Nicolo Bulega will start the opening round of the 2024 WorldSBK Championship from pole position after setting a searing pace around Phillip Island to post the first-ever 1m 27secs lap of the Australian circuit on a Superbike.

The Italian came good on his eye-catching strong form over a single lap during pre-season testing to upstage the regulars in a session that will see 'the usual suspects' from previous years have their work cut out in the opening two races of the weekend.

In a shock front row line-up, Bulega was joined by fellow rookie Andrea Iannone up at the front in second place, while Alex Lowes carried his form through from practice to complete the front row for Kawasaki

Having run towards the front of the timesheets throughout winter testing, while 2023 WorldSSP Champion Bulega's presence at the front in Superpole is in some ways no surprise, it doesn't mask his achievement as he blew the competition away when it mattered in a high-pressure environment.

With the grippy new Phillip Island Circuit giving up the grip levels previewed earlier in the week, Bulega obliterated the erstwhile lap record held by Alex Lowes from Friday by more than a second, dipping into the 1m 27s bracket with a 1m 27.916.

That was enough to put a comfortable two tenths between himself and the competition to secure the top spot from Iannone, who too proved his winter form was no fluke as he delivered when it mattered to give himself a shot at what would be an even more shock result come race time.

They both have their work cut out to stay up front though, even if the leading order didn't shake out as one might expect.

In third, Lowes kept his foot in contention for victory with third quickest on the Kawasaki as the highest-placed of the experienced contenders, three tenths off the top spot.

He starts ahead of Dominique Aegerter, who too was an unexpected name towards the front having spent the week playing catch-up after missing four days of European pre-season testing due to a viral infection.

He led the Yamaha challenge on the GYTR GRT R1, ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu, who fluffed his Superpole effort in his first Superpole with BMW. The Turk had looked to be back on front-running form aboard the BMW M 1000 RR after running Bulega close in FP3 but ended up more than half-a-second adrift.

Still, he fared better than 2022 and 2023 sparring partners Alvaro Bautista and Jonathan Rea, who start Race 1 and the Superpole Race down in ninth and 11th respectively. The former maintained his unusually lacklustre form on his Aruba.it Racing Ducati, while the latter - on his debut with Pata PROMETEON Yamaha - continued his struggle to get dialled into the R1.

Instead, the factory Yamaha flag will be flown by Andrea Locatelli in sixth place, with satellite rider Remy Gardner consolidating a strong day for the GYTR GRT team with seventh on home soil.

Sam Lowes recovered from a hefty spill in FP3 that sent him into a high-side at the fast final Turn 12 left-hander to secure a spot on the third row for his WorldSBK debut in eighth, ahead of Bautista, while Michael Ruben Rinaldi rounded out the top ten.

Elsewhere, there was frustration for Michael van der Mark after he tumbled out of contention, leaving him 16th on the second of the ROKiT BMW's, while the remainder of the Brit pack endured a mixed session with Brad Ray down in 17th for his debut, Scott Redding 19th after also crashing in FP3 and Tarran Mackenzie in 21st.

2024 WorldSBK Phillip Island | Superpole Qualifying Results

Saturday | Conditions -Dry, Sunny

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Lap Records - WorldSBK

2024 WorldSBK Phillip Island Schedule & Programme