#FrenchWorldSBK Saturday Reflections

Posted September 6, 2026

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Credit: WorldSBK

Nicolò Bulega’s near-perfect 2026 WorldSBK campaign continued at Magny-Cours as the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider claimed his 24th race victory of the season in Saturday’s opening race.

Bulega had already secured pole position in Superpole, smashing the Magny-Cours lap record by six tenths of a second to secure his ninth pole of the campaign and 18th of his career. The result also marked Ducati’s first Superpole at Magny-Cours since James Toseland in 2003.

Sam Lowes bounced back from a Turn 15 crash in FP3 to qualify second, securing his first front-row start since Assen, while Iker Lecuona completed the front row. Ducati machinery occupied the top five positions, with Alex Lowes leading the non-Ducati riders in sixth.

Race 1 was interrupted after nine laps following a red flag caused by Tommy Bridewell’s crash at Turn 14. Bulega had held a slender five-tenths advantage over Lecuona at the time, with the race reduced to a 12-lap restart.

Lecuona initially led the restart, but Bulega made his move at Turn 5 on Lap 2. The Ducati teammates ran side-by-side through Turn 6, with Bulega holding the inside line and forcing Lecuona to lose momentum. Sam Lowes attempted to capitalise at Turn 8, but Lecuona responded immediately to reclaim second.

From there, Bulega pulled clear, eventually taking the chequered flag more than three seconds ahead of his teammate while setting a new lap record on his way to another victory.

“It’s fantastic to win after the long summer break. I’ve really missed this feeling. It was tough after the red flag because we had to make a second start, and I knew Iker was strong. I told myself it was time to give it everything and go for the win. Restarts are always difficult because you need to stay fully focused through those opening laps. In the end, it worked out well. I still think we can improve the bike a little because even though I feel good it’s not 100% yet.”

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Nicolò Bulega. Credit: WorldSBK

Bulega explained that he was deliberately managing his rear tyre during the race, drawing on lessons learned from Álvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu while also recognising Lecuona’s strength in tyre management.

“Yeah, honestly, I learned a lot from Álvaro and from Toprak in the last years, that in the middle of the race and also in the beginning, it’s very important to not destroy the tyre and warm up the tyre after some laps, but Iker is very strong also in this point. But when we arrive at almost half race, I’m not trying to destroy the rear tyre, so I always try to be very clean with the throttle and try to save the rear, but sometimes this costs a bit of tense, because Iker is always pushing at 100%, so it would be nice to see at the end of the race, the last 5 laps, if my strategy to not destroy the tyre would be good or not.”

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Iker Lecuona. Credit: WorldSBK

Lecuona enjoyed another strong battle with his teammate, with the pair trading positions during the opening laps before Bulega eventually established a gap. The Spaniard admitted he was still missing something in the early stages, but felt increasingly competitive as the tyres wore and was pleased with how much closer he is getting to Bulega.

“It was a good fight. Good overtaking. A few times we touched because of the slipstream. His bike comes to my bike. Or on the exit, even with Sam. I didn’t expect that he [Bulega] overtook me on that place. Yeah, it was good. It was fun. I think even for the spectators it was good. Like I said, every race I’m a bit closer. We started to fight during the first laps. I missed something. But again, the last lap for sure was different because I managed the used tyres better. But in any case, right now I can say that I’m more happy. In the sprint, so far, my intention is to finish second. Yeah, I need to be honest. He has more speed, and with 10 laps it makes no sense to fight because he deserves it right now. He is faster than me on 10 laps, but on 21 laps I’m not faster, but I can recover the time that I lost in the beginning.”

ELF Marc VDS Racing Team’s Sam Lowes. Credits: WorldSBK

Lowes completed the podium in third, finishing more than two seconds clear of the battle behind him to strengthen his third position in the championship standings.

“Honestly, the race was what I expected. I expected the two guys at the front to be a little bit quicker than me. I made an improvement on the second start, but I just made a few small mistakes. Towards the end, I had a bit of a rhythm going, and I was doing 1:35s, 1:35.7, so I think I’m missing maybe two or three tenths to Iker. That’s something I can think about for tomorrow. Nico is riding very well, and he managed the situation really well, so fair play to him. The guys behind were also similar to me, but a little bit slower. I need to keep improving tonight and try to make a step for tomorrow. After this break, I’m happy to get back on the podium.”

Yari Montella completed the top four after passing Alex Lowes at Turn 13 on Lap 6, while Lorenzo Baldassarri recovered from a warm-up lap crash to finish sixth. Axel Bassani took seventh.

The race had already seen several incidents before the red flag, with Remy Gardner, Miguel Oliveira, Mattia Rato, Stefano Manzi and Bridewell all crashing. Somkiat Chantra was later forced to retire from the restart with a technical failure.

With Bulega once again victorious and Lecuona and Sam Lowes completing the podium, attention now turns to Sunday’s Superpole Race and second feature race. The Superpole Race is at 11:10 LT, and Race Two is at 14:00 here in Magny-Cours.