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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship enjoyed a spectacular round of pure motorsport at the Pirelli Dutch Round’s TT Assen Circuit. Names like Nicolo Bulega dominated the headlines as he maintained his stranglehold on P1 for the 13th consecutive race, tying the all-time WorldSBK record set by his old rival Toprak Razgatlioglu. Across all four categories, however, many riders outperformed their expectations. Keep reading to get up to date on all of the important takeaways from the ‘Cathedral of Speed’.

CONFIRMING THEIR 2026 SPEED: Petrucci and Balda each take away solid results from the round

Both Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) and Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) both seized the opportunity to snatch vital points in what is a cutthroat battle in the middle of the Championship field. They have each enjoyed podium success here at Assen in the WorldSBK paddock, ‘Balda’ in 2022 back in his WorldSSP days, and ‘Petrux’ who has both a MotoGP in 2017, and WorldSBK Last season in Race 1. Using these prior lessons learned here at Assen, they’ve shovelled some coal into their engines as the field steams onto Balaton.

Baldasarri fell to P14 early in Race 1; however, he recovered to deliver a hard-nosed final lap, taking two positions to P8. In Race 2, starting from P10, he got his work done earlier, taking three positions in four Laps, and after taking Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) on Lap 10, he sailed to P6 with more than three seconds of gap both ahead and behind him. ‘Petrux’came out firing on all cylinders at Assen as he landed his best Tissot Superpole placement since Jerez last season in P4. Race 1 proved a wash for him after a double Long Lap Penalty for a jump and ended up in P18. He steeled his nerves and took P7 in the Tissot Superpole Race. In Race 2, Petrucci and Vierge battled from Lap 5 until ‘Petrux’s pace fell off on Lap 17 and he settled for P9. Petrucci can be proud of the round he managed at the circuit, where his BMW team has struggled in the past.

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCES: Booth-Amos and Zaccone announced themselves to the 2026 grid at Assen

In the World Supersport class, both Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) and Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) turned heads with their performance at the ‘Cathedral of Speed’. Zaccone has been fast in his return up to this point, landing within the top eight in all races but one; but Race 2 at Assen saw the best result of his return season so far. Despite starting back in P13, he climbed to P2 by Lap 4, and even leading the race by Lap 6 and finished in P5. The result ties his best-ever results in the category, twice before landing P5 ten years ago in his rookie 2016 season. Tom Booth-Amos's (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) weekend at Assen was a sight for sore eyes for the #69 after a slow start to 2026. He got to work early in Race 1. Despite running wide onto the gravel on Lap 14 with Oncu, he made up time and caught the front group by the final lap. After a one-position penalty to Valentin Debise for exceeding track limits on the final chicane, he saw his P4 bumped up to P3 for his first rostrum result of the season. He slid down the order in Race 2, as far as P13 by Lap 4, but made positions lap after lap to turn lemons to lemonade and his P11 start to P4.

APRILIA BACK IN BUSINESS: Vannucci earns the Italian manufacturer their first podium in the paddock since 2018

Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) cut the ribbon in 2026 as he claimed World Sportbike’s first-ever pole position. Despite the pole position honours, he was only able to take a best of P8 from the round. At Assen, he strode up the order from P9 to a cool P4 finish, but the best was yet to come. He sank to P10, where he remained until Lap 5 before charging forward to lead the race on Lap 10. He couldn’t manage to hold off Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing), who surged to P1, but Vannucci’s effort sent an Aprilia machine onto the rostrum for the first time since 2018, where at Misano on the same day, both Eugene Laverty in WorldSBK and Maximilian Scheib in Superstock 1000 took podiums.

AN ARRIVAL AND A RETURN: Sarapuech and Boudesseul each jumpstart their 2026 campaigns

Lucie Boudesseul (GMT94 Yamaha) had a proud end to the 2025 season, taking podiums in the penultimate and final rounds, and while she landed P4 in the first race of the season, an unfortunate crash in the final third of the race at to close Portimao somewhat dampened the season-debut result. At Assen, unfortunately, she crashed again on Race 1’s final lap from P8. In the final race of the round, Boudesseul started from the third row in P7. Gaining positions with a strong pace, she gradually built up a gap behind her to finish in P3 for her first podium of the season. Fighting with the French rider in the final laps, Thai rider Muklada Sarapuech (EEST NJT Racing Team) enjoyed a big jump in her results at Assen, taking away a pair of P5s from the round, a big improvement from her impressive P9 and P11 from her WorldWCR debut.

Tune in next round on May 1^st for the second-ever instalment of battles at Balaton Park! Watch Live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass, now 30% off!