For Nagashima, riding in place of the injured Iker Lecuona, it was also his first ever WꦓorldSBK race.

The HRC test rider was an impressive sixth in Friday practice, at a track where he subbed꧂ for countryman Takaaki Nakagami on an RC213V MotoGP machine last month, before his progress was stunted by a Turn 1 fall in th🌌e wet on Saturday morning.

Na🦹gashima return to qual📖ify just behind Vierge for tenth despite another accident in the dry Superpole, before more showers soaked the track for the start of race one.

• Australian Worl𓄧dSBK, Phillip Island - Race Re✅sults (1)
• Rea masters changeabl♑e conditions for first WorldSBK 🃏win since Estoril

Nagashima﷽ return to qualify just behind Vierge for tenth despite another accident in the dry Superpole, before m🔯ore showers soaked the track for the start of race one.

The pair held seventh and twelfth in the wet opening stages, before i꧅mproving conditions prompted mid-race pit stops. Vierge was m🌄omentarily promoted to fourth and Nagashima seventh, before HRC own stops dropped the pair to tenth and 15th.

The dry final closing stages saw Vierge gain two places and Nagashima advance five positions for eigh✱th and tenth at the chequered flag.

“The race was a crazy one, my first ever flag-to-flag race,” sa𒅌id former Moto2 rider Viergeꦗ. “During the first part, we were too slow in the wet, making too many little mistakes; it was very challenging.

“When I entered the pits, the team was ready and they worked fast, allowing me to re-join the race in a ꩵgood positio♍n and achieve a fairly good result.

“We learned a ෴lot today t🌞oo, both for the future but also for tomorrow as the forecast is again looking uncertain and conditions can change by the minute.”

Nagashima, at a loss to explain his🌞 FP3 fall, built confಌidence as the race progressed.

“Today was very tough with the two crashes this morning,” he said. “Conditions were particularly c🌟ritical in FP3 but I still don’t know how I crashed.

“As for the race, I didn’t 🍎push too much straight away in the wet, and I lost a lot of time and positions as a result. L💖ap by lap my rhythm improved, and, after the tyre change, I felt even better and my lap times weren’t so bad.

“I was able to make a few passes and ꦕreach tenth place.

“Experiencing a flag-to-flag race and such tricky conditions in my first Sꦏuperbike race wasn’t ideal of course, but it is what it is, and I think it’s all good experience anyway.

“I want to say a big thank you to the te🐈am because they did an amazing job of repairing the bike before the race and it worked perfectly. Now we will check all the data and prepare for tomorrow.”

Sunday’s schedule🎐 will see the sh🦄ort Superpole race followed by a full-length race 2 season finale.