05:05
20 to go: Rea shows no fear at Turn 1 as he again dives past Razgatlioglu, this time makes it stick and takes over second. Then passes Bautista for the lead at turn 4!
Jonathan Rea Australian WorldSBK, 18 November
AS IT HAPPENED: Jonathan Rea wins WorldSBK race 1 at Phillip Island!
Alvaro Bautista may have wrapped up the 2022 World Superbike title last weekend in Mandalika, but the Ducati star heads into the finale neck-and-neck with former champion Toprak Razgatlioglu on 14 wins for the season.
As well as fighting for the honour of most victories, Razgatlioglu will also be battling Kawasaki legend Jonathan Rea for title runner-up, with the Turkish star holding a 37-point advantage heading into race one.
Although a potential 62-points are still available, Rea, seeking to end a 24-race win drought this weekend, has little to lose since he cannot mathematically drop lower than his present third in the standings.
Michael Rinaldi (Ducati) holds a 34-point lead for fourth but a much closer contest exists for fifth between Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha), Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) and Axel Bassani (Ducati) who are all covered by 15-points.
After a dry Friday the forecast rain arrived on Saturday morning, with Rea Razgatlioglu and Lowes leading a wet FP3. Conditions then improved for qualifying - when Bautista took pole from Rea, Alex Lowes and Razgatlioglu - before further showers soaked the track ahead of the opening race...
19 Nov 2022
05:03
21 to go: Oettl is caught out by the intermediates and runs off while Rea and Lowes runs wide at Turn 1 at the start of lap 2, the Kawasakis continue in third and fourth.
Oettl pits.
05:01
Start: Red lights out and Bautista holds the advantage from Razgatlioglu and Rea through the opening turns.
05:00
Dorna's Steve English says only Oettl has picked the intermediate tyre, others all on wets.
04:59
The warm-up lap begins, conditions are soaking with lots of spray as the riders pull away, but local legend Troy Bayliss has said he thinks a dry line could develop after 7-8 laps.
04:55
If conditions do improve enough for slicks, we could see pit stops for slicks during the race.
04:54
While the rain has stopped, it's very windy. 5mins to race start.
04:52
The grid:
1 Bautista 1m 29.815s
2 Rea 1m 30.026s
3 Lowes 1m 30.053s
4 Razgatlioglu 1m 30.243s
5 Locatelli 1m 30.580s
6 Gerloff 1m 30.727s
7 Oettl 1m 30.963s
8 Rinaldi 1m 31.106s
9 Vierge 1m 31.307s
10 Nagashima 1m 31.339s
11 Mahias 1m 31.406s
12 Redding 1m 31.444s
13 Laverty 1m 31.494s
14 Bassani 1m 31.613s
15 Van Der Mark 1m 31.738s
16 Fores 1m 31.767s
17 Syahrin 1m 32.075s
18 Baz 1m 32.122s
19 Nozane 1m 32.270s
20 Konig 1m 32.909s
21 Mercado 1m 33.447s
22 Smith 1m 34.645s
04:47
The grid is now assembled on a very wet track, but the rain has stopped and sky is starting to brighten.