The FIM Supersport World Championship’s opening salvo at the Australian Round has concluded! WorldSSP’s first round of 2026 opened the campaign on a high note, promising a shootout of a season to come! Race 2 brought rain for the first time of the weekend Down Under, featuring a wet track at lights out. Several riders chose wisely, opting for slicks and enabling them to sail ahead of the rest of the pack, who had to return to pit lane to discard their rain tyres. Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) prevailed for his first WorldSSP win and his first win since his Moto3 Austrian GP victory. 2024 WorldSSP300 Champions Aldi Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) became Indonesia’s first podium finisher in WorldSSP. Rounding out the trio of first-time podium finishers, Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) brings his country of Italy its 260^th WorldSSP podium.

ARENAS ON TOP: Becomes Spain’s seventh WorldSSP race winner

Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) fired off from lights out for the holeshot, followed into Turn 1 by Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing). As the laps piled up and the track dried up, the order changed dramatically. Aldi Mahendra's decision to use slick tyres paid off early; despite his back-of-grid start, he didn’t show a lick of fear of the wet conditions as he was up into P4 after a single lap. By Lap 2, the Indonesian had taken P1 from Oncu. Albert Arenas caught up to the pair, and the trio of Yamaha riders sparred at the front of the pack before Arenas and Mahendra had put more than 11 seconds between themselves and Oncu as the Spaniard and the Indonesian both came prepared on slick tyres. Oncu later ducked into pit lane on Lap 6 to change to slicks, but it was too little too late to challenge for the rostrum spots and had to settle for P5 at the head of all the riders who had to pit. Despite starting back in P11, Matteo Ferrari found himself sailing up the grid as he came equipped with slick tyres. While by then he was unable to catch the pair in front of him, he took a proud P3 finish for his maiden podium.

TOUGH LUCK FOR #77: The Swiss rider suffers a tech issue from P4

Andrea Giombini (Motozoo by Madforce Dubai) was the last clever rider to have equipped the slicks, and he was rewarded with a P4 finish, 39 seconds ahead of Oncu. The result comes as a clear improvement from Giombini’s previous best result of P21, set in Race 1 earlier this weekend. Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) was another beneficiary of a clever tyre selection; despite starting in P23, he settled into P4, a huge improvement on his Race 1 P23. Unfortunately for the Swiss rider, he suffered a tech issue in the final moments. The result means he finished outside the points in both races at Phillip Island.

GARCIA CAPITALIZES: The Spaniard climbs six positions for sixth place

Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) played his hand well, climbing from P12 to finish P6. Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) was battling among the front of the riders who needed to pit. A big moment in Lap 5’s Turn 2 saw him lose speed, resulting in a still-positive P7.

MAHIAS RECOVERS POINTS: The Frenchman will take eight points from Race 2

Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) pitted on Lap 5 and rode to a P8 finish, 1.430s behind Zaccone. Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) finished as the top Kawasaki after Aegerter’s tech issue, snagging a P9 to salvage two top ten finishes from an off-pace opening weekend for the team. He did well to recover from a Minimum Pit Time Infringement penalty of 0.160s. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was mired farther down the pack than he enjoyed in Race 1; this time around, he had to change tyres and was only able to salvage P10 from the rain-affected contest.

The top six from the WorldSSP Race 2: Full results here!

1. Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team)
2. Aldi Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) +4.937s
3. Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) +13.967s
4. Andrea Giombini (Motozoo by Madforce Dubai) +50.953s
5. Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +1’25.203s
6. Roberto García (GMT94 Yamaha) +1 lap
Fastest lap: Oli Bayliss, Triumph - 1'32.452s

Championship standings:
1. Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) 38 points
2. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) 31
3. Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) 26
4. Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) 25
5. Aldi Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) 23
6. Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) 22

Relive all of the Australian Round’s action with OnDemand content, and tune in live to Round 2 at Portimao with the WorldSBK VideoPass!