Iker Lecuona finally broke through to win his first WorldSBK race at Donington Park, but Nicolo Bulega was soon back to his dominant winning ways as Ducati wrapped up two titles only two thirds of the way through the season at the Prosecco DOC UK Round.

 

Race 1

When Iker Lecuona sliced into the lead at the start of Race 1, so began a titanic battle that saw the aruba.it Ducati pair spend the virtually the entire race separated by a less than a quarter of a second.  A failed early move at the Melbourne hairpin a handful of laps into the race proved to Bulega he would need to try harder than ever before this year to extend his unbeaten run.

The next flashpoint came in the closing stages where with three laps to go Bulega got ahead at the turn nine chicane.  Lecuona however was straight back past at Melbourne.  The battle resumed on the next lap where Bulega this time attempted a block pass at the same section of track but Lecuona was wise to it.

Onto the final lap, it once came down to the penultimate corner at Melbourne hairpin.  Lecuona just had enough traction to fend off Bulega by less than two tenths of a second to win his first WorldSBK race, end Bulega’s run of 25 straight wins stretching back to last October.

Despite their squabbling on track the rest of the field was very far behind.  Yari Montella (recently renewed with Barni for next season) secured a comfortable podium once he passed Sam Lowes, who ended up battling an impressive Tommy Bridewell for fourth.  Lorenzo Baldassari just held off Alex Lowes for sixth while the other Brits of Jonathan Rea failed to finish and Tarran Mackenzie failed to start the race respectively.

Montella’s teammate Alvaro Bautista was stuck battling the BMW and Yamaha riders for the lower points places while Jake Dixon ended his first home race in WorldSBK in a lowly 18th, with Rea clearly the fastest Honda rider of the day.

Race 1 Results

 

 

Tissot Superpole Race

From second place it was again Lecuona who got the holeshot into Redgate.  But coming through Goddards on the second lap, the Spaniard crashed out and later retired with three laps to go.

This left Bulega to see off Montella who had also jumped ahead of him at the start.  On lap five of the ten lap affair, Bulega scythed past at the Melbourne hairpin to get back to winning ways while also retaining pole for Race Two.

After the passing of their team founder, Sam Lowes was able to secure a poignant podium finish.  His brother only just managed to come behind home after his charging teammate Axel Bassani nearly sealed the deal for fourth at Melbourne on the final lap.

Baldassari was just clear of a sparring Bridewell and Xavi Vierge while Garrett Gerloff denied Rea a point and better grid spot for Race Two in ninth.  Meanwhile, Lecuona would start tenth for the afternoon race but at least he and Bulega had now secured the 2026 Teams’ Championship despite it only being July!

Tissot Superpole Race Results

 

 

Race 2

Montella came oh so close to getting around Bulega at Redgate but instead the factory Ducati rider held on and rode off into the distance.  Without Lecuona on the front row to challenge him, it was back to usual for Bulega while his teammate had little difficulty charging through the field from 10th.

That is until Lecuona encountered Montella.  It took Lecuona barely any laps to get to the final podium position but it would take until the final third of the race before he could pass Montella for second at Goddards with eight laps to go.

Bridewell’s Ducati engine tragically blew up early on when he was looking at another strong finish.  The battle for fourth therefore was between the Lowes’ brothers before Bassani again went on a charge.  Sam fell to seventh behind an impressive Gerloff while Baldassari and Vierge saw off Bautista for the lower top 10 positions.

Rea came home 14th and admitted that unlike other rounds this year he had enjoyed himself this weekend on his wildcard outing for Honda.  The BMW’s and Yamaha’s had nothing to shout about nor did the other Honda’s as Ducati romped to the Manufacturers’ Title after just eight of 12 rounds had been completed in 2026.

Race 2 Results

 

 

Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK