Nicolo Bulega was quickest during FIM Superbike World Championship Free Practice 1 Friday morning at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, in Australia. Riding his Pirelli-shod Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4R on the 2.76-mile (4.45 km) track, the Italian recorded a 1:28.858 to lead the field of 21 riders.

Sam Lowes was the best of the rest with a 1:29.382 on his ELF Marc VDS Ducati Panigale V4R.

Axel Bassani was third-fastest with a 1:29.547 on his Bimota by Kawasaki KB998 Rimini.

American Garrett Gerloff finished the opening session 7th with a 1:29.692 on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR. 

Danilo Petrucci was 12th on his ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team M1000RR with a lap time of 1:29.892.

More from a press release issued by Dorna:

The #11 started the weekend exactly as he’d have envisaged by leading the timesheets in the 45-minute FP1 session.

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship kicked off at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit with Free Practice 1 for the Australian Round, with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) leading the way by 0.524s. ‘Bulegas’ put in a long run at the start of the session where he set his best time right at the end of the stint, firing a warning shot to his competitors about how strong he would be in Australia, with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) his closest rivals.

Bulega started the weekend as he ended the Official Test, as the only rider in the 1’28s and putting in an impressive stint. He was finding pace with each lap that he completed during a long first stint of 11 representative lap times, with a 1’28.858s set on the penultimate lap of the run. That turned out to be his best lap time was he finished half-a-second clear of Sam Lowes in second, while the #14 was more than a tenth clear of Bassani in third as ‘El Bocia’ once again showed his pace after a strong test.

Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) was another who was quick in the test and that carried on during FP1 as the #5 posted a 1’29.561s to claimed fourth place. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) was fifth after lapping half-a-tenth down on Montella, and was 0.757s away from Bulega’s pacesetting time. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) looks to be in contention for a strong result on his WorldSBK return as he claimed sixth in the opening 45-minute session of the year.

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) set a 1’29.962s as he finished in the top seven on his new ZX-10RR machine, beating Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) by 0.018s as the Spaniard secured a top-ten spot. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finished in ninth, 0.888s slower than Bulega, as Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) rounded out the top ten as he beat former teammate Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) by 0.050s; Vierge was the lead Yamaha rider.

The top six from WorldSBK FP1, full results here:

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’28.858s

2. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.524s

3. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.689s

4. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.703s

5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.757s

6. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +0.811s

Free Practice 2 takes place at 16:00 Local Time (UTC+11) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!