After being firmly second best to Iker Lecuona in all three races last time out at Cremona, World Champion Nicolo Bulega did what he had done at every othef round this season and asserted himself as the dominant rider at the Tissot Estoril Round and secured another couple of series records to boot…

 

Race 1

From a comfortable pole position, Bulega blew the start and slid behind Iker Lecuona and Alex Lowes to third.  By turn one of the second lap the World Champion was back behind his teammate, and it was just a case of reeling him in.

With 19 laps still to run, Bulega moved confidently past Lecuona at the first turn and went on to an unchallenged victory.  After being firmly second quickest for the first time all season to Lecuona last time at Cremona, Bulega proved he was not taking it slow even after his coronation as 2026 champion.

Alex Lowes lacked the pace to run as high as he did on the first lap, slipping behind Alberto Surra and home hero Miguel Oliveria.  Surra just held on for his first full-distance race WorldSBK podium ahead of a determined Oliveria who unlocked easily the most pace seen from BMW since the last time he raced on home turf in March…

Lorenzo Baldassari survived being sideswiped my Yari Montella to lead a group of four bikes home in sixth five seconds Alex Lowes who settled in fifth.  Despite having lost a wing and falling as low as 12th, Montella bullied his way past teammate Alvaro Bautista for ninth – with the latter’s record of 27 race wins in a season from 2023 being matched by Bulega in this round.

Race 1 Results

 

Tissot Superpole Race

As with the race yesterday Lecuona snatched the lead into turn one at the start.  By the beginning of lap three however, Bulega was back in front and back to his best with a new record number if wins in a WorldSBK season secured as Lecuona had to settle once again for second.

When Lecuona went a little wide to let Bulega by, he almost succumbed to Oliveria.  The Portuguese rider settled in third and despite his best efforts lost the podium to Surra on the last lap as Bautista came home behind for a decent result in fifth.

Andrea Locatelli crashed out further back and Axel Bassani, Xavi Vierge, Jake Dixon and Baldassari rounded out the points-scoring top nine.  Meanwhile Montella and Alex Lowes both found trouble and provided good entertainment as they tried to recover from the back past slower bikes.

Tissot Superpole Race Results

 

Race 2

The two factory Ducati riders put on a great show for the first half a lap and even briefly touched at turn one.  Exiting the parabolica, Bulega edged in front and from there it was job done and the Italian has now eclipsed Jonathan Rea’s record points score from a WorldSBK season.

Oliveria and Alex Lowes both had awful first laps, with the former briefly under investigation for a jump start as Bautista rose from fifth on the grid to third.  Surra and Bassani were soon on the back of Bautista with the former quickly getting past, as Montella circled in sixth.

Behind the top two and the group of four came a larger group contesting seventh.  After one third distance, Oliveria recovered to P7 with some marvellous double overtakes into turn one.

Surra ran wide at the first two corners with nine laps to go to let Bautista back into third but slid out himself under pressure from what would have been only his second podium of an incredibly frustrating season.  At least for his Barni team, their other rider Montella was able to dispose of Bassani and clinch the Independent Riders’ Championship with a round to spare while Sam Lowes languished in 15th.

Race 2 Results

 

Championship Standings

Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK