triumph on his debut. The official Ducati rider leads an all-Italian hat-trick, with Andrea Locatelli in second position ahead of Andrea Iannone, third on his return to racing.
Great show of strength from the reigning Supersport champion, who after having dominated the winter tests, confirmed himself in this first part of the weekend, winning the Superpole by starting in front of everyone. Bulega also managed to manage the flag-to-flag race strategy (with mandatory pit stops due to excessive tire wear), winning by a full two seconds ahead of his Yamaha compatriot. Excellent performance also for Locatelli, who showed great growth throughout last year and continues to demonstrate progress with second position in Race 1.
Completing an all-Italian podium is Iannone, who took third position on his return to racing after a four-year hiatus. The driver from Vasto, starting from the front row, took first position in the early stages of the race, only to then “settle” for third place in the final, which makes him the best of the independent drivers with the Goeleven team.
Phillip Island confirms itself as a favorable track for Alex Lowes, who remains at the foot of the podium with his Kawasaki. Despite being a full two seconds behind Iannone, the Brit brought the ZX-10RR into the top 4 by taking advantage of a penalty given to Toprak Razgatlioglu. The Turk, on his debut with BMW, had crossed the finish line in fourth position, but was relegated to fifth for having broken the “Pit Intervention Time”, i.e. the working time in the garage when changing tires.
Regardless, Toprak is the best of the BMW riders and continues to show good adaptation to the M 1000 RR, ahead of teammate Michael van der Mark in seventh. Dominique Aegerter, the only survivor of the GRT team in Race 1, was inserted between the two official standard bearers. The home round did not start off in the best way for Remy Gardner, who fell after a contact with Axel Bassani.
Eighth position for Danilo Petrucci, who is also the third Ducati rider (a sign that in Australia the balance between the manufacturers is always very high). Closing the top 10 we find Garrett Gerloff, ninth with the BMW of the Bonovo team, and Xavi Vierge, who brought the Honda to tenth position.
Scott Redding did not go beyond 11th position, remaining ahead of Axel Bassani. The Italian begins his adventure in Kawasaki with a Long Lap Penalty: an overly optimistic overtaking on Gardner caused the Australian to crash, causing the Venetian to incur a penalty. Bassani still managed to score a few points, remaining ahead of the Ducati group.
Sam Lowes, making his debut in Superbike with the Panigale V4R of the Marc VDS team, finished in 13th position, ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi, only 14th with the Ducati of the Motocorsa team, and even Alvaro Bautista. An uphill start to the season for the reigning world champion, who suffered a fall at the start of Race 1 and was forced to recover by crossing the finish line in 15th position.
Things went worse for Jonathan Rea, who, despite not crashing, finished in 17th position. The Northern Irishman, still not in full shape after the knee injury suffered in the tests, seems to be struggling a lot on the Yamaha and his debut with the R1 did not go as hoped. No points for the six-time world champion, who finished behind Philipp Oettl, 16th with the Yamaha of the GMT94 team.
Last of the Kawasaki riders is Tito Rabat, 18th, while the Honda MIE duo of Tarran MacKenzie and Adam Norrodin are 19th and 20th respectively. Bradley Ray closes the group, crashing and then returning to the track and only 21st.
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