Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) resisted late-race pressure from teammate Iker Lecuona to claim victory in the Tissot Superpole Race in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The #11 was less than a second clear of Lecuona at the flag as the #7 battled up from fifth to finish in second during the Motul Hungarian Round, with Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) completing the podium.

EARLY RUNNING RED-FLAGGED: Chaotic opening lap

It was a messy opening lap, with Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) having a huge moment under braking at Turn 1 which caused chaos behind, with polesitter Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) dropping to seventh across the first few corners. However, the race was red flagged after a crash involving Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) at Turn 6. Oliveira was taken to the medical centre following the crash and was later declared unfit with a concussion and a left shoulder injury; he will be transported to hospital for further assessments. The FIM WorldSBK Stewards investigated the incident, with Locatelli given a double Long Lap Penalty for causing the crash.

BULEGA LEADS FROM LIGHTS OUT: Another lights-to-flag victory

The race was restarted over eight laps based on the original grid positions. This time, Bulega got a good start when lights went out to maintain P1 while teammate Lecuona surged up to P2 on the opening lap. The #11 controlled the race to slowly extend his lead over the #7 to make it 15 consecutive victories in total, and 11 to start the 2026 campaign, equalling the best start to a season set by Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) in 2019. Lecuona made it eight podiums in a row, all in P2, while Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) converted his front row start to a second WorldSBK podium in P3, giving the trio a front row start in Race 2.

SURRA’S BEST RESULT: P6 for the rookie

Bautista moved up the order to claim fourth place ahead of teammate Yari Montella, with the two Independent Ducati riders set to line up next to each other on the second row for the Race 2 grid. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) secured his best WorldSBK result with sixth place, running close to Montella and Bautista throughout the eight-lap race.

THIRD ROW START FOR RACE 2: Gerloff climbs through the field

Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) finished in seventh place as he claimed a third row start for Race 2, fending off Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) after the American surged up the order in the early stages to improve his grid position. Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) claimed the final spot on the third row, benefitting from Locatelli’s penalty; the #55 dropped out of the top nine, finishing in P13.

The top nine from the WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race, full results here:

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +0.894s
3. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +5.103s
4. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) +7.955s
5. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +8.674s
6. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) +9.323s
7. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +10.263s
8. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) +11.248s
9. Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) +13.631s
Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), 1’38.230s – new lap record

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