Italy’s Nicolo Bulega completed a clean sweep at the opening round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island in Australia after an “amazing” start to his quest to win the title for the first time.

It was the perfect start for Bulega in a new era for the series without legends Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Six-time champion Rea retired from full-time racing last year and is now a test rider for Honda HRC, while reigning back-to-back champion Razgatlioglu joined Pramac Yamaha to make his debut in the MotoGP World Championship.

With the two biggest names in World Superbikes absent from the grid, the spotlight was on Beluga, who finished as the title runner-up behind Turkey’s Razgatlioglu in 2024 and 2025.

placeholder image — Italy's Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) won all three races at the opening round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island in Australia. (Photo by Aruba Ducati)

The factory Ducati rider was unstoppable last year at Phillip Island and Bulega again clinched a terrific hat-trick for a maximum points return, underlining his status as the championship favourite.

“It was an amazing weekend,” said Bulega. “I was a bit angry before Race 2, because I knew I had a good pace and a good feeling in dry conditions, but I was upset to see the rain start to fall on the track.

“I tried to put that anger and that energy into my riding and went for the win. I rode well; I had a good feeling from the beginning, but it got difficult after some laps because the asphalt began to get slippery.

“In any case, I was able to win another race, and I’m happy. Phillip Island is my favourite track, it’s amazing, and my target is always to win when I’m here.”

In Saturday’s opening race, he beat Yari Montella (Barni Spark Ducati) by 4.7 seconds after 21 laps, with Lorenzo Baldassari in third on the Team Go Eleven Ducati.

Bulega made it a double with victory in Sunday’s 10-lap Superpole race, winning by 2.7 seconds from Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and his team-mate Alex Lowes – fifth on Saturday – with Montella fourth.

Wet weather arrived for the final race of the weekend, but once again Bulega stepped up to the mark in the tricky conditions to win by more than 11 seconds from Bassani, with former champion Alvaro Bautista starting the new campaign with a podium in third on the Barni Spark Ducati ahead of former British Superbike champion Tarran Mackenzie, who finished an excellent fourth on the MGM Optical Express Racing Ducati. The Scotsman was 12th on Saturday and 11th in the Superpole race.

Alex and Sam Lowes were both caught out by the wet conditions in Race 2.

Honda Racing BSB rider and Phillip Island wild card Ryan Vickers was 15th in the Superpole race for Honda HRC but retired from Race 2. Vickers also finished 15th in Saturday’s race.

The factory Honda team was without its two new signings for 2026, with Thailand’s Somkiat Chantra ruled out through injury after fracturing his arm in a training crash at Sepang, while Briton Jake Dixon fractured his wrist during the final test at Phillip Island last week.

Honda HRC test rider Tetsuta Nagashima claimed a best result of 11th after being brought in to fly the flag for the team in place of the injured Chantra and Dixon.

Northern Ireland’s Rea, who was not in action at Phillip Island, could potentially race as a wild card for Honda at selected rounds this year.

After the first round, Bulega lead the standings on 62 points from fellow Italians Bassani (42) and Montella (26).

Round two takes place at Portimao in Portugal from March 27-29.