The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has hit the Cremona Circuit for Round 10 of the 2026 campaign. The EICMA Italian Round could prove to be a title-deciding weekend, but there are also other battles still raging, as well as the topic of 2027 seats. We’ve got the best quotes in one easy place for you to get up to speed ahead of track action…
“IT’LL BE AMAZING BECAUSE WE’RE IN ITALY, I RIDE FOR DUCATI, I’M ITALIAN…”
With his future in MotoGP confirmed, and a title on the line on home soil, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) said: “It’s a dream. I was very happy in WorldSBK, but my career started in Moto3 in the other paddock, and then, for some reasons, I changed and came here. I want to say thanks to WorldSBK and my team because they gave me the smile back to ride the bike. It’s been very important. When I came here, I was in a bad moment in my career. WorldSBK and my team gave me back my smile. When a rider is happy, it’s easier to get results. I’ll remember my time here as special. I had great moments. The WorldSSP title, my first wins in WorldSSP and WorldSBK, the first hat-trick… I have a lot of great memories! We have to finish this season, so maybe I’ll have more memories. It was just a crash (testing for MotoGP); it can happen. It was big, at Arrabbiata 2, 150km/h… not bad, but fortunately I’m okay. It’ll be amazing because we’re in Italy, I ride for Ducati, I’m Italian… it’d be fantastic (to win the title at Cremona). I don’t want to change my approach. I always try to win races. This is a strange track for me. Last year, I was fast, but I always have to think too much at this track.”
“IT’S A TRACK I LIKE A LOT… WE GOT SOME GOOD INFORMATION FOR US"
Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) previewed Cremona by saying: “I’m good, I have good expectations. It’s a track I like a lot. Last year, I felt comfortable here. We did a test here, which was tricky with the weather, but we got some good information for us and a new base. Bulega will win the title here. He just needs to not crash, and I think we have a step forward. Montella was very fast in testing. Sam was fast. I’ve said many times, Bulega deserves to go to MotoGP. I’m happy for him. Even now in testing, he’s very fast on the MotoGP bike, so he can do really well. I think I’m the favourite for 2027. I can’t say no because my gap to third place in the Championship is bigger than Nicolo to myself. We showed our speed and I can manage the bike. We’re still missing a few tenths, which we’re trying to find during the last three rounds, for next year. As long as he (next teammate) is a good guy, it’s fine.”
“BRAD’S A COMPETITIVE RIDER… HOPEFULLY WE’LL STILL GET ALONG AS WE DID IN THE PAST!”
Aiming for more at Cremona, Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) said: “We come here with a positive attitude and mindset after the difficult weekend we had at Magny-Cours. That’s the only approach we can have. The challenge is to extract the best out of the package. We have an idea of why it was challenging but it’s quite hard to confirm it right now because we don’t have any opportunity, that many races, that we can go back to back and try a few things. Hopefully we’ve done our homework well and have a competitive bike from FP1. It’ll be a good environment; Brad is a very competitive rider, and he’s got a lot to show and give. That’s exactly what we need in the garage:: a positive attitude and mindset, even when times are hard, to bring the bike to a good place. I think Brad’s a good candidate for that, and hopefully we’ll still get along as we did in the past! I think Bulega will be a good rider in MotoGP and he’ll achieve, quite soon, good performances. He knows the bike very well. I don’t think he’s going to be a surprise; everyone knows that he’s already at a good level and starting one of the best machines. I wish him the best of luck, and we’ll be cheering from this paddock.”
“EVERY RACE IS SPECIAL, BUT WHEN YOU RACE AT YOUR HOME, YOU FEEL SOMETHING DIFFERENT”
A home round for Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) who stated: “I’m really happy to race here in Italy at our home for not only me, but for Bimota. We are really excited for this weekend; we will try our best like always. Every race is special, but when you race at home, you feel something different. You feel a little bit more pressure because you want to do a good job in front of your family, your friends, and especially for the team because it's an Italian brand, so it's important to race well. Magny-Cours was quite a hard weekend. From Friday, I didn't have a good feeling with the bike. I don't know why, because for the last five or six rounds, the setup has always been the same and the feeling was good. We also need weekends like this to learn and try to improve. It will not be easy for us here because it's not our best circuit, but during the test the feeling was quite good. We are the second manufacturer now in the Championship, so I think it's good considering it's only the second year for us. I'm happy some MotoGP riders come here. For WorldSBK, for everyone. I think they will be fast because they are good riders, but you know, this class is not easy; now the level is quite high.”
“I HAD SOME QUITE BADLY BRUISED RIBS… THIS WEEK, I'VE BEEN ABLE TO GET BACK TO WHERE I'D LIKE TO BE”
Reflecting on his new contract, Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) said: “Magny-Cours was a strange weekend. We rolled out and straight away we were strong, felt amazing. But I let my giddiness overtake me. I was trying to force something I didn't need to force this season and had two big crashes. I had some quite badly bruised ribs, and it took me a while to be able to get back to training to full ability. But this past week, I've been able to get back to where I'd like to be. My first thought was: ‘fantastic!’ to be able to continue this journey with such an amazing team. I’ve built up a really good relationship with everyone in the team, and Lee's put a lot of faith in me as a rider by trusting me to fly the flag for the Superbike Advocates team. Credit to him, he wanted to see this project on the world stage a year from now, and now we're already going into our second year in WorldSBK. I couldn't have picked a better crew, or a better team. I'm very passionate. I wear my heart on my sleeve, sometimes good and sometimes not so good. But their passion meets mine. And I've always found that whenever I've ridden for a team, their desire to succeed and prove people wrong meets mine; we always have good success.”
“IT’S A BIT STRESSFUL, EVERYONE WANTS TO SUPPORT US… IT’S ALSO THE NICE PART OF THE HOME ROUND”
It’s a home round for Barni Ducati and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) is aiming high: “I’m ready to be here, enjoy our home weekend; Barni is based close to Cremona. It’s going to be a nice weekend. It’s always a bit stressful because everyone wants to be here to support us, but it’s also the nice part of the home round. It’s an important weekend for us. We need to be smart and put our focus on the races, and try to take home the maximum. When the maths says I can lose third, we need to continue our way of working and doing our best. At the moment, we have the chance to finish third but never say never. We have three rounds left, a lot of points available, and we’ll try to make no mistakes.”
“WITH BOTH SIDES, WE FINISH WITH A VERY GOOD RELATIONSHIP”
With his future still not confirmed, Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) spoke about this, saying: “Since the beginning, Yamaha and I have worked well together. I think we’ve been fast. It’s clear it wasn’t enough; we haven't achieved the goal we set together yet. We decided to split, but there's nothing more I can do. I’m so pleased with the team's words. I felt a very warm welcome; every member of the team helped me a lot to adapt to them and the bike. Since the beginning, we were quite fast, but the speed we found together was not enough to fight for big things. Everyone here wants to fight for wins or podiums, and right now, we’re still far away. This makes you question it. With both sides, we finish with a very good relationship. We’re working on the last details, but we’re quite clear on the way we want to go (for 2027); we need a little bit more time.”
“IF I CAN RECOVER THE FEELING, I CAN PUSH TO FIGHT FOR TOP POSITIONS, THEN, FOR SURE I WILL HAVE MORE OPTIONS”
With his future still up in the air, Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) said: “It's always special to race here for us because it’s a home round for our team. We arrive with a good feeling after Magny-Cours because we worked well there, and I ended the weekend with a good feeling on the bike. A few days later we did a test here, and the feeling with the bike was improving. So, we'll see, but I have more conviction that the feeling with the bike is improving step by step. I have good memories because last year we finished on the podium in the three races, but every season is completely different. At the moment, I don't have anything clear on the table, so I try to focus on the present. I know if I can recover the feeling, I can push hard to fight for top positions; then, for sure, I will have more options. Right now, it's important to focus on the present, do my best, recover, and have fun on the bike. I think Nicolo has really high potential. He is a very talented rider. He will be back to the Championship that he started, and at the moment I think that he’s the rider with the most kilometres on the new bike. I think he has an advantage over the rest, and my opinion is that Nicolo will be fast there as well.”
“THE SUPPORT THAT I WILL HAVE HERE FROM THE FANS GIVES ME A LITTLE EXTRA MOTIVATION”
Searching for home success, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) said: “It’s my second round in Italy this year. It's always nice to be fighting at home. Cremona is a different track though, different layout, closer to home and I'm excited to be here again. The support I will have here from the fans gives me a little extra motivation to push hard and do my best. For sure, it hasn’t been an easy season, we know; but as always, I try to do my best in every race, in every session. The crew chief change was something to try to move forward, looking to the future and try to get a good direction with the bike and to understand which direction we need to get for the future. Our target was to try moving forward and try to prepare as best as possible at the end of the season, as well as looking forward to 2027. Jack could be a good teammate. He has a lot of experience coming from MotoGP. This paddock could be fun for him. We worked together in Suzuka, so I already know him. I know how hard he pushes to improve; so I think it can be positive that we push each other in the same direction and bring the bike to the top level.”
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