Paddock Pass Podcast

Episode 588: Australian Grand Prix Review – The Grand Prix that wasn’t by Apex Radio Collective

The final round of the WorldSBK campaign is in the books and Nicolo Bulega's unprecedented campaign is finished. The World Champion dominated the final round of the season, the Spanish Round at Jerez, to win for the 32nd time out of 36. He'll move on to MotoGP next year but he wasn't the only goodbye from last weekend.

Jerez was the final round of Pirelli acting as the tyre supplier to the series. Italian rubber has been the hallmark of over two decades in WorldSBK and we'll have a Patreon show dedicated to them. We've already had an Alvaro Bautista special but will we see him again in WorldSBK? It's definitely the end for Danilo Petrucci and we comment his remarkable career.

Adam and David capture Neil’s learnings and experiences from a bright and sunny first day of gathering at Phillip Island and where the riders were asked about the forthcoming climate melee, Qatar and more.

Adam and Dave track down Neil somewhere in Melbourne ahead of the 18th round of 2026 MotoGP and for Phillip Island’s swansong. There is plenty of MotoGP news to discuss before some thoughts on the departure of the iconic layout.

The weekend started with a ride out to the circuit led by the home hero Miguel Oliveira. The Portuguese star was born just 30 minutes from the Estoril Circuit and while he had a hat-trick of podiums at Portimao in Round 2 this was a special occassion for the BMW man. Having a corner named after him and being the star attraction for the weekend wasn't enough for Miguel; he enjoyed his best weekend since the Hungarian Round. The circuit was busier this year than previous years, more than 5000 extra tickets were sold in advance of the weekend, but unfortunately for Oliveira it was another weekend of Ducati domination.

Having been crowned the World Champion last time out Nicolo Bulega was back at his best to claim a hat-trick once again. The Italian rider, who joined us on Thursday's Paddock Notes show, is ready to cap off his WorldSBK career next weekend in Jerez by smashing more records. The most wins in a season, most points in a season and a host of other records are all his to claim.

There were plenty of other stories within the paddock with Alberto Surra's superb run of form continuing. The Motocorsa rookie finished third in all three races and looks increasingly comfortable with the expecations being placed on his shoulders. A new contract was confirmed in advance of the weekend but his Superpole Race performance showed his maturity. In Race 2 he pressured Alvaro Bautista into a mistake and a crash at Turn 1 but what does the future hold for Alvaro?