Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega stormed to the top of the charts to take the first WorldSBK pole position of 2026 in Superpole at Phillip Island.
The title favourite lived up to his billing in the opening qualifying session of the 2026 WorldSBK campaign, dominating as he took pole position by 0.419s.
Bulega was immediately the fastest rider in the session, heading to the top of the timing tower on his first run before following it up with an even quicker lap.
However, there was drama further down the order as debutant Miguel Oliveira was unable to set a time on his first WorldSBK qualifying session due to a technical issue.
Out on circuit, Bulega continued to dominate at the top of the order, with his lap time eventually tumbling to 1:28.244 as he claimed the first pole position of the campaign.
Yari Montella was a surprising second place for the Barni Spark Racing Team, while Sam Lowes completed an all-Ducati front row for the MarcVDS team.
Bimota appeared to be the nearest challenger to the satellite Ducatis as Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani headed the second row, with the British rider taking fourth ahead of his Italian team-mate in fifth.
Danilo Petrucci salvaged sixth place in a difficult qualifying session for BMW, 0.805 off pole position.
Lorenzo Baldassari used the slipstream from polesitter Bulega to set his best time of the session, ultimately taking seventh over Kawasaki’s Garret Gerloff in eighth.
Xavi Vierge was the top Yamaha on his debut in ninth, while rookie Alberto Surra completed the top 10 for the Motocorsa Ducati team.
Tarran Mackenzie took 11th for the MGM Ducati team ahead of two-time World Champion Alvaro Bautista in 12th.
Iker Lecuona finished his first qualifying session as a factory Ducati rider in a relatively disappointing 13th, heading the fifth row of the grid.
Home favourite Remy Gardner took 14th at the flag for GYTR GRT Yamaha, while Andrea Locatelli also struggled to 15th aboard the factory Yamaha.
Honda fielded two replacement riders after injuries to Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra, with Ryan Vickers qualifying in 16th ahead of Tetsuya Nagashima in 17th.
WorldSSP champion Stefano Manzi qualified 18th for his WorldSBK debut ahead of MotoxRacing duo Bahattin Sofuoglu and Mattia Rato.
Five-time MotoGP race winner Oliveira was unable to set a lap time and will start in 21st.