REPORT: Bulega victorious at Donington Park as Lecuona battles from tenth to P2; Ducati win Manufacturers’ title

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) claimed a commanding Race 2 victory in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship by beating teammate Iker Lecuona, after the #7 battled from tenth on the grid to finish in second place at Donington Park. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) concluded one of his strongest weekends of the 2026 campaign on the podium at the Prosecco DOC UK Round. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Ducati have wrapped it up after eight rounds.

BULEGA ON TOP, DUCATI WIN MANUFACTURERS’ TITLE

For the first time this weekend, Bulega was able to hold the lead into Turn 1 as he fended off an early challenge from Montella, while Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) moved into P3 as he went around the outside of Turn 1 to claim a provisional podium spot. By Lap 5, the #11 had extended the gap to around a second as he slowly built a margin between himself and Montella. In the fight for P3, Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) made his move on brother Alex Lowes on Lap 6 at the Old Hairpin, getting ahead of the #22 for P3 as they looked to defend from the hard-charging Lecuona, who got ahead of Alex Lowes for P4 at Turn 11 on the same lap. A lap later and Lecuona was up into P3 after he got ahead of the #14 at Turn 12. Soon, Race 1 winner Lecuona started closing the gap to Montella in second, slowly bringing the gap between the pair down. At the end of Lap 16, Lecuona made a late but bold move at Goddards to move into second place, with the podium places settling down. Bulega claimed his 43^rd WorldSBK win, going level with Noriyuki Haga in sixth on the all-time list, while it was also Italy’s 550^th podium. Lecuona claimed his 19^th WorldSBK rostrum while Montella took his 11^th podium. The victory for Bulega meant Ducati wrapped up the 2026 Manufacturers’ Championship at Donington Park, on top of the Teams’ Championship they secured in the Tissot Superpole Race.

THE FIGHT FOR FOURTH

Sam Lowes had been leading Alex Lowes in the fight for fourth but, on Lap 14, the #22 took advantage of his brother running wide at Turn 11 to claim P4 with the #14 in fifth, who had fallen into the clutches of Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) in the final third of the race. At the end of Lap 17, Bassani made his move at Turn 11 to claim fifth place. The Brit’s day went from bad to worse when Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) came through in the opening sector of Lap 18, with Sam Lowes looking to manage the final few laps to bring home a P7 result. Meanwhile, Bassani had the pace advantage over his teammate and made the move on Lap 20 at the Foggy Esses, putting the #47 into fourth place. The Italian was able to hold that position to beat Alex Lowes, with Gerloff in sixth and Sam Lowes in seventh.

INSIDE THE TOP TEN

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) once again made a late charge as he came home in eighth place, passing Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in the closing stages of the race as the #97 finished as the lead Yamaha rider. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) was another who moved up the order throughout the race as he claimed tenth place.

SCORING POINTS IN RACE 2

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) were locked in battle throughout the race, with ‘Loka’ able to resist the pressure that the #88 was applying in the second half of the race. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) climbed from 21^st on the grid to finish in 13^th, beating Jonathan Rea (Honda HRC) by just 0.569s. Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) rounded out the points-paying positions with 15^th.

NARROWLY MISSING OUT

Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) just missed out on points as he came home in 16^th, finishing ahead of Jake Dixon (Honda HRC). The #96 did not score points but would have kicked off a key milestone in his recovery from the wrist injuries sustained in Australia by completing a full round for the first time this weekend. Mattia Rato (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) was classified in 18^th.

TO NOTE FROM RACE 2

Bahattin Sofuoglu (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) crashed at Turn 11 at the end of Lap 3, ending their hopes of scoring points. Both were able to re-join the race, although the #54 was four laps down and eventually classified in 19^th place, and the FIM WorldSBK Stewards investigated the incident after the race, and Sofuoglu was given a Long Lap Penalty for his next race for irresponsible riding. Chantra opted to retire his bike on Lap 20 of 23. Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) was running in the top ten but a technical issue on the exit of Turn 11 put him out of contention, ending a strong weekend on a sour note.

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

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +4.161s
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +6.850s
4. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +15.346s
5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +15.582s
6. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) +16.656s
   Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), 1'25.249s

Championship standings

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 491 points
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 358
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 211
4. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) 182
5. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) 177
6. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) 153

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