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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visited the Autodrom Most for the 2026 Czech Round and there were some fantastic battles up and down the grid. It was certainly a memorable weekend as Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) took the fight to teammate Nicolo Bulega and Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) and Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) engaged in a race-long fight, while it was a weekend to forget for a few.

TEAMMATES DUEL IT OUT

Lecuona was closer than ever to Bulega at Most and his first victory is surely within touching distance now. He wasn’t able to gain position on Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) at the start of Race 1 and was stuck behind the Independent Ducati rider, but when he did get ahead, he quickly closed on his teammate. The #7 got ahead at Turn 1 with seven laps to go, but Bulega was all over his tail still. With four laps to go, Bulega made his move at Turn 15 but was unable to make it stick, before he got ahead at Turn 1 on the following lap. It was a memorable battle but ultimately it was the #11 who came out on top again, and he’d go on to complete a Most hat-trick, taking his consecutive wins tally to 19. For Lecuona, he finished the weekend on 14 WorldSBK podiums without a win – matching the all-time record set by Davide Giuligano.

MONTELLA RACKS UP THE ROSTRUMS

Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) has been something of a revelation in 2026. Mistakes have been eradicated but the speed remains, and that’s made him a force in the podium battle. He’s recorded podium finish at three of the five rounds so far, but in Czechia he was able to put it all together. He stood on the rostrum in all three races in P3 to mark the first time in WorldSBK that he’s had multiple podiums in one weekend. Taking into account his P3 in Race 2 at Balaton Park, the #5 is now on a run of four consecutive podiums.

GERLOFF AND SURRA PUT ON A SHOW

Perhaps the stars of the show, especially on Sunday, were Gerloff and Surra. The pair were involved in a race-long fight for P5, which Gerloff came out on top in, but the #67 did everything he could to keep the American at bay. He would defend around the outside of Turn 2, through Turns 3, 4 and 5, or even at Turn 21 – a place where it’s very difficult to make a pass. For Gerloff, it concluded his best weekend with Kawasaki with 28 points from the three races and a best of P4, while Surra continued his fine form. He picked up 22 points in Czechia, so it’s also his best weekend in terms of results, although perhaps a few points were left on the table…

UNLUCKY WEEKEND FOR SAM LOWES

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) will have left Czechia hoping for more. In Race 1, he was fighting with Surra through Turns 15 and 16, with the Italian looking to stay ahead in the change of direction. The #14 was forced off the racing line and crashed, with Surra given a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding. In the Superpole Race, the #14 came down on Lap 1 at Turn 1, which meant he started Race 2 from tenth. With finishing the race and scoring points a priority, the Brit battled with Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) before climbing up the order to finish in 12^th.

BMW’S BAD LUCK CONTINUES

As the old adage goes, if BMW didn’t have bad luck, they’d have no luck. After Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and teammate Danilo Petrucci were injured in Hungary, the latter was declared fit for Most. However, he had a huge crash at Turn 13 on the opening lap of Race 1, leaving him with plenty of bruising and, after further assessment at hospital, a fractured coccyx. It was a shame for ‘Petrux’ after showing strong pace on Friday and taking ninth in Saturday’s Tissot Superpole session. The plus side for BMW was that van der Mark, who was drafted in to replace Oliveira at Most, scored points on his return to WorldSBK.

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