Things keep looking up for Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing), who as he packs up from his home round at Cremona, he’ll have to make room in his suitcase for his first MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship podium silverware. Surra struck in the Tissot Superpole Race for P3, but nearly as impressive was his P4 in the subsequent Race 2, his best result in a long race, and an indicative result of his improving race management skills.
A SPOILED SATURDAY
Starting the weekend strong, the #67 earned his best Tissot Superpole result yet in his rookie season. His Lap 5 1’27.437s time put him within 0.140s of Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in P2 and less than two tenths from Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) on pole. Race 1 looked promising for the Italian; after defending P3 through the first seven laps, he looked well-situated in P3 and a second and a half clear of Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) in P4 for a home podium to open the scoring at Cremona. Disaster struck on Lap 9 however, when Turn 7 took its toll and Surra crashes out to finish Saturday on a DNF.
With renewed determination on Sunday, Surra returned to the front row ahead of lights out on the Tissot Superpole Race. Directly behind him in P4 was Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), riding with fire of his own after crashing twice in Race 1 and ending the day with a DNF. Surra couldn’t quite shake the #5 early on as Montella hung in behind him: three tenths on Lap 2, four tenths on Lap 3, and back down to three tenths on Lap 4. Montella even closed to just over a tenth on Lap 8 with two laps to go, outbraking the #67 into Turn 11, but Surra showed his composure and weaved back past him on the outside of Turn 12 to hold P3. Surra closed out the final two laps for his first-ever WorldSBK podium.
“I WANT TO THANK MY DAD FOR SUPPORTING ME EVERY YEAR AS WELL AS MY TEAM”
Starting from P3 once again on Sunday afternoon, Surra saw the #5 get revenge on Lap 3, making a Turn 11 move stick this time for P3. Surra’s pace and attitude have been beyond question, but in situations like this in long races, his pace has tended to drop more than others as the race continues and subsequently give up positions in the final third. Cremona was no such story; a promising sign for the talented rookie’s development. His gap of seven tenths on Lap 3 ahead of Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) looked like a promising quarry to the Englishman, and it narrowed by Lap 5 to half a second, Surra broke it open on Lap 9 to a gap of around 1.7s and went on to close Race 2 3.2s ahead of the #22.
On his maiden rostrum result and continued success on Sunday afternoon, Surra was gracious in his praise; he said: “I’m really happy for my first podium in WorldSBK. I want to thank my dad for supporting me every year as well as my team and everyone who came out here to Cremona. In the second part of Race 2, I stayed in a solid P4 behind Yari. I didn’t have very good grip, but it was my best result in a long race.”
Commenting on Bulega’s title success, Surra also added: “He deserves it, he’s a very fast rider, a great talent and a good person. Go Nicolo!”
Can Surra keep finding the podium in the final two rounds of 2026? Tune in live next round at Cremona to find out! Action kicks off on Friday, October 9th! Tune in with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now just €9.99!