WorldSBK 2026
Round 11 – Estoril – Saturday
Nicolò Bulega returned to winning ways at Estoril on Saturday, matching the record for victories in a World Superbike season after taking pole position and setting new qualifying and race lap records.
Bulega’s 27th victory of 2026 headed another Ducati podium sweep, with Iker Lecuona second and Alberto Surra claiming his first podium in a full-distance WorldSBK race. Home favourite Miguel Oliveira finished fourth, ahead of Alex Lowes.
Superpole
Bulega had already made history in qualifying, delivering Ducati’s first Estoril pole with a new outright lap record of 1m33.884s.
The newly crowned champion broke the previous benchmark on his opening run, then improved again on his second set of tyres to become the first WorldSBK rider into the 1m33s at the Portuguese circuit. Lecuona completed an Aruba.it Racing – Ducati one-two, just over a tenth and a half behind, while Alex Lowes put the Bimota on the front row.
It was Bulega’s tenth pole from eleven rounds this season. Another at Jerez would draw him level with Ben Spies’ record of eleven poles in a season, set in 2009.
Surra headed the second row, ahead of home favourite Miguel Oliveira and Yari Montella. Jake Dixon recorded his best WorldSBK qualifying result in seventh, ahead of Axel Bassani, Lorenzo Baldassarri and Sam Lowes.
Remy Gardner qualified 16th with a 1m35.407s, leaving the Australian facing another race in traffic while still managing his recent left-hand injury.
WorldSBK Race One
Bulega responds after Cremona
Lecuona had swept all three races at Cremona, but his team-mate restored the usual order at Estoril with a performance that combined pole position, a new race lap record and victory by almost four seconds.
It was not a straightforward opening lap for Bulega. Lecuona took charge into Turn One, and Alex Lowes also came through as the pole-sitter tried the outside line, leaving the champion third behind the Ducati and Bimota.
Bulega recovered second at the start of lap two, then passed Lecuona into Turn One a lap later. His 1m34.964s on that third lap established a new race record and immediately underlined the pace his team-mate would need to match.
Lecuona could not sustain the challenge. Bulega led the remaining 19 laps and completed the 21-lap race 3.870 seconds clear, equalling the 27 victories Alvaro Bautista recorded during his 2023 championship campaign.
Five races remain for Bulega to claim the record outright. His latest success also extended Ducati’s winning streak to 35 races, matching the manufacturer’s sequence from 2003–2004.
Nicolò Bulega – P1
“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.”
Second place brought Lecuona his 29th WorldSBK podium, but the Spaniard was frustrated by the difference in confidence and performance between the two factory Ducatis.
Iker Lecuona – P2
“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.”
Surra backs up breakthrough podium
Surra followed his maiden podium in the Cremona Superpole Race with third over the full distance at Estoril, giving Motocorsa Racing another strong result from its rookie.
The Italian held fourth on the opening lap, passed Alex Lowes on lap two and retained third for the rest of the race. Oliveira kept the pressure on from behind, but Surra finished just under ten seconds behind Bulega and nearly two seconds ahead of the BMW.
Alberto Surra – P3
“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.”
Oliveira gave the home crowd something to cheer with fourth. After dropping to sixth on the opening lap, he passed Montella and Alex Lowes early to secure BMW’s best result in 20 races.
Alex Lowes completed the top five, just over a second behind Oliveira. The Bimota rider felt he had delivered one of his strongest races of the season, maintaining his accuracy and pace despite being unable to keep the Ducatis behind him.
Alex Lowes – P5
“I felt like I had no chance racing with them but I also think I had one of the best races I have had all year, and we still finished fifth. I didn’t miss an apex, never made a mistake and kept pushing to the end. We went loads faster than last year, made a good start, then I put myself in a good track position, so what more can I do?”
Contact complicates Montella’s afternoon
Baldassarri emerged from a physical midfield battle in sixth, recovering from a difficult morning after GoEleven returned to a familiar base set-up for qualifying.
His race included contact with Montella on lap six. Both riders stayed aboard, and the stewards took no further action, but Montella lost a wing and then ran wide as he adjusted to the altered behaviour of his Ducati.
Tyre preservation had already shaped Montella’s approach. Barni had seen excessive rear wear in practice and asked him to protect the tyre early, but rider and team subsequently felt they had been too conservative.
Montella was tenth at the end of lap six and remained there until his recovery gathered pace in the second half. He passed Sam Lowes on lap 14 and Bautista on lap 18, then chased Bassani to the flag. Only 0.033 seconds separated Bassani’s seventh place from Montella in eighth.
Bassani had run sixth behind his Bimota team-mate in the early stages, but began to struggle as his tyre performance dropped after nine or ten laps. Baldassarri took the position, leaving Bassani to defend seventh from the recovering Montella.
Axel Bassani – P7
“Race One at Estoril was a difficult race because I pushed 120% from the first lap to the end. In every corner, and in every braking zone, I was pushing really hard. I recovered some positions in the first laps but when the tyre started to drop, after nine or ten laps, I started to find it difficult to keep my pace. I battled a little bit with Baldassarri for sixth position. It was difficult but I fought to the end. That was my maximum today and I gave everything, so I am happy for that. We will try to improve for Sunday and do something more but we did a good job on Saturday, and P7 in Race One was good.”
Bautista finished ninth after a marked deterioration in rear-tyre performance left him struggling through right-hand changes of direction. Garrett Gerloff passed Sam Lowes late in the race to complete the top ten for Kawasaki.
Gerloff had qualified 11th and completed the opening lap 12th, with his progress coming through battles with Vierge and Sam Lowes. He felt the closely matched pace made it difficult to recover from the fourth row, and identified a top-nine finish in Sunday’s Superpole Race as the route to a better starting position for Race Two.
Garrett Gerloff – P10
“If we can get a ninth place tomorrow in the short race, and get on the third row of the grid, I think that can really help us in Race Two. In Race One, I think I had good pace and everything, but starting just a bit near the back, it was just difficult to move too far forward. I had a good battle with Xavi Vierge and Sam Lowes, so all-in-all, I rode the best I could, and a top ten is what we have to take for now. Let’s try and do more tomorrow.”
Dixon could not convert his seventh-place grid position into a top-ten finish. He dropped to 14th on the opening lap and recovered to 12th, behind Sam Lowes and ahead of Xavi Vierge and Somkiat Chantra.
Gardner takes a point through the pain
Gardner took the final point in 15th, finishing six-tenths behind Chantra and less than half a second ahead of Andrea Locatelli.
The GRT Yamaha rider moved ahead of Locatelli during the middle of the race and continued to fight despite his hand injury. Chantra got back ahead late on, before Stefano Manzi’s penultimate-lap crash moved Gardner back into the points.
Remy Gardner – P15
“It was a tricky race and a challenging Saturday overall, especially considering my recent left-hand injury. Nevertheless, I pushed hard and did my best to secure the best possible result. All things considered, our pace wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately, we were missing a little speed in Superpole, which would have helped us in the race, but we fought hard in Race 1 and securing a point in these conditions is a decent result. Of course, we’re not where we want to be, but we need to take things step by step. We’ll look ahead to tomorrow and see what we can achieve.”
Manzi had made substantial progress from 20th on the grid before falling at Turn Nine. He remounted and completed the race in 22nd, with all 22 starters classified.
Locatelli finished 16th ahead of Tommy Bridewell, Danilo Petrucci and Loris Baz, with Mattia Rato and Twan Smits completing the order ahead of Manzi. Vierge’s 13th was Yamaha’s best result.
Bulega now has 627 points to Lecuona’s 489. Behind the already-settled title fight, Montella retains third on 277, but Alex Lowes reduced the gap to 40 points. Gardner remains 17th on 58.
WorldSBK Race One Results
 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | N. Bulega | Duc | 33m34.620 | 320.5 |
| 2 | I. Lecuona | Duc | +3.870 | 319.5 |
| 3 | A. Surra | Duc | +9.668 | 319.5 |
| 4 | M. Oliveira | BMW | +11.444 | 325.3 |
| 5 | A. Lowes | Bim | +12.749 | 320.5 |
| 6 | L. Baldassarri | Duc | +17.850 | 323.4 |
| 7 | A. Bassani | Bim | +19.335 | 318.6 |
| 8 | Y. Montella | Duc | +19.368 | 323.4 |
| 9 | A. Bautista | Duc | +20.734 | 325.3 |
| 10 | G. Gerloff | Kaw | +21.560 | 326.3 |
| 11 | S. Lowes | Duc | +23.457 | 320.5 |
| 12 | J. Dixon | Hon | +28.220 | 325.3 |
| 13 | X. Vierge | Yam | +29.154 | 321.4 |
| 14 | S. Chantra | Hon | +30.069 | 330.3 |
| 15 | R. Gardner | Yam | +30.687 | 322.4 |
| 16 | A. Locatelli | Yam | +31.149 | 321.4 |
| 17 | T. Bridewell | Duc | +32.988 | 322.4 |
| 18 | D. Petrucci | BMW | +37.232 | 325.3 |
| 19 | L. Baz | Duc | +39.690 | 320.5 |
| 20 | M. Rato | Yam | +53.391 | 319.5 |
| 21 | T. Smits | Yam | +57.366 | 313.0 |
| 22 | S. Manzi | Yam | +1’24.288 | 320.5 |
WorldSBK Superpole Times
|
||||
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | N. Bulega | Duc | 1m33.884 |
320.5 |
| 2 | I. Lecuona | Duc | +0.157 | 322.4 |
| 3 | A. Lowes | Bim | +0.546 | 317.6 |
| 4 | A. Surra | Duc | +0.627 | 316.7 |
| 5 | M. Oliveira | BMW | +0.665 | 324.3 |
| 6 | Y. Montella | Duc | +0.863 | 322.4 |
| 7 | J. Dixon | Hon | +0.904 | 322.4 |
| 8 | A. Bassani | Bim | +0.955 | 314.9 |
| 9 | L. Baldassarri | Duc | +1.074 | 320.5 |
| 10 | S. Lowes | Duc | +1.111 | 319.5 |
| 11 | G. Gerloff | Kaw | +1.248 | 321.4 |
| 12 | A. Bautista | Duc | +1.300 | 322.4 |
| 13 | X. Vierge | Yam | +1.323 | 321.4 |
| 14 | D. Petrucci | BMW | +1.344 | 323.4 |
| 15 | A. Locatelli | Yam | +1.354 | 318.6 |
| 16 | R. Gardner | Yam | +1.523 | 322.4 |
| 17 | S. Chantra | Hon | +1.605 | 325.3 |
| 18 | L. Baz | Duc | +1.752 | 319.5 |
| 19 | T. Bridewell | Duc | +1.756 | 320.5 |
| 20 | S. Manzi | Yam | +1.775 | 319.5 |
| 21 | M. Rato | Yam | +2.141 | 318.6 |
| 22 | T. Smits | Yam | +2.614 | 315.8 |
WorldSSP Race One
Bayliss misses victory by 0.075 seconds
Oli Bayliss came agonisingly close to his first World Supersport victory at Estoril, finishing just 0.075 seconds behind PTR Triumph Factory Racing team-mate Tom Booth-Amos after leading much of the second half of the race.
Jeremy Alcoba made it a three-way dash to the flag, finishing only 0.147 seconds from victory. Behind them, fourth was enough for Albert Arenas to secure the 2026 WorldSSP Championship with three races remaining.
Bayliss started fourth but completed the opening lap sixth as Lucas Mahias led from pole-sitter Can Oncu and Eric Fernandez. The Australian remained in a tightly packed leading group while Arenas worked forward from ninth on the grid.
Oncu’s challenge unravelled when he crashed at Turn Nine on lap four. He remounted and eventually finished 21st. Fernandez, who had run third on the opening lap, stopped with a technical problem at Turn Two on lap five.
Arenas led across the line at the end of lap five before Mahias regained the advantage. At half-distance, the first five riders were covered by little more than three-tenths, with Bayliss fifth behind Mahias, Arenas, Roberto Garcia and Booth-Amos.
One lap later, Bayliss was leading.
The Australian completed lap ten at the head of the field, with Booth-Amos second and Arenas third. Bayliss then led across the line for seven consecutive laps, although he could never break clear of his team-mate.
The margins became almost impossibly small. Bayliss led Booth-Amos by five-thousandths at the end of lap 16; a lap later, Booth-Amos was ahead by four-thousandths as they began the final tour.
The fight continued around the last lap, with Booth-Amos passing Bayliss at Turn Nine before holding him off on the run to the flag. Bayliss secured second by just 0.072 seconds from the rapidly closing Alcoba.
It was Triumph’s first WorldSSP one-two and Bayliss’ fourth career podium. His 20-point haul lifted his season tally to 94, leaving him 14th in the standings but now only five points behind Filippo Farioli.
Booth-Amos celebrated his third win of the season and his first away from Donington Park. With Jaume Masia and Oncu both failing to score, he moved within 12 points of third place in the championship.
Tom Booth-Amos – P1
“I’m over the moon to get a win outside of Donington. I probably should have done it a few more times this year, but it’s pretty cool to win here. I don’t particularly like this track, so I said from the beginning of the weekend that if I came away with a top six, I’d be happy. But we’ve been working really well this weekend. To win the race today is unexpected, and I’ve also clawed back a few points in the Championship fight for third position, so that’s pretty good. I just have to do it again tomorrow!”
Alcoba closes in on the Triumphs
Alcoba’s podium came after a substantial recovery. The Kawasaki rider started tenth, dropped to 15th on the opening lap and was still ninth at half-distance before working into the leading fight.
After struggling to find his pace on Friday, Alcoba felt changes to the bike helped him ride more smoothly and preserve performance for the closing stages. Third followed his double victory at Cremona and was his fourth podium of the season.
He passed Arenas on lap 17 and began the final lap about four-tenths behind the Triumphs. By the chequered flag, all three podium finishers were covered by less than a sixth of a second.
Jeremy Alcoba – P3
“It is third and not a first position like it was in Cremona and had to sweat a little bit more this time. I did not feel good this weekend and on Friday we were struggling a bit to find the pace. We did a really good job in qualifying, with two good laps riding alone. Today the comeback was really good. I was not happy about my start because although the first touch of the gas was good, then I didn’t know why, I lost positions. Tomorrow we will start a bit further up the grid, because of my best lap, and that helps to be more calm in the first corners. I had something in the bike to help me be more smooth and take care in the final laps, and it looks like in the end we were really fast. Thanks to the team and everybody involved.”
Arenas seals his second world title
Arenas arrived with an 86-point advantage and left Saturday with the championship secured, but he was still in the thick of the fight at the front.
The Yamaha rider led a lap and ran third behind the Triumphs through much of the second half, only losing the final podium position to Alcoba on the penultimate lap. He finished less than eight-tenths from the winner.
Valentin Debise recovered from 17th on the grid to sixth, but that was not enough to keep the title alive. Arenas collected 13 points to Debise’s ten, extending his lead to an unassailable 89 with only 75 still available.
The 2020 Moto3 World Champion has now added a WorldSSP crown in his first season in the class. Three victories and 16 podiums from the opening 21 races tell the story of a campaign built on consistency, with nothing worse than fifth.
Albert Arenas – P4 / 2026 WorldSSP Champion
“I knew that we had done a good job and that the pace was there, so I wanted to give my maximum during the race. I wanted to fight for a win, but today there were two rocket ships at the front: the two Triumphs. I gave it my 100%, and it was a nice fight. The race was a little bit hectic, but I’m happy to finish it at 100% and I’m happy to win the title.”
Yamaha also secured its 12th WorldSSP manufacturers’ title, with a 97-point advantage over Ducati, while AS BLU CRU Racing wrapped up the teams’ championship. Arenas’ success gives the Yamaha R9 back-to-back riders’ titles following Manzi’s 2025 crown.
Garcia earns Sunday pole
Mahias finished fifth after leading eight laps, ahead of Debise and Garcia. The first eight riders finished within two seconds, with Alessandro Zaccone eighth, Ondrej Vostatek ninth and Philipp Oettl completing the top ten.
Farioli recovered from a mid-race excursion to finish 11th ahead of Mattia Casadei and Leonardo Taccini. Simon Jespersen beat Borja Jimenez to 14th by just six-thousandths, with Aldi Mahendra outside the points in 16th and Masia 17th.
Dominique Aegerter also reached the leading group after fighting forward from 12th early in the race, but fell while braking for Turn Eight on lap 14. He remounted to finish 24th and will start Sunday’s race from 12th.
Dominique Aegerter – P24
“We started from P8 and had some big battles with a lot of riders in the middle of the race. I fought my way up from P12 to P7, so every lap I was fully on the limit, trying to close the gap. Finally I reached the front group and then everything was possible. I kept pushing to try to overtake riders and I made a small mistake, when I went a little bit too much out of the track. When I braked my front just washed away. I crashed at a high-speed corner but luckily I am OK. We start 12th on the grid tomorrow and I hope we can make a good start.”
Matteo Ferrari lost a potential top-six result to a late technical problem, while Federico Caricasulo and Raffaele De Rosa were also among the retirements.
Garcia’s seventh place came from 19th on the grid, and his race contained another reward: a new lap record of 1m39.444s, securing pole for Race Two.
Booth-Amos and Debise complete Sunday’s front row, with Alcoba fourth, Bayliss fifth and Farioli sixth. Newly crowned champion Arenas will start 13th.
Arenas heads the standings on 364 points from Debise on 275, with Masia third on 229. Oncu has 221, Booth-Amos 217 and Alcoba 204, leaving the fight for the remaining championship positions very much alive.
WorldSSP Race One Results
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | T. Booth-Amos | Tri | 30m08.791 | 278.4 |
| 2 | O. Bayliss | Tri | +0.075 | 279.1 |
| 3 | J. Alcoba | Kaw | +0.147 | 286.5 |
| 4 | A. Arenas | Yam | +0.762 | 280.5 |
| 5 | L. Mahias | Yam | +1.030 | 275.5 |
| 6 | V. Debise | ZXM | +1.225 | 281.3 |
| 7 | R. Garcia | Yam | +1.796 | 281.3 |
| 8 | A. Zaccone | Duc | +1.986 | 284.2 |
| 9 | O. Vostatek | Tri | +3.592 | 279.8 |
| 10 | P. Oettl | Duc | +5.863 | 283.5 |
| 11 | F. Farioli | Yam | +8.421 | 280.5 |
| 12 | M. Casadei | Duc | +8.691 | 281.3 |
| 13 | L. Taccini | Duc | +9.047 | 279.8 |
| 14 | S. Jespersen | Duc | +10.440 | 279.8 |
| 15 | B. Jimenez | Duc | +10.446 | 285.0 |
| 16 | A. Mahendra | Yam | +12.778 | 277.6 |
| 17 | J. Masia | Duc | +15.263 | 280.5 |
| 18 | C. Perolari | Hon | +21.077 | 278.4 |
| 19 | O. Konig | Tri | +21.526 | 276.9 |
| 20 | Y. Okamoto | Yam | +22.483 | 276.9 |
| 21 | C. Oncu | Yam | +26.816 | 270.7 |
| 22 | A. Giombini | MVA | +40.402 | 275.5 |
| 23 | A. Kofler | Yam | +42.258 | 272.0 |
| 24 | D. Aegerter | Kaw | +46.026 | 284.2 |
| 25 | A. Carrasco | Hon | +50.447 | 278.4 |
| 26 | S. Di Sora | MVA | +1 Lap | 274.1 |
| Not Classified | ||||
| RET | M. Ferrari | Duc | +2 Laps | 280.5 |
| RET | R. De Rosa | QJM | +9 Laps | 277.6 |
| RET | H. Garzo | Duc | +10 Laps | 276.2 |
| RET | F. Caricasulo | ZXM | +10 Laps | 282.0 |
| RET | E. Fernandez | Yam | +14 Laps | 270.7 |
| RET | J. Whatley | Duc | +14 Laps | 275.5 |
| RET | G. Capote | Yam | +15 Laps | 274.1 |
| RET | B. Sofuoglu | QJM | +16 Laps | 271.4 |
2026 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship calendar
|
|||||
|
Date
|
Country
|
Circuit
|
WorldSBK
|
WorldSSP
|
WorldSPB
|
|
20-22 Feb
|
AUS
|
Phillip Island GP
|
X
|
X
|
|
|
27-29 Mar
|
POR
|
Portimao
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
17-19 Apr
|
NED
|
TT Assen
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
1-3 May
|
HUN
|
Balaton Park
|
X
|
X
|
|
|
15-17 May
|
CZE
|
Most
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
29-31 May
|
ESP
|
MotorLand Aragon
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
12-14 Jun
|
ITA
|
Misano – Marco Simoncelli
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
10-12 Jul
|
UK
|
Donington Park
|
X
|
X
|
|
|
4-6 Sep
|
FRA
|
Nevers Magny-Cours
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
25-27 Sep
|
ITA
|
Cremona
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
9-11 Oct
|
POR
|
Estoril
|
X
|
X
|
|
|
16-18 Oct
|
ESP
|
Jerez – Angel Nieto*
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
2026 World Superbike Championship Entry List
|
||
|
Rider
|
Bike
|
Team
|
|
I.Lecuona
|
Duc
|
Aruba.It Ducati
|
|
N.Bulega
|
Duc
|
Aruba.It Ducati
|
|
D.Petrucci
|
BMW
|
ROKiT BMW Motorrad
|
|
M.Oliveira
|
BMW
|
ROKiT BMW Motorrad
|
|
A.Locatelli
|
Yam
|
Pata Maxus Yamaha
|
|
X.Vierge
|
Yam
|
Pata Maxus Yamaha
|
|
Y.Montella
|
Duc
|
Barni Spark
|
|
A.Bautista
|
Duc
|
Barni Spark
|
|
A.Lowes
|
Bim
|
bimota by Kawasaki
|
|
A.Bassani
|
Bim
|
bimota by Kawasaki
|
|
S.Chantra
|
Hon
|
Honda HRC
|
|
J.Dixon
|
Hon
|
Honda HRC
|
|
S.Manzi
|
Yam
|
GYTR GRT Yamaha
|
|
R.Gardner
|
Yam
|
GYTR GRT Yamaha
|
|
S.Lowes
|
Duc
|
ELF Marc VDS
|
|
L.Baldassarri
|
Duc
|
Goeleven
|
|
T.Mackenzie
|
Duc
|
MGM Racing
|
|
G.Gerloff
|
Kaw
|
Kawasaki WorldSBK
|
|
A.Surra
|
Duc
|
Motocorsa
|
|
M.Rato
|
Yam
|
Motoxracing
|
|
B.Sofuoglu
|
Yam
|
Motoxracing
|
|
A.Iannone
|
Duc
|
Cainam Racing
|
