A weekend attendance of 57,494 at the TT Circuit Assen watched on as Nicolo Bulega continued his dominant start to the 2026 WorldSBK season.
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider led home three one-two finishes for his team this weekend while, for the first time in WorldSBK history, a manufacturer locked out the podium in all three races of a round.
Race 2 Highlights
Starting from the outside of the front row Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) led the opening laps of the race. A fast start saw him outdrag Lecuona to Turn 1 before passing Bulega at the next turn. Lowes would lead the first two laps before Bulega and Lecuona came past and from that point onwards they stayed in the same positions with five seconds separating the podium finishers at the flag.
Bulega’s pace and consistency was impressive throughout as he opened a margin of two seconds at half race distance. From that point onwards it was about controlling the race and the gap to his teammate.
Ducati’s dominance was continued throughout the top six positions with the Barni Spark Racing Team duo of Alvaro Bautista and Yari Montella battling throughout the 21 lap distance. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team Goeleven) started on the fourth row of the grid and finished in sixth position.
The Pata Maxus Yamaha teammates Xavi Vierge and Andrea Locatelli finished the weekend with seventh and eighth place finishes. They battled with Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) for much of the race while Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) faded in the second half of the race having ran inside the top seven positions for the first half of the race.
Championship Highlights
- Bulega extends his title lead to 69 points over Lecuona following his third consecutive maximum haul of 62 points over a single race weekend.
- Sam Lowes moves into third position in the standings and continues to lead the Independent Rider standings.
- Ducati’s perfect record of nine wins from nine races means they now hold a 91 lead in the Manufacturers Standings from bimota.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati):
“I didn’t make the perfect start and Sam and Iker overtook me on the first lap. After that I stayed calm and studied where I could pass them. It was a fantastic race and I made some good overtakes. I didn’t make any big mistakes and my race pace was very strong, so we improved the feeling from yesterday and I’m happy about that. I’m in a good place mentally. I know I can be fast in all conditions, and that’s very important. Winning 13 races in a row gives you a lot of confidence and motivation for the next races.”
P2 – Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati):
“I’m really happy. We did a strong job throughout the weekend. At times I struggled, other times I felt more comfortable. After the Superpole Race we decided to try something new with the bike, which we hadn’t tested before, and in the end it worked well. I had two big moments at Turn 12 where I almost crashed, losing a bit of time, but overall I’m satisfied. Nicolo is still a bit faster, but I know this is one of his best tracks. Let’s see if we can fight for first position in the next races.”
P3 – Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team):
“I think Nicolo had a bit of an advantage, and Iker slightly less, but I’m happy to be fighting close to them. At the moment they are the reference, both rider and team, so it’s positive for us to be in that group. This track suits us well and the Ducatis were strong all weekend, but I was able to stay close and battle with them, and also to qualify ahead of one of them. I tried to be smart and consistent, especially after two good races, to finish the weekend in a strong way. It’s been a very positive Sunday and I’m proud of the job we’ve done.”
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Race 2 Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.724s
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +5.257s
4. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) + 8.941s
5. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +9.845s
6. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +12.872s
Championship Standings
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 186 points
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 117
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) 82
4. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 69
5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) 69
6. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) 67
Superpole Race Highlights
Nicolo Bulega led an Aruba.it Racing – Ducati one-two by leading every lap from pole position and delivering the victory for the Italian squad ahead of Iker Lecuona. On the opening lap Lecuona eased his way past Sam Lowes and the Ducati trio went on to claim the podium positions.
Starting from the fourth row Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) made progress throughout the field. He was sixth at the end of the opening lap, then moved past Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) on Lap 2 before attacking Alex Lowes in the closing stages. The duo spent much of the race in close proximity with Bautista easing his way through at Turn 1 on Lap 8.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) showed good race craft on the final lap to nab the final points paying position. Having received a penalty to drop one position he was able to leave himself enough time to attack Remy Gardner at the Chicane and finish in ninth position.
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.742s
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +2.632s
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