Nicolo Bulega says it was “important” to start this week’s WorldSBK running at Phillip Island as the fastest rider.

The Phillip Island test, at least on day one, presented the WorldSBK riders and teams with the first real opportunity to ride in dry conditions this year after rain hit both European tests in January.

Bulega ended the day fastest by just under 0.3 seconds, which the Italian described afterwards as “not bad”, especially given he’s on an updated version of the Panigale V4 R for 2026.

“It’s not a bad way to start the week,” he told WorldSBK.com. “It’s important to start like this especially when you have a new bike. 

“During this winter, we didn’t try anything because of the weather, so today was the first true day of testing. 

“It was important to ride a lot, I did a lot of laps, so I’m happy, we did a great job and started very well.”

Bulega added that he’s “quite happy” with the overall setup of the new bike at the moment, even at this early stage of understanding it, but there are – unsurprisingly – refinements to be made.

“I’m quite happy with the setup, but not in every area, so we have to try to improve some parts of the bike with the setting,” Bulega said.

“I think that’s quite normal, given this is the first day of serious testing. Let’s try to improve for the weekend.”

Looking ahead to the race weekend, Bulega refused to consider himself the favourite, despite winning four races from five World Superbike starts at Phillip Island.

“I don’t know if I’m the favourite, but this is my favourite track,” he said.

“Last year I had a hat trick and won my debut WorldSBK race here. 

“Today I started very well, but I think it’s still early to say anything about this weekend.”