The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visited Donington Park for Round 8 of the 2026 season, and it was an eventful visit. A new name claimed their first WorldSBK win at the Prosecco DOC UK Round while there were wildcard appearances, dramatic fights and more from the UK. We’ve gathered some of the best debriefs from Donington…
“I WAS STRONGER WHERE HE COULD OVERTAKE, IN THE BRAKING ZONES”
Victory in WorldSBK for the first time for Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), who said: “It’s a really good victory. I hoped Nicolo would overtake me after a few laps. He tried but then he stayed behind. At the moment, I realised that my pace was quite good. I knew he was faster in the first two sectors, but I was faster in the last two sectors. I was stronger where he could overtake, in the braking zones. When he tried to pass me, he always went wide. I made one mistake where I almost went onto the grass on the back straight. He overtook me under braking, went a bit wide and I did a block pass, but I needed to fight. It was nice to fight with him. We fight but we have a margin as teammates to not crash. I’m happy about that fight and that we did a really good job on the bike. On the last lap, I braked too late while closing the lines. At Turn 12 on the last lap, I braked very late in the middle of the track. When I saw he went outside, I stopped the bike more, I turned and went straight to move away. My last win was a long time ago, but never in the World Championship. Everyone says when you have a kid, you go a second slower… I went faster! I started to shout; I was like a kid on the bike.”
The Spaniard also explained his Superpole Race crash from P1: “I’m not happy about the crash but I’m happy at the same time. I feel good and comfortable on the bike. Sometimes with that extra confidence, you arrive more relaxed. For the crash, I was going around 2kph faster on the entry and I lost the front when normally in the final sector, I’m the strongest one. It was my mistake and I need to learn.”
“I WOKE UP ON SUNDAY AND SAID, ‘LET’S RIDE LIKE YOU’RE ABLE TO DO AND JUST WIN’”
Beaten for the first time in 2026, but back on top on Sunday, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) said: “I’m very happy because on Saturday, I was a bit disappointed. Iker did a better job, so he deserved the victory. I knew I had the potential to win; I didn’t play my cards very well. I woke up on Sunday and said, ‘Let’s ride like you’re able to do and just win’. We changed something on the bike because Iker was turning better than me on Saturday. I was braking hard but not turning very well, so we tried to compromise between me and him. Yari’s a great rider who brakes hard. I was a bit behind, and I just tried to exit well from the chicane to attack under braking. BMW have a very good bike for braking and Toprak under braking was incredible, so he could use 100% of the potential of the bike. Maybe Danilo and Miguel ride a bit smoother compared to Toprak. BMW is a great bike; they won the last two titles. Toprak was fantastic but also Marquez without a great bike didn’t win. To win, you need a great rider and a great bike. I hope to make some steps about my future in the next month.”
“I STARTED TO BELIEVE, I STARTED TO THINK IT WAS MY MOMENT!”
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) inherited the lead after Lecuona’s Superpole Race crash, who suddenly thought he might win his first race: “I started to believe, I started to think it was my moment! After a few laps, Bulega destroyed my thinking with a hard overtake. We were faster than ever. I was super proud. It would be nice to win a race! Before thinking about winning, I need to close the gap to first. Race 2 was more or less the same. I started well and tried to follow Nicolo for as long as I could. At the start, I could follow him quite easily with the same pace. I didn’t expect to struggle with the tyre like I did. In the end, I had a gap to Iker that I tried to manage. The weekend was positive. I hope the gap will come down; we’re working to grow and always go faster.”
“WE WERE P13 ON FRIDAY AND IN EVERY SESSION, WE GOT CLOSER TO THE FRONT”
A strong end to the weekend for Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) with P4 in Race 2, who stated: “It’s been a positive Sunday. We started the weekend with some problems, so we changed something on the bike. We were P13 on Friday and in every session, we got closer to the front. On Sunday morning, we made a little change on the front of the bike, and it worked a lot better. We were able to get closer to Alex, who was stronger than me here. We finished close to the front, so I think this shows our capacity to work in a difficult moment, and that’s what I’m happier about. This was the maximum, I think. Donington is a difficult track for me, and we finished two races in the top five.”
“I’M VERY PROUD AND I’M THANKFUL TO ALL MY COLLEAGUES AT BORGO PANIGALE, ARUBA AND DUCATI CORSE”
Marco Zambenedetti, Technical Coordinator at Ducati Corse, reacted to Ducati winning the Manufacturers’ title and Aruba.it Racing – Ducati the Teams’ Championship on Sunday: “First of all, I’m very proud and I’m thankful to all my colleagues at Borgo Panigale, Aruba and Ducati Corse. The secret is these guys, from Claudio [Domenicalli, Ducati Corse CEO] to the riders and all these guys who are able, despite rule changes and different conditions, put everything together and just focus on having a very good way of working. We’re very proud and, let me say if it’s beyond our expectations… sometimes, yes. Sometimes, the results seem that everything is easy but it’s not so easy.”
“I’M ESPECIALLY DISAPPOINTED WE’VE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GIVE A PACKAGE TO DANILO AND MIGUEL”
Shaun Muir, Team Principal at the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, broke down a difficult weekend for BMW: “The test we had a few weeks ago, we came away with a base setting which we clearly found out quickly in FP1 wasn’t the setting that wasn’t going to take us to that position. I’m disappointed for the whole team, especially disappointed we’ve not been able to give a package to Danilo and Miguel on their comeback. We’ve identified an area where we need to make that improvement, with engine brake strategy, on the braking strategy, on closing the distance down and working on the strengths of the bike.”
“I WAS IN TEARS BEFORE THE SUPERPOLE RACE BECAUSE I WAS IN THAT MUCH PAIN”
A difficult weekend at home for Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) as he made his comeback: “I’ve had better days, after Warm Up I was nearly sick in my helmet! I don’t know if I’ve got a trapped nerve in my arm or something, but the pain I was in… phwoar. It sounds ridiculous, but I was in tears before the Superpole Race because I was in that much pain. I’m really happy with how my wrist has felt. It’s been a big step. That’s one positive. It’s my right arm which has a trapped nerve or something, which makes my arm go dead and then throbs. I said to the guys, it’s 10/10 for pain. I said to the team that I feel out of sync, not used to how a weekend works, timings of weekends, it feels old to me. I almost feel like an intruder of being here at the minute, I don’t feel like I belong here because I’m so new. I hate finishing where I’m finishing. The situation is so bad, I’m not even going to beat around the bush, but that’s where we are and that’s how it is.”
“IT’S NICE TO BE CALLED THE GOAT… SOMEBODY’S GOING TO BEAT MY RECORDS ONE DAY”
Points for Jonathan Rea (Honda HRC) on Sunday in his wildcard appearance with Honda, who said: “There’s no substitute for testing under race conditions with your rivals. I got a good look at Ducati, BMW and Yamaha today so it’s always good information. The target was to stay upright, enjoy the weekend with the test team and score some points. I knew on Saturday that P10 was unrealistic to fight with, but we were 10th in the Superpole Race this morning after some brake issues on Saturday, and then P14 in Race 2. It’s clear we’ve got a lot of work to do, it’s been a long time since the bike won a race, but that’s my job now; try to help. Are we satisfied? No, we want to be more competitive, but that’s where we are right now. The Greatest is mega. For six years, we did that job, so it’s mad to think that and it’s nice it’s documented. The people working on it did a fantastic job and I have something now for the rest of my life to show my kids or grandkids to be proud of. It’s nice [to be called the GOAT], I like it. I don’t feel embarrassed by it because it’s facts. Stats are right. That’s going to get beaten one day. Before me, it was Carl Fogarty. The GOAT, the king, whatever. Somebody’s going to beat my records one day and they’re going to be the new goat of WorldSBK. I’ll take it and run with it, but my time will run out at some point.”
“I FELT REALLY GOOD FOR MAYBE 10 OR 11 LAPS, AND THEN I STARTED TO SLIDE A BIT ON ENTRY”
Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) ended the weekend with P5 in Race 2, and he said: “The Superpole Race was good and then Race 2, I started a bit further up. I had a good start and wanted to push as hard as I could. I felt really good for maybe 10 or 11 laps, and then I started to slide a bit on entry. I was obviously pushing really hard for the lap times I was doing, but I really paid the price at the end. My rear tyre dropped massively. When Axel passed me, I tried my best but didn’t have anything to fight with. I felt like in the cooler conditions, we had more of a chance. In the 10-lap race, we could hang in there. The starts were good. I’m happy. We’re still a similar distance behind the winner, so we didn’t improve too much, but we have to be happy.”
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