02:01
Bulega back to fourth at turn two, both Lowes brothers go through.
Nicolo Bulega leads Axel Bassani, 2026 Australian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
2026 Australian WorldSBK LIVE: Race 2 from Phillip Island
Live coverage of Race 2 from the 2026 Australian WorldSBK at Phillip Island.
Race 2 at the 2026 Australian WorldSBK is due to start at 16:00 local time.
Nicolo Bulega will start from pole position for this weekend's second full-length race after winning the Superpole earlier today. Bulega won Race 1 from pole position, and has only been beaten in one session this weekend, when Sam Lowes set the fastest time in Warm Up.
Lowes himself will start fifth after the Superpole Race. Next to Bulega on the front row will be the Bimota duo of Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes after they delivered the KB998's first double-podium in the Superpole Race.
Yari Montella will start fourth this afternoon after suffering more than the other front runners with the light rainfall in the 10-lapper that saw him drop from the lead to off the podium.
Miguel Oliveira will come from the back of the grid after not setting a time in Superpole, and having suffered a technical problem in the Superpole Race that saw him drop from ninth to 18th on the last lap earlier today. The Portuguese got up to eighth over 22 laps yesterday, and will need a third strong recovery this afternoon to salvage his weekend.
We have our expected quota of 21 riders due to line up for Race 2 despite a big crash at turn three for Xavi Vierge yesterday. The Spaniard was taken to the medical centre after the crash but was declared fit. He was 19th-fastest in Warm Up this morning and missed the Superpole Race for a technical issue that prevented him from getting to the grid.
22 Feb 2026
02:01
Superpole Race start
Lights out in Australia and the Superpole Race is underway.
Bulega again with a good start but it's Montella with the holeshot ahead of him. Alex Lowes third, then Sam Lowes and Bassani in fourth and fifth.
01:59
Vierge OUT
Vierge is not on the grid, so it looks like he will not be taking part in the 10-lapper. Technical issue.
01:58
Warm-up lap
The riders are off on their warm-up lap ahead of the Superpole Race in Phillip Island.
01:53
Grid
Nicolo Bulega starts from pole position for the Superpole Race in a grid unchanged from Race 1.
Yari Montella and Sam Lowes are alongside the Italian on the front row.
Row two sees the Bimotas of Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani alongside the BMW of Danilo Petrucci.
Lorenzo Baldassarri heads up the third row ahead of Garrett Gerloff and Xavi Vierge, the Spaniard riding after his big turn three crash yesterday in Race 1.
Iker Lecuona will be aiming to repeat the kind of comeback ride he managed yesterday, going from 13th to sixth in Race 1; and the same can be said for Miguel Oliveira who went from 21st to eighth in his first WorldSBK race.
01:49
Pit lane open
Pit lane has opened in Phillip Island and most riders are already formed up on the grid for the Superpole Race.
01:49
Conditions
There were spots of rain this morning, but the track remains dry for now ahead of the Superpole Race, which is now just under 15 minutes away.
Clouds remain overhead, though, so still chance for that to change.
Slightly warmer air temperature than yesterday at 25C, while track temperature is lower - thanks to that cloud cover - at 27C.
01:43
Can Bulega be stopped?
If you caught Race 1 yesterday, it might be hard to see how Nicolo Bulega could be stopped from tripling his win tally for the weekend today.
However, this morning it was Sam Lowes who topped the Warm Up session, 0.003 seconds quicker than the Italian. Conditions have changed today and there were spots of rain during the Warm Up session, although the fastest laps were in the 1m28s and wets were not even close to being needed.
01:37
Welcome to live coverage of today's WorldSBK action from Phillip Island, where the Superpole Race will be getting underway in just over 20 minutes at 13:00 local time.