Despite the best efforts of Iker Lecuona and Sam Lowes – as well as some rain in Race 1 – Nicolo Bulega continued his winning ways in World Superbikes at the 2026 Pirelli Dutch Round.
Race 1
Bulega was beaten to the first corner not by Sam Lowes from 2nd but his teammate Lecuona starting in 3rd. This move set the tone for the race as Lecuona did everything in his power to disrupt Bulega’s winning run.
The start also saw Tommy Bridewell pushed out wide by Lorenzo Baldassari and Danilo Petrucci jump-starting and being hit with a double long-lap penalty. On the first of these he misjudged his breaking and ended up running through the gravel effectively ending his race.
Bulega caught Lecuona lacking near the end of the second lap, after which things settled down. Sam Lowes was able to keep the aruba.it Ducati’s in his sights while Alvaro Bautista and Alex Lowes consolidated fourth and fifth places.
Just after the halfway point, rain started to fall but not by enough to force the riders to change bikes or race direction to stop proceedings. The rain caught out Bulega and at the final chicane he made a mistake, kickstarting a six-lap showdown with Lecuona watched closely by Sam Lowes behind.
The two factory Ducati riders swapped places three times in three laps, before with three laps to go Bulega finally sealed the deal to retake and stretch his lead in the closing laps. Sam Lowes had to settle for third while Tarran Mackenzie sadly dropped back a couple of places having run as high as sixth while Andrea Locatelli and Miguel Oliveria capitalised.
Race 1 Results
Tissot Superpole Race
Xavi Vierge was the biggest mover at the start of Sunday morning’s 10-lap affair while Alex Lowes went the other way. The top three held positions throughout the race as Bulega made it 12 race wins in a row.
Alex Lowes had work to do after his poor start and he recovered for a thrilling fight for fourth with Bautista in the closing laps. Vierge fell back behind those two into sixth, but his teammate initially running in seventh would be the source of lots of action in the lower top-10 positions.
Locatelli fell backwards allowing Petrucci to capitalise as Baldassari, Remy Gardner and Yari Montella all had stints inside the crucial top nine positions which set the grid for Race 2. After being penalised on the last lap, Locatelli had to cede ninth to Gardner but got back past in the nick of time.
Tissot Superpole Race Results
Race 2
Still chasing his maiden WorldSBK victory, Sam Lowes got off to a flier in Race 2. However, after just three of the 21 laps around Assen the dream was over as the factory Ducati duo bullied him back into third.
Lecuona lead for around half a lap after passing the satellite Ducati rider before Bulega then passed him and rode off into a controlled victory by three seconds. Meanwhile, Bautista and Alex Lowes continued their battling for fourth as Vierge started to get swallowed up by the horde of Ducati’s in the top-10.
The next non-Ducati’s were 2025 Assen winner Locatelli and Petrucci as the other BMW of Oliveria made a mistake at the final chicane that dropped him as low as 14th at one stage. A disgruntled Alex Lowes fell back and fought with Mackenzie for 10th while Oliveira finished only 11th after his Portimao podiums.
Unusually for WorldSBK, all the riders finished the race under overcast conditions in Assen. Ultimately though, no one could tame Bulega who romped to a Razgatlioglu-equalling 13 race wins on the trot.
Race 2 Results
Championship Standings
Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK