Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) made it 25 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship victories in a row as he made it a clean sweep at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. Despite an early challenge from teammate Iker Lecuona, the #11 was able to claim victory by more than five seconds ahead of the Spanish star, while Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) took advantage of a late crash by Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) to claim a podium.

BULEGA MAKES MORE HISTORY

Lecuona got away well and immediately took the fight to Bulega through the first half of the lap, but the #11 got ahead at Turn 11 before immediately pulling out a gap over his teammate. Bassani was a fast starter, along with teammate Alex Lowes, as they slotted into third and fourth as they went in search of a home podium for Bimota. A mistake from Lecuona, running wide, gave Bulega a buffer of more than two seconds at the head of the field as the #11 took his 21^st win of the season, matching Toprak Razgatlioglu’s tally from last year for the second-highest value. It was also his seventh hat-trick of the year, becoming the first rider to achieve that number of triples in a single season. Lecuona was second for the 18^th consecutive race, which is an all-time record in WorldSBK. Bassani had looked on course for a home podium, his first at Misano since 2023, but he crashed out in the final third of the race at Turn 8. That promoted Montella into third, after the #5 got ahead of Alex Lowes early on in the 21-lap race. That meant Montella, for the second round this season, finished a single round with three podiums – as he did at Most, when he finished in P3 behind the factory Ducati duo of Bulega and Lecuona.

BIMOTA IN THE TOP FOUR AGAIN

Alex Lowes came home in fourth after his teammate’s late crash, with Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) 2.774s back from the #22. ‘Taz’ secured his best dry-weather result in WorldSBK by claiming P5, beating his previous best by two positions. His best overall is P4. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) extended his points-scoring run to 12 races by claiming sixth place for the second time this weekend.

CLOSE BATTLES IN THE TOP TEN

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) finished as the lead Yamaha rider by coming home in seventh after another flying start as the race got underway. He was less than a second ahead of Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in eighth, who took his best result of the WorldSBK campaign. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) took ninth after a late-race fight with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), with the #60 just 0.037s clear of the #14.

SCORING POINTS IN RACE 2

Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) missed out on a top ten by just 1.884s as he finished in 11^th, but crucially he fended off Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) by just 0.017s at the line with the #31 forced to settle for P12. Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) claimed his best WorldSBK result by taking 13^th, ahead of Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven); ‘Balda’ stopped for a short period, seemingly with a technical issue, but was able to get going again.

JUST MISSING OUT

Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) lost a lot of ground at the start of the race and eventually finished in 16^th place, ahead of Mattia Rato (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) in 17^th. Ryan Vickers (Honda HRC) was the last classified rider in 18^th, with the #17 crashing during Race 2 but rejoining the race.

RETIRING FROM RACE 2

Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) crashed out of the race at Turn 8 on Lap 1, while Bahattin Sofuoglu (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) fell at Turn 13 on Lap 2 and retired from the race. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had been running in the top ten but slowed, seemingly with a technical problem with his bike, on Lap 7.

The top six from WorldSBK Race 2, full results here:

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
   2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +5.101s
   3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +14.016s
   4. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +15.959s
   5. Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) 18.733s
   6. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) +20.258s
   Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), 1'32.735s

Championship standings
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 434 points
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 313
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 170
4. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) 156
5. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) 148
6. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) 128

Next up, Donington! Watch all the action from Round 8 using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now half price!