The moment we’d all been waiting for took a little bit longer, after a rain shower right at the start of the session. Adam Norrodin (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda) was the first rider to hit the track and set a lap time but it wasn’t really representative, nearly 30 seconds off the pace. A few minutes later, the whole field was on track and on the pace, getting down into the sub-1’30s. It was a frantic final ten minutes but the order was all jumbled up. Come the chequered flag, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) was fastest with a fast lap right at the end of the session.

It was the last roll of the dice for ‘Loka’ that saw him fly up the standings to take a new lap record, albeit slower than the Official Test at the start of the week. He stood in the way of what would have been a Lowes 1-2. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was originally on top after his late lap ahead of identical twin brother Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), who made an emphatic debut. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was up in P4, a fine first session of the year for him at home in Australia. One of the headlines was in fifth place; Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven), who was originally the first rider out at the start of the session, sitting in behind Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in the closing stages. ‘The Maniac’ is back and on the pace from the start.

The teams practice tyre changes at the end of FP1 #AustralianWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/SpcKfuLagG

— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) February 23, 2024

Elsewhere, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) made it three Independent Ducatis inside the top six, one place ahead of rookie and his factory Ducati replacement, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). The reigning WorldSSP Champion, a revelation during testing, took seventh, ahead of teammate Bautista. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was ninth whilst Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was tenth, although he only set five laps. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) split him and rival Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) in P12. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) was best Honda in 16^th.

Top six from WorldSBK FP1, full results here:

1. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) 1’29.197s

2. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.106s

3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.520s

4. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.558s

5. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) +0.688s

6. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) +0.727s

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Source: WorldSBK.com