Author: Alexandre Fernandes

Bulega has now scored more points than anyone else in a single WorldSBK campaign after his Estoril treble

TEXT SOURCE: WorldSBK / PHOTO: Pedro Ribeiro

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) continues to make MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship history with victory in Race 2 of the Tissot Estoril Round. The #11 beat teammate Iker Lecuona by just under five seconds for his latest win, while there was late podium drama at the Circuito Estoril. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) completed a hat-trick of P3 finishes in Portugal after a late crash for Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team).

MORE RECORDS FOR BULEGA

On the opening lap, Lecuona took the lead of the race, but Bulega made an aggressive move at Turn 6 on Lap 1 to reclaim the lead of the race before immediately starting to build a gap over his teammate. Although Lecuona initially stayed within half-a-second of his teammate, a 1’34.696s enabled ‘Bulegas’ to build a gap over his teammate in the first half of the race as he went on to secure a 29th victory of the season, and it also means the 25 points he gained put his 2026 tally to 664 points – the highest tally in a single season, beating Jonathan Rea’s 2019 tally of 663 with three races to go. He also has 33 podiums in 2026, with the all-time record for rostrums in a season standing at 34, set by Rea in 2019. Lecuona claimed his 31st WorldSBK rostrum, with 25 of those being P2 finishes.

ROOKIE VS THE TWO-TIME CHAMPION

In the fight for third, Bautista jumped up the order from fifth to run in third but an in-form Surra at Turn 6 on Lap 2, and their battle continued into Turn 1 on Lap 3; Surra retained the podium place. Bautista then had to resist Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team), which allowed Surra to build a gap over the chasing pack. However, once Bautista stabilised his pace, he started putting pressure on the #67 once again in the early stages, although the rookie was able to keep the two-time WorldSBK Champion at bay across the first half of the 21-lap race. By Lap 12, Bautista was all over the back of the rookie, and on Lap 13 the #19 was in P3 when Surra went wide at Turn 1. On the same lap, Surra answered back at Turn 6, but Bautista was able to respond immediately. However, a Lap 17 crash for Bautista at Turn 1 cost him a potential podium and promoted Surra back onto the rostrum.

TOP INDEPENDENT RIDER CONFIRMED

Montella battled from 11th on the grid to finish fourth, and, coupled with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) finishing in 15th he secured the 2026 Independent Riders’ title – the third year in a row a Barni Ducati rider has won it. With the #5 also outscoring his rivals for P3 in the standings, he has a 53-point advantage heading to Jerez in the battle for bronze. Bassani finished the race in fifth place after managing a gap to Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven), with ‘Balda’ coming home in a relatively lonely sixth place.

OLIVEIRA’S ROLLERCOASTER RACE

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) finished in P7 as he fended off a hard-charging Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). After starting from P4, the #88 was running as low as 14th on the opening lap after he ran wide at Turn 6. From there, he fought his way through the field – passing Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and Gerloff in one move at Turn 1 on Lap 6 for P9, and attempting a similar move two laps later on Baldassarri and Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha), although he was only able to get ahead of ‘Balda’. On Lap 9, Oliveira ran wide at Turn 1 trying to pass his rivals and fell to 11th, before eventually finishing in eighth. Vierge was classified in ninth with Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) rounding out the top ten.

BRINGING HOME POINTS

Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) finished in 11th, half-a-second down on his fellow Brit in P10, while Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished in 12th. The #87 had to fend off Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) on the final lap, with the Thai star just 0.033s behind the Australian rider at the end of the race. Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was 14th with Sam Lowes picking up the final point with 15th.

NON-SCORES AND RETIREMENTS

Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finished in 16th place, almost five seconds down on the #14 ahead. Mattia Rato (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and teammate Twan Smits were 17th and 18th respectively, as the last classified riders. Alex Lowes crashed out of the race on Lap 16 at Turn 4, while Loris Baz (MGM Optical Express Racing) crashed at Turn 3 a lap later. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) also didn’t finish the race after bringing his bike into the pits with a technical issue.

The top six from WorldSBK Race 2:

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +4.888s

Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) +11.185s

Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +18.153s

Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +21.430s

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +22.894s

Fastest lap – Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), 1’34.696s

 

Circuito Estoril

BACK TO P1: Bulega returns to the top step ahead of Lecuona, Surra claims Estoril rostrum

SOURCE & PHOTO: WorldSBK

Bulega had to fight back after dropping to third on the opening lap on his way to victory in Portugal. 2026 Champion Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) returned to winning ways in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship with a commanding Race 1 victory at the Circuito Estoril, fighting back after dropping to third in the early stages of the race to beat teammate Iker Lecuona. There were more celebrations for Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) as he secured his second WorldSBK podium in three races after a successful first race day at the Tissot Estoril Round.

BULEGA BATTLES BACK AS SURRA TAKES A PODIUM

Bulega initially got away well at the start but Lecuona outbraked his teammate at Turn 1, and, with Bulega trying to gain position around the outside, Alex Lowes was able to come through to demote the 2026 Champion into third place. At the start of Lap 2, Bulega was back into second after getting ahead of Alex Lowes, while the #22 was soon demoted to fourth when Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) got ahead of the Bimota rider. A lap later and Bulega was in the lead of the race, once again making his move at Turn 1 to re-take the lead. He quickly extended his lead with a new race lap record, a 1’34.964s, as he went in search of his 27th victory of the season. ‘Bulegas’ did continue to build his lead as he made it a record-equalling 27th win this season, tying with Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) after his 2023 campaign. Lecuona claimed his 29th WorldSBK podium, putting him level with John Kocinski. Surra kept his cool when running in third, especially when Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) got within a second of the #67, but as the second half of the race started, Surra had a gap of 1.6 seconds over the home hero. It’s the Italian’s second WorldSBK rostrum, and his first in a feature-length race.

OLIVEIRA BACK ON FORM

Oliveira was running in fourth after initially dropping down the order at the start, before fighting his way back into P4. In the final few laps, he held a margin of over a second over Alex Lowes as he looked to hold on to fourth. Across the final five laps, the #88 was able to maintain the gap to the chasing Bimota for his first top-five finish since he was on the podium in Hungary in Race 1. The Brit finished in fifth ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven), who fought up to P6 despite, on Lap 6, being clattered from behind by Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team); both riders stayed on their machine.

BASSANI RESISTS MONTELLA’S CHALLENGE

Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) finished seventh after resisting a late charge from Montella, who finished just 0.033s behind the #47 when they crossed the finish line. Montella’s incident with ‘Balda’ was investigated by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards with no action taken, while Montella dropped down the order after the collision. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) claimed ninth ahead of Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team), with the #31 rounding out the top ten.

JUST OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) finished in 11th place after being passed by Gerloff at Turn 1 in the latter stages, with the #14 immediately looking behind after the Texan got ahead. Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) was 12th despite starting from seventh. The #96 dropped down the order at the start of the race and was unable to recover into the top ten. Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) finished in 13th ahead of Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) and Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team).

MISSING OUT ON POINTS

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) missed out on points by just 0.462s as he finished in 16th place, while he was almost two seasons clear of Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates). Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was 18th despite running wide at Turn 1 in the early stages, finishing ahead of Loris Baz (MGM Optical Express Racing), Mattia Rato (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and his teammate, Twan Smits.

LATE CRASH FOR MANZI

On the penultimate lap of the race, Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) crashed out at Turn 9 from the points-paying positions. He did re-join the race and took the chequered flag in 22nd and last place.

 

The top six from WorldSBK Race 1, full results here:

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 3.870s

Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) +9.668s

Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +11.444s

Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +12.749s

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +17.850s

 

Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) – 1’34.964s, new lap record

 

Circuito Estoril