The big speed motorcycle competitions return this weekend, with the start of the Superbike World Championship season. As usual, Phillip Island hosts the opening round.
In WSBK, the main category, Álvaro Bautista will go for his third title, but the Aruba.it Ducati rider will face strong competition – starting with his teammate Nicolò Bulega, who despite making his debut showed great competitiveness throughout the preseason. The same can be said of vice-champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW).
There are other candidates for the top positions, such as Jonathan Rea, who will compete for the first time with Pata Prometeon Yamaha, or his former teammate Alex Lowes, who is now the most experienced rider in Kawasaki. There is also curiosity to see what Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven/Ducati) is capable of after his four-year suspension.
As for WSSP, last year’s champion Bulega has been promoted, and there are many contenders to succeed him in winning the title. Throughout the preseason, several riders have shown speed, such as Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing/Ducati), Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate), or Adrián Huertas – who takes Bulega’s place in Aruba.it Ducati.
Other riders should not be ruled out, such as Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti), Bahattin Sofuoglu and Marcel Schrötter from MV Agusta, or Lorenzo Baldassarri (Orelac Racing VerdNatura/Ducati) and Niccolò Antonelli (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team/Ducati) with extensive experience in motorcycle racing. There are plenty of reasons to follow the Phillip Island round, whose schedules we present in this article (by mainland Portugal time).
- Thursday, February 22nd
- 11:25pm-12:05am: FP WorldSSP
- Friday, February 23rd (overnight)
- 12:20am-1:05am: FP1 WSBK
- 3:55am-4:35am: Superpole WSSP
- 5:00am-5:45am: FP2 WSBK
- Friday, February 23rd (evening)
- 11:00pm-11:20pm: FP3 WSBK
- 11:30pm-11:40pm: Warm-up 1 WSSP
- Saturday, February 24th (overnight)
- 2:00am-2:15am: Superpole WSBK
- 3:30am: Race 1 WSSP
- 5:00am: Race 1 WSBK
- Saturday, February 24th (evening)
- 11:30pm-11:40pm: Warm-up WSBK
- 11:50pm-12:00am: Warm-up 2 WSSP
- Sunday, February 25th
- 2:00am: Superpole Race WSBK
- 3:30am: Race 2 WSSP
- 5:00am: Race 2 WSBK
