Rookie romps to dominant WorldSBK win and new lap record at P.I.

WorldSBK 2024
Round One – Phillip Island
WorldSBK Race One

Records were broken during Superpole with rookie Nicolo Bulega putting in the first ever 1m27s lap of Phillip Island by a World Superbike to take pole position ahead of Andrea Iannone.  Alex Lowes rounded out the front row on the KRT ZX-10RR. Dominique Aegerter fourth and top Yamaha while Toprak Razgatlioglu qualified fifth on the BMW.

The track temperature had risen to 37-degrees by the time the World Superbikes hit the grid on Saturday afternoon.  That temperature is about perfect for the tyres, but due to excessive tyre wear experienced earlier in the week during the test, every single rider will be required to stop for a tyre change after no more than 11 laps.

Andrea Iannone scored the holeshot from Alvaro Bautista, Alex Lowes and Toprak Razgatlioglu. Polesitter Bulega down in fifth place as they negotiated the opening turns.  All riders on a SC1 at both ends, with the exception of Razgatlioglu, Locatelli, Oettl and Redding who plumped for the SC2 front.

Alex Lowes up the inside of Iannone at Hayshed to take the lead, kept it over Lukey and as they built speed through turns 11 and 12 but Iannone was back in the lead by turn one. Razgatlioglu up to third after passing Bautista, the pair traded places again at Southern Loop but Toprak got the advantage again at turn four.

Sam Lowes dusted up Bautista which cost the defending champ a few places.  Nicolo Bulega was building speed, taking third place off Razgatlioglu on lap three and then immediately started to challenge Alex Loes for second place. Andrea Locatelli was also coming to the fore, up to fifth place.  Remy Gardner went down at turn ten after his radiator failed and sprayed water on his tyres.  Alvaro Bautista went down at turn ten on the following lap.

Up front, Andrea Iannone continued to lead Bulega, Lowes, Razgatlioglu and Locatelli.  Trying to join that party was Danilo Petrucci but the fastest man on track was Michael van der Mark in seventh place.  Bradley Ray went down at turn four on lap six. Axel Bassani copped a long lap penalty for irresponsible riding, the Italian was in ninth place.

Nicolo Bulega hit the lead on lap seven, finally getting the better of Iannone.  Alex Lowes pushed Iannone further back to third at turn ten.  Bulega had his head down after hitting the lead, a 1m29.235 seeing him put a few bike lengths between himself and Lowes. The mandatory pit stop window was approaching… Iannone and Alex Lowes both dipped into the 28s in their quest to chase down Bulega…

In to the pits as soon as they could was Bulega, Iannone, Razgatlioglu and Alex Lowes, the leading quartet.  Staying out for another lap was Andrew Locatelli, Danilo Petrucci, Sam Lowes and Michael van der Mark.

First out of the pits was Toprak Razgatlioglu, he waited at the end of the pit lane for his mandatory time to elapse, only for Bulega, Iannone and Alex Lowes to go past him and exit first.

Danilo Petrucci and Sam Lowes them came in on the next lap, while Andrea Locatelli stayed out for yet another lap, but he must come in before the end of lap 11 or he would be black-flagged. He did, along with Michael van der Mark, Scott Redding, Xavi Vierge and Phillip Oettl.

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Once all stops had been done Nicolo Bulega still emerged as the race leader, but now had a huge 3.31-second lead over Razgatlioglu.  Ducati timing his pit-stop to perfection, and the young Italian lowering the lap record on his next lap with a 1m28.564.  Just as it was announced that Razgatlioglu had also been hit with a 1.225-second penalty for not staying in the pits as long as he should of. Who else would cop similar penalties…?   Scott Redding another one, 2.030-seconds to be added to his race time.

Andrea Iannone took second place on track from Razgatlioglu, Alex Lowes then pushed the Turk further back to fourth place after getting the better of the BMW rider at turn four. Up front Bulega continued to extend his lead, which with seven laps to go was out to four-seconds.  Andrea Locatelli moved up to third place, after demoting Alex Lowes and Toprak.  The Yamaha rider then squeezed past Iannone to move up to second place, Locatelli in the 28s…

Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alex Lowes were going at it hammer and tong over fourth place. Tripping each other up in the process and allowing Bulega, Locatelli and Iannone to pull away from them.

Andrea Iannone came back at Locatelli on the next lap, almost taking that second place back on the entry to turn one with just under four laps to run. He lost some time though later on that 17th lap, falling back into the clutches of Razgatlioglu and Alex Lowes.

Locatelli continued in the high 28s, and with three laps to run, he had trimmed Bulega’s lead down to just under three-seconds. That was as close as he would get though.  Bulega taking pole position, the race victory and a new lap record, all on his debut in the World Superbike category…

Andrea Locatelli a strong second place and Andrea Iannone making a brilliant return to World Championship racing with a podium finish.

Toprak Razgatlioglu crossed the line in fourth ahead of Alex Lowes, but once his penalty was applied the BMW rider was demoted to fifth.

Dominique Aegerter sixth ahead of Michael van der Mark and Danilo Petrucci.

Garrett Gerloff ninth while Xavi Vierge rounded out the top ten ahead of Scott Redding and Axel Bassani.  Redding copping a time penalty and Bassani a long lap penalty.

Sam Lowes 13th, Michael Rinaldi 14th and Alvaro Bautista salvaging a point after that early slip-off at turn ten.

Jonathan Rea an extremely disappointing 17th, finishing between Phillip Oettel and Tito Rabat.  The Northern Irishman reported that he couldn’t find any confidence in the front end of the Yamaha here at Phillip Island this weekend.

WorldSBK Race One Results

WorldSBK Superpole Results

Phillip Island ASBK/WSBK Schedule

2024 WorldSBK Dates