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FORM GUIDE: Bulega stands at the precipice of record-breaking greatness ahead of WorldSBK’s battle at Balaton Park

Tuesday, 28 April 2026 07:37 GMT

Get the lay of the land ahead of World Superbike’s return to Hungary

After a stunning debut round at Hungary’s Balaton Park Circuit last season, the field returns to the sunny shores of Lake Balaton for their Motul Hungarian Round. Arriving in the paddock for the second-ever time, several big records hang in the balance and could be either tied or broken during the upcoming races. Check them out down below!

54 – Introduced last season, Balaton Park is the 54th track in WorldSBK history. It followed Cremona, introduced in 2024.

6 Prior to 2025, Hungary had hosted six WorldSBK races across the first three seasons of the Championship (1988-1990), each hosted at the Hungaroring. The winners were Fred Merkel and Adrien Morillas in 1988, a double by Fred Merkel in 1989, as well as Fred Merkel and Raymond Roche in 1990.

14 Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) is knocking at the door of several WorldSBK records. Among them, he currently stands tied for the all-time record of 13 consecutive races won, his streak dating back to Race 2 at Estoril last season. The current record of 13 was set in 2024 and matched last season, both times by Bulega’s former rival Toprak Razgatlioglu.

31 – Currently with 29 victories, if Nicolo Bulega wins two of the round’s three races, he will tie Colin Edwards for 10th in all-time race wins with 31.

25 – With an active streak of 22, if the #11 lands on the podium in all three races of the weekend, he will draw even with Colin Edwards in 2002 and Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2025 for the longest-ever run of consecutive podiums in the Championship’s history with 25 rostrum results in a row.

36 – the last 36 WorldSBK races were won by riders starting from P1 or P2, an unprecedented run in the Championship’s history, as the previous record was 21, recorded from Jarama Race 1 to Mugello Race 1 back in 1991.

4x8 – Four riders sit at a tally of eight podiums without yet having won a WorldSBK Race: Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team), Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team), Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), the record most podiums without a race win is currently held by Davide Giugliano with 14 trips to the rostrum.

100 – Six Hungarian riders have started WorldSBK races for an even total of 100 starts. Arpad Harmati earned the most points among them during his time in the Championship from 1988 to 1994, with 18 points, and Imre Toth logged the most race starts, with 56, competing from 2014 to 2016.

2x3 – Three riders can claim the record for most podiums here, Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team), Sam Lowes and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), each having landed two rostrums last season

5 Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) is currently tied for fourth with Giancarlo Falappa in all-time in podiums among Bimota riders with five rostrum finishes. With a podium double here, he could tie Stephane Mertens for second all-time among Bimota riders with a total of seven.

112 – If he competes in all three races on the weekend, Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) will tie Alex Lowes for fifth with 112 race starts for Yamaha.

1 – The table is set for a new poleman and winner at Balaton Park as Toprak Razgatlioglu dominated the round.

190 – Both having appeared on the WorldSBK grid for the first time in 2021, Axel Bassani and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) are currently tied for race starts with 190.

81 – Bulega is the fastest ever rider to reach 29 WorldSBK Race wins. He only needed 81 races, whereas the previous record holder, Troy Bayliss, needed 86; all other riders with more than 29 victories needed more than 100 races to reach that mark.

5 – If he is given the all clear from the medical centre to compete this weekend after his FP3 crash at Assen, Sunday’s Tissot Superpole Race will see Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) become the Thai rider with the most-ever WorldSBK race starts with five, moving ahead of Saen Cheysak.

282 – In last season’s Tissot Superpole, Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) and Alvaro Bautista tied for the top speed recorded of the round of 282km/h.

A roaring round of racing is set to kick off on Friday, May 1st. Lock in your place to enjoy the action Live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 30% off!