The opening World Superbikes round at Phillip Island was a memorable one for Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega who just clean sweeped the broom of race wins and also Superpole wins for the first time – just too good indeed.
Hats off to team-mate Alvaro Bautista who made lots of track position which was sensational from 11th to 2nd, as well as another Italian Andrea Iannone in 3rd along with his runner-up sprint race finish on what has been an all Ducati podium.
More of Ducati with Scott Redding making up some solid progress from 6th on Saturday to back-to-back 4th Sunday – he looks so ready for a podium or even a race win now. You also got Danilo Petrucci running Top 5 all weekend long including a Superpole race podium to collect in 3rd.
But not so much from the BMW in defending champ Toprak like that unlucky opening lap crash with Bautista in the sprint race to an mechanical issue midway through Race 2 – still plenty of time to catch up though as seen with his fightback to 2nd from Race 1 yesterday.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on Oli Bayliss who continued to back up another 7th place finish also today in the Supersport class that puts him 5th in the riders’ standings as he’s the one to watch there just like his legendary dad (a 3 x WSBK champ btw from the 2000s) Troy Bayliss.
And thank you to Phillip Island for showcasing a top-notch show of Superbikes representing both here as well as the world’s best for another year.