With his rostrum result, Bayliss becomes Australia’s youngest-ever WorldSSP podium finisher
Lights are out at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on the 2026 FIM Supersport World Championship campaign as the field sunk their teeth into the new season in Saturday’s Race 1! The first race of 2026’s 12 rounds featured Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) taking the first 25 points on offer for his third career WorldSSP win. Joining him on the campaign’s first podium was German rider Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) for his 14th podium in the category and home hero Oli Bayliss (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) who claimed his first WorldSSP rostrum.
MASIA FLIES OUT OF THE GATE IN 2026: He closed 2025 with a win, and now opens 2026 doing the same
Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) flew up from P4 to take the holeshot ahead of Valentin Debise (ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) and Jaume Masia. The Spaniard flexed his Ducati Panigale V2’s straight line speed as he took P1 from the #61 and built up a healthy gap of nearly a second by the outset of Lap 3. The Spaniard converted his dominant pace in testing to land the first race win of the season, as from there he pulled away for the win; finishing the contest with a gap of over five seconds. Oettl missed the 2025 Australian Round with a knee injury, but this season, he started strong with a rostrum finish in second place. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) saw his race end on Turn 4 in the second lap as the bike slid out from under him as he battled with Oettl for the second spot on the podium.
FIVE-WAY FIGHT FOR THE PODIUM: Bayliss, Arena, Oncu, Mahias, and Debise trade blows
Oncu had a healthy gap of around a second behind him on Lap 8 as he rode in P3; until a mistake on that Lap saw Oli Bayliss, Valentin, Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team), and Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) close the gap and start a fight for the final podium spot. Debise had a tough break as he fell out of the fight on Lap 8 after he entered Turn 4 with a fraction too much lean angle and crashed out of Race 1. Bayliss took the lead of the group, until he lost the lead by running wide onto the grass on Turn 6 of Lap 13, just before Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) crashed out of the race on Turn 4. The Australian recovered well to hang with the other two riders, and after the trio traded overtakes throughout the final eight laps, it was Bayliss who came out on top, earning his first WorldSSP podium of his career. The bronze-medal effort got the monkey off of his back after the longest-ever wait for a WorldSSP podium of 84 races, and claimed Australia’s first rostrum result since Anthony West back in 2017.
ARENAS HITS THE GROUND RUNNING: The Spanish rider starts his WorldSSP story in P4
Behind them, Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) rode well in his WorldSSP debut, finishing P4 with the feather in his cap of winning the final laps shootout with the title favourite Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing). Despite his incredible jump off the line, the Turk’s early mistake proved critical, erasing his gap and miring him in a wrestling match through which he fell to P5. Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) ran a clean race, taking advantage of other riders’ errors to land a strong debut result of sixth place.
VOSTATEK TIES CAREER HIGH: The Czech rider maintained his strong speed from testing
Ondrej Vostatek (Compos Racing Team) tied his career-best result of P7 in the season-opening race, emerging just +0.158 faster than 2025 MotoE Champion Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team), who took P8. Spanish riders Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) and Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) landed in the final two positions of the top ten. Alcoba’s effort landed him as the top Kawasaki, as his two-time WorldSSP Champion teammate Dominique Aegerter (Kawaski WorldSSP Team) suffered a tech issue on the last lap and finished in P23.
The top ten of the season-opening WorldSSP Race 1 at Australia: Full results here!
1. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura)
2. Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) +5.521s
3. Oli Bayliss (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) +7.266s
4. Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) +7.721s
5. Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +7.743s
6. Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) +11.856s
Fastest lap: Jaume Masia, Ducati – 1’32.310s
Catch the final race of the season-opening Australian Round on Sunday LIVE with the WorldSBK VideoPass!
- WORLDSBK
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