In a rare occasion in the 2026 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) was beaten for pace and made to settle for P2. His teammate has struggled to overcome the #11’s stellar pace, but at Cremona Circuit the roles were reversed. Iker Lecuona was the rider to beat all weekend and that proved to be the case in Race 1 as the Spaniard romped to his second WorldSBK victory.
TRICKY START TO THE WEEKEND
Bulega had a difficult Friday at Cremona with two crashes although he finished in second place on the combined timesheets, only behind teammate Lecuona. The #11, in Free Practice 3, was the only rider not to improve his lap time compared to Friday’s running, with ‘Bulegas’ taking his usual approach to Saturday morning’s session with a single long run to gather as much data as possible. In the Tissot Superpole session, the Italian rider set the second fastest time despite beating the previous pole lap record as he posted a 1’27.297s.
SECURING SECOND IN RACE 1
In Race 1, Bulega got a slightly sluggish start and fell to third behind Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), who climbed from fifth on the grid to run in second, while Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) fell behind ‘Bulegas’. MotoGP-bound Bulega was promoted back into second when Montella fell at Turn 13 on the opening lap, although he had to resist pressure from rookie Surra over the first few laps. By Lap 4, Bulega had built a gap of over a second to Surra in third, and his place in second was even more secure when the #67 crashed out on Lap 9. From there, with Lecuona constantly building a gap over Bulega, the Italian went into ‘Championship mode’, ensuring he finished in second and picked up 20 points, meaning he can still win it on home soil despite losing five points to Lecuona.
“IKER WAS JUST VERY STRONG, SO I DECIDED IT MADE NO SENSE TO TAKE RISKS AND TRY SOMETHING STUPID”
Reflecting on his race, and only the second time he’s been beaten this year, Bulega said: “I think I have to be happy. Yesterday I lost a bit of the feeling with the bike after the FP2 crash. Today, the target was to rebuild confidence and try to make good pace. Iker was just very strong, faster than us, so I decided it made no sense to take risks and try something stupid. I decided that second was a very good position; I want to close the Championship here, so second here was a clever position.”
When asked about the fact that in the context of his season, P2 means one of his worst results, Bulega responded with a laugh, he joked: “Yeah, very bad results! It’s ok, we have to be intelligent sometimes, so second was good.”
“I’LL TRY TO STAY WITH HIM IN THE SUPERPOLE RACE, AND I’LL TRY TO CLOSE IT IN RACE 2”
In the title fight, Bulega can still be crowned Champion at Cremona. He can win it in the Tissot Superpole Race if he finishes first and Lecuona is sixth or worse, or if he finishes second and Lecuona is ninth or worse. Should that not happen, ‘Bulegas’ will be Champion in Race 2 if he has a 124-point gap over Lecuona leaving Italy.
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s potential historic moment, and commenting on his teammate’s impressive performance, Bulega added: “Maybe with new tyres I have more of a chance to stay with Iker, but he’s going very fast at this track. We will see, I’ll try to stay with him in the Superpole Race, and I’ll try to close it in Race 2. Iker is doing a good job, it’s one of his best tracks, he’s doing what he has to do.”
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