The Estoril Round began in near-perfect fashion for Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
The recently crowned Superbike World Champion has been in fantastic form this season and at the penultimate round of the campaign he asserted his dominance over the class.
Race 1 Highlights
Bulega claimed Ducati’s first Superpole at Estoril with a new outright lap record and then followed it with a Race 1 victory that featured a new race lap record.
His 27th win of the season saw him equal Alvaro Bautista’s record for the most wins in a single season.
With Bulega’s strength underlined it was his teammate Iker Lecuona who offered the resistance. The Spaniard led the opening two laps but ultimately had to settle for second as Bulega built a lead of almost four seconds over the 21-lap race.
Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) started fourth and made a solid start to maintain his position on Lap 1.
On the following lap, he moved ahead of Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) to take third and then maintained a consistent pace to claim his second career WorldSBK podium.
Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) produced a combative performance, making decisive moves into Turn 1 on Yari Montella and Alex Lowes during the early stages.
His fourth-place finish marked BMW’s best result in 20 races.
Contact with Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team Goeleven) damaged Montella’s Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati and dropped the Italian to tenth.
He fought back through the field from Lap 14 onwards, overtaking Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Alvaro Bautista to finish eighth.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I’m really happy to be back winning races and I’m really happy with my result today. I want to thank my team because after Cremona I needed to find a good feeling again. I’m happy to be riding well again. I want to finish my career in Superbike in a good way and the goal is to beat the record for the most wins in a season. The most important thing is to win races and if I can achieve more records that’s even better. But I’m just thinking about winning more races.”
P2 – Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It’s not a bad day for us but it’s about how you achieve the result rather than the result itself. I’m frustrated because we haven’t found a solution and I don’t feel comfortable. When Nicolo came past me, I realised that I couldn’t do anything because he had much more confidence and his bike was much better than mine. We need to learn from this and I need to be happy because it’s my first year on this bike and Nicolo has more experience than me with the bike. We’re very fast but I want more and that’s my mentality.”
P3 – Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing)
“I’m really happy with my first podium in a full-length race. It’s even more emotional because it was fantastic today. At the moment, I have a good mindset and we improved the setup of the bike before Cremona and made some other changes to the electronics here. I have a good feeling with the bike and another podium is possible.”
Race 1 Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 3.870s
3. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) +9.668s
4. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +11.444s
5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +12.749s
6. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +17.850s
Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) – 1’34.964s, new lap record
Superpole Highlights
Bulega’s day began in perfect fashion as he secured his 11th pole position of the campaign. He set a new lap record of 1’33.884 on his first flying lap of his second stint, with Lecuona qualifying second fastest.
Alex Lowes delivered a strong performance to qualify third. The Englishman went more than eight tenths of a second faster than his Superpole time from 2025, highlighting the continued progress of the bimota KB998 Rimini.
Oliveira’s home round delivered his best qualifying performance since Round 4 at Balaton Park, with the Portuguese rider taking fifth on the grid.
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’33.884s
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.157s
3. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.546s
