The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship returned to action at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours for Round 9 of the 2026 campaign, and there were plenty of huge talking points throughout the Acerbis French Round. Read the best from the debriefs in France to get up to speed with who said what…
“I WOULD LIKE TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT CREMONA BECAUSE IT’S MY HOME”
Another hat-trick for Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), who has a match point at Cremona next time out: “Every time Iker put something more, I repeated and put even more on. When he started to overtake me and we battled, I had fun. I’m happy because when I was behind him, I knew I had something more. I did my pace which was very strong. In the Superpole Race, I understood that Iker was doing anything to stop me. In Race 2, I said, ‘Okay, I won’t give him the chance on the first lap’, just did my pace and it paid off. I think I’ll go to Misano for only one day because I prefer to watch races on my sofa at home! I hope the next days and next weeks will be good for me. I’ll get to Cremona and would like to win the Championship there because it’s my home; it’s Ducati’s home, in Italy, I’m Italian so it would be fantastic.”
“ON SUNDAY MORNING, WE MADE A HUGE CHANGE ON THE BIKE”
Three P2 finishes for Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), who’s starting to experiment more with his Panigale V4 R: “It was a tough day. On Saturday, I went to the box and spent almost an hour talking to my crew chief, my data guy and Ducati engineers. I think they wanted me to wait until Cremona but, honestly, I wanted to do it here even if I don’t win. I wanted to try completely different setups compared to usual. On Sunday morning, we made a huge change on the bike. I didn’t feel bad. We had small issues which we tried to fix. We changed that, and in Race 2, on Lap 4 I started to feel a drop on the rear. Now, we have a test at Cremona, and we can try more things.”
“I’M ALMOST 36 AND I’VE NEVER PUSHED SO MUCH ON TRACK AND AT HOME TO RECEIVE JUST PAIN AND BAD RESULTS”
Discussing the news that he would leave BMW at the end of the year, Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) said: “The team tried everything, I tried everything. We decided to stop. We’re trying to discuss staying together, but I said, ‘I don’t like to make these races’. It’s embarrassing for the team, for me and I’m feeling really sorry about it. All the crew, the team and BMW are behind me and understand the situation is difficult. We can’t be as fast as last year. That’s the point. The fact is the bike has a really small window to operate and if we’re outside the window, it’s really hard to be fast. I’m almost 36 and I’ve never pushed so much on track and at home to receive just pain and bad results. In your head, you start thinking, ‘What am I doing? What’s the purpose? Injuring myself for 13th?’. When you’re 20, you don’t think about it. When you’re 36, you think, ‘I like my femur, I like my shoulder’. It’s becoming hard. I’m always trying and doing my best, but it’s not enough.”
“AT THE START, I DIDN’T HAVE THE RHYTHM OF THE FIRST GUYS OR ALBERTO”
Two Sunday rostrums for Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), who said: “It was a good Sunday for us. I enjoyed Race 2, also the Superpole Race. I was a bit lucky with the Sam Lowes crash, but I was there. I achieved my best result. In Race 2, I knew that I had the chance to have a good race. Sam started from P10, Alex was P5. At the start, I didn’t have the rhythm of the first guys or Alberto. I focused on the rhythm and was super consistent from the first lap to the end. In the last laps, I struggled a bit with the front tyre, but I already had a five-second margin, so I just needed to manage my gap.”
“I AM HAPPY THAT THEY PUSH ME TO DO BETTER. I HAVE THE POTENTIAL THAT NEEDS TO BE MANAGED”
Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) returned from injury at Magny-Cours, and claimed P4 and P5 on Sunday. He said: “I’m very happy. The long race was very difficult because my feeling with the bike is different from the first laps to the second part of the race. I tried, at Cremona, my home circuit to improve different things to make another step. Now, I don’t have grip in the second part of the race because I don’t know the electronics; it’s my first year. It’s possible to improve again for the next race. Every race, I go faster and the bar is getting higher. To finish 15 or 16 seconds from Bulega in my eighth round is very satisfying both for me and team, which is a bit angry as they know I have more potential. But I am happy that they push me to do better. I have the potential that needs to be managed and addressed. I think Ducati is like a Ferrari, now I am in an Independent outfit, who knows about joining the factory in the future? Now it is not my goal; that is to end the year well as they welcomed me as a family. I hope to stay for next year, I think I'll stay in Ducati and doing everything possible to get the factory bike. I have to make a step both mentally and also as rider.”
“WE FINALLY GOT IT FIGURED OUT FOR THE LAST RACE”
Reflecting on his weekend, which concluded with a P7 in Race 2, Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) said: “I’m definitely working hard. It was a tough weekend because it felt like I definitely had one-lap pace. I was pumped that I did a 1’35.0s in the Superpole. It was just unfortunate that there was a yellow flag in the last corner. That would have put me in fifth, which maybe would have been good for the weekend, but I was really struggling for race pace. Normally I’m the opposite; I usually am good for the long distance but am not for the one lap, so hopefully we found something in the settings for Superpole and can change it for the race. We finally got it figured out for the last race; I was happy about that.”
“IN RACE 2, FORTUNATELY, I DIDN’T HAVE ANY ISSUES AND DIDN’T MAKE ANY MISTAKES”
A tricky weekend for Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team), who ended it on a high and back in the top six: “The problem was Race 1 and the Superpole Race, and also Superpole. With the SCQ tyre, I don’t understand why, but I can’t use it. I feel like that I have more but then it’s more unstable and the bike became very nervous, so I can’t push. In Race 1, I had the pace to fight for seventh or eighth. After the restart, I had some issues with the gearbox and when I entered into Turn 15, I missed a gear, the bike moved a bit, and I crashed. In the Superpole Race, with the SCQ, I had a lot of problems stopping the bike and went wide three or four times; that cost me around four seconds. Seventh and eighth place were three seconds ahead of me. In Race 2, fortunately, I didn’t have any issues and didn’t make any mistakes. I did the race with the pace I had. We’re struggling especially with the SCQ tyre.”
“I HAD A BIG HOLE IN MY FAIRING BECAUSE OF THE CONTACT”
A rollercoaster weekend for Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven), who said: “My Sunday was a very good day because we managed to make another step from Saturday. My Race 1 was crazy after the red flag, because I had one part of the footrest, and it was broken, so I was losing my foot every change of direction after the crash on the Warm Up Lap. On Sunday, we confirmed our speed. The first lap was crazy like always; I lost my wing. I had a big hole in the fairing because of the contact. I risked ruining the fairing. It was a strange feeling with the bike. It was a very good comeback.”
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