Yari Montella opened up his 2024 WorldSBK Championship victory account in fine style with a dominant victory in the opening race of the season at Phillip Island.

The Barni Spark Racing Ducati rider was in fine form as he timed his mandatory pit-stop to perfection to put a margin between himself and the opposition mid-way through the race before protecting his sizeable advantage to the chequered flag.

The win marks only his second in WorldSSP and his first since the final round of the 2022 season, also achieved at the Australian venue.

A race of high attrition that ebbed and flowed initially between the leading contenders, Montella was made to work hard for victory during the first-half of the race when a poor getaway from an inherited pole position handed the advantage over to Marcel Schroetter and Stefano Manzi initially.

Montella had been the rider to lead the field off the line after original pole sitter Adrian Huertas was consigned to the pit-lane following technical woes. Though the Spaniard - who suffered a big crash in qualifying on Friday after setting his benchmark lap and failed to complete a lap in warm-up - did get going from the pits, he would pull straight in at the end of lap one to retire.

With one of the main contenders out, Montella led at the end of the opening lap after bullying his way back past hole-shot rival Schroetter at Turn 2, but was overhauled at the front by Ten Kate Yamaha's Manzi on lap three.

Though the Italian - a runner-up in 2023 - attempted to build on a lead initially, he was steadily reeled in again by a break-away front group comprising himself, Montella, Schroetter and Valentin Debise.

Having steadied the ship after slipping more than a second behind at one stage, Montella launched a wave of attack on Manzi at the start of lap eight as the pit-stop - introduced to mitigate higher than expected rear tyre wear - window loomed. The move would prompt Manzi to lose his rhythm, allowing Schroetter and Debise through too, ensuring a margin had opened up between himself and his countryman as they chose to strike for the pit-lane first.

With Montella getting in first, he was also out well ahead of Manzi to the tune of five seconds, the ex-Moto2 rider immediately getting the hammer down to bridge any margin from the later-stopping Schroetter and Debise ahead.

His timing would prove shrewd though with Montella coming past the pit-exit well ahead of Debise - who had leapfrogged Schroetter during the stops - and into a much larger plus-six second lead he'd ultimately protect to the finish line.

Indeed, with no chance for his rivals to make in-roads on his advantage, Montella held his form to round out a dominant race winner, his first since joining the Barni Ducati squad at the start of the 2023 WorldSSP season.

Behind him, Debise's challenge ended shortly after his stop as he slid out of second place at Turn 5, leaving Manzi and Schroetter to dispute second and third. A recreation of several feuds between the two riders that raged in 2023, though the MV Agusta rider wouldn't allow his Yamaha counterpart to rest to the flag, it was Manzi that would come out on top for second.

Tom Booth-Amos crashes out of top ten, John McPhee stars

In a race of high attrition, there were several high-profile casualties in addition to Debise and Huertas with Glenn van Straalen and Can Once eliminating themselves from proceedings with a tangle at Turn 1 on the opening lap

There was also disappointment for British rider Tom Booth-Amos after he crashed out during the first-half of the race having picked his way through to a high of sixth place following a strong getaway.

Instead it was left to Federico Caricasulo to lead the 'best of the rest' in fourth place, the Italian making strong gains through the race after an early delay left him outside the top ten on the Motozoo ME AIR Racing MV Agusta.

He was followed by Oli Bayliss, who firmly put 12 months of persistent injury issues behind him to come on strong on home soil, much to the delight of the local fans. The D34G Ducati rider - son of triple WorldSBK Champion Troy Bayliss - was one of a handful of riders to make clear gains through the pit-stop period before holding his own in a tight fight for fourth to secure a career-best fifth.

Another rider to suffer at the start after a poor getaway, Bahattin Sofuoglu risked leaving his stop until the latest possible opportunity but capitalised on having stronger tyre life in the closing stages to pick up a top six finish on the second of the factory MV Agusta F3 RRs.

His charge was enough to demote Jorge Navarro, who looked on course for fourth until the closing stages on the WRP-RT Motorsports by SKM Triumph before being shuffled down to seventh.

That placed him just ahead of 2023 WorldSSP Phillip Island podium sitting team-mate John McPhee, who produced his strongest dry weather ride in the intermediate class with a fine charge up the order from 21st on the grid.

He held off the experienced Lucas Mahias, the 2017 WorldSSP Champion rallying hard up at the front early on before fading to ninth with a pit-stop intervention time penalty, while BritishSSP regular Tom Toparis held on for a top ten finish on his wild-card Stop & Seal entry.

With all 15 riders who stayed on the lead lap scoring points, the remaining digits were picked up by Yeray Ruiz, Anupab Sarmoon, Marcel Brenner - the only scoring Kawasaki rider - Ondrej Vostatek and Khairul Idham Bin Pawi, who nabbed a point for the new Honda CBR600RR package in 15th.

2024 WorldSSP Phillip Island | RACE 1 Results

Saturday | Conditions - Overcast, dry

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Lap Records - WorldSSP

2024 WorldSBK & WorldSSP Phillip Island | Schedule & Programme