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Tag: Yari Montella

  • WorldSBK: Ducati dominate Donington as Bulega winning run finally ends

    WorldSBK: Ducati dominate Donington as Bulega winning run finally ends

    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

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

     

    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

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

     

    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

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

     

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • WorldSBK: Lecuona looms but Bulega still on top at Most

    WorldSBK: Lecuona looms but Bulega still on top at Most

    The 2026 Czech Round at Autodrom Most saw Nicolo Bulega under serious pressure from his ever-improving teammate Iker Lecuona while Yari Montella finally secured the podium finishes he had crashed out of more than once already this season, but the ultimate outcome up front was all too familiar…

    Race 1

    The race was immediately red-flagged on lap one when Danilo Petrucci crashed at turn 13 and the BMW rider needed stretchered out of the gravel trap.  With Miguel Oliveria already absent and Michael van der Mark back to replace him this weekend, BMW may need not one but two replacement riders for the next round in just two weeks time, with Petrucci ruled out of Sunday’s action in the Czech Republic… just like Alvaro Bautista who crashed at the same place earlier in the weekend.

    On the restart, Alberto Surra and Sam Lowes provided the entertainment for the first few laps before they came together at turn 15.  Surra was docked with a long-lap penalty which spoiled another impressive run in his debut season while a livid Sam Lowes was knocked out of the race and the podium hunt.

    Profiting from the incident were a rejuvenated Garrett Gerloff with his best WorldSBK result in a long time with fourth for Kawasaki.  Axel Bassani was fifth and his teammate Alex Lowes put on a charge after a poor qualifying to rise to seventh a long way behind Lorenzo Baldassari but prevailing over Andrea Locatelli and the penalised Surra.

    Montella stayed on the bike – unlike in previous rounds where he was running well – and was rewarded with a podium that should have come much earlier in the season.  Up front having unsurprisingly dispatched Montella for second, Lecuona was promisingly keeping Bulega honest as the race progressed.

    Unlike in the first race at Assen where he pounced on Bulega’s mistake when the rain failed, this time around Lecuona caught and passed Bulega with no external factors.  With eight laps still to go Lecuona was right on the back wheel of his teammate and next time around got past at the turn one/two sequence.

    Lecuona then had to perform some block passes over the thrilling final laps of the race, but Bulega ultimately retook and held the lead in time to stretch a one-second gap on the last lap.  Finally the Italian has a genuine competitor in 2026 but importantly Bulega still has the upper hand and his unprecedented winning streak continues.

    Race 1 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Tissot Superpole Race

    Bulega immediately went wide at turn one which allowed Lecuona into the lead and set up a fight for the win… which lasted for half a lap.  Once Bulega struck back he was able to repel his teammate for another victory and guarantee pole for the afternoon race.

    Also at the start, Sam Lowes crashed out while Axel Bassani and Locatelli had to take to the escape road and bypass the first two turns.  Montella settled in third and Gerloff ran as high as fourth before slipping back behind Baldassari (who nearly made it to the podium) and Surra.

    Bahattin Soguoglu’s engine blew up at halfway but thankfully the race was not affected.  The three BSB champions came rounded out the top nine that sets the grid for the full-distance afternoon race while Bulega came home two seconds clear out front.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Race 2

    For almost the first half of the race, there were six Ducati’s in the top six.  The order at the front was once again Bulega, Lecuona, Montella and Baldassari – the latter coming close to the podium again and who broke free from one of the most interesting battles of the season so far behind him.

    Gerloff and Surra spent the majority of the race locked in a thrilling duel for fifth.  They came together twice before Gerloff finally won out, with their battles allowing the Bimota duo to close in once they had dispatched of Tarran Mackenzie.

    Mackenzie slid out with a small error with seven laps to go, as Locatelli and Bridewell fought all the way to the line over ninth.  Sam Lowes slowly made progress from his poor grid position but spent most of his time battling the struggling Yamaha’s.

    As in Saturday’s race the fight for the lead was closely contested by the factory Ducati duo.  Although this was the closest Lecuona (or anyone) has come to beating Bulega this year, the Italian demonstrated he still has the upper hand and sealed a narrow victory.

    With the rumours of a MotoGP switch for 2027 intensifying and both Montella and Surra putting on an audition to replace him, the Superbike World Championship finally enjoyed a competitive weekend of racing at the sharp end in 2026. Ultimately however, the end result was all too familiar as Bulega took another record-extending treble victory.

    Race 2 Results

    Championship Standings

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • WorldSBK: Bulega starts 2026 with Phillip Island sweep

    WorldSBK: Bulega starts 2026 with Phillip Island sweep

    The 2026 season of the Superbike World Championship kicked off down under at the Phillip Island Circuit with the Australian Round.  In the absence of Toprak Razgatlioglu, there was already a clear pre-season title favourite…

     

    Race 1

    From pole position, all Nicolo Bulega had to do after dominating the weekend so far was make it through the first lap unscathed.  He did just that and won comfortably by 5 seconds.

    Similarly unbothered in Race 1 was Yari Montella who claimed his first front-row start and ran comfortably to his best finish in 2nd place.  His new teammate Alvaro Bautista was not so fortunate, becoming the first rider of 2026 to crash out of a race in the early stages.

    Lorenzo Baldassari made a remarkable return to WorldSBK, forcing his way through to 3rd and just holding on to it ahead of Axel Bassani in a thrilling sprint to the finish line.  The two other podium contenders were the Lowes’ brothers, but Alex fell back in the closing stages to 7th behind his brother in 5th and a charging Iker Lecuona in 6th.

    Running in 8th and by far the best Yamaha rider on his debut for the marque was Xavi Vierge who was sent to the medical centre after a terrifying crash at Stoner corner that strew gravel across the track just before Miller hairpin.  Garrett Gerloff slipped up on the debris shortly after and reignited an intense battle for the lower top 10 positions.

    Gerloff had been battling impressive rookie Alberto Surra with the pair running ahead of a rejuvenated Tarran Mackenzie.  ‘Taz’ had enough pace to hold up Danilo Petrucci for several laps before Miguel Oliveria came through from the back of the grid (after a crash in Tissot Superpole) to clinch 8th at the flag.

    Mackenzie slipped to 12th but was ahead of a despondent Andrea Locatelli – the top Yamaha finisher in 13th and ahead of the two stand-in Honda HRC riders rounding out the points.  Despite the promise shown by Montella, Baldassari, Bassani and Oliveria, nothing could dispel the fact that Bulega was looking unbeatable after the opening race of 2026.

    Race 1 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    Tissot Superpole Race

    For the first time ever, Montella led a WorldSBK race after snatching the lead at the start.  Alex led his brother Sam with Bulega relegated to 4th, and his teammate Lecuona was also forced out wide at the beginning, while Vierge sadly never made the start.

    Bulega was back in the lead by lap 4 after some aggressive moves past the top 3 and was unchallenged thereafter.  Montella faded to 4th, with Bassani fighting through to 2nd ahead of his teammate Alex Lowes for a historic double Bimota podium.

    Sam Lowes was 5th ahead of Gerloff and Bautista with Race 1 star Baldassari down in 8th.  The Italian was fortunate to finish there after Oliveira’s phenomenal charge from the back of the grid fell short after suffering technical issues on the last lap so Lecuona took 9th – thus setting the grid for the first 3 rows of Race 2.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    Race 2

    With the white flag being waved midway through the Tissot Superpole Race, rain always looked like a possibility.  The soaking wet affair did nothing to faze Bulega who romped to another victory down under.

    Montella and Bassani broke free of the chasing Lowes’ brothers before Sam went down on lap 8.  Bautista settled in 4th as an impressive Mackenzie was impressively holding off Alex Lowes for 6th.

    Locatelli was having a better Race 2 than his dire Race 1 and was on his own in 7th ahead of a tight battle for 8th between Lecuona and the BMW duo, with Oliveira having come through from the back of the grid for the third race in succession.

    Montella tragically crashed out halfway through by which time Mattia Rato, Ryan Vickers and Vierge had also been eliminated from the wet affair.  Alex Lowes slid out with a fast lowside crash with 4 laps to go so all 15 riders who finished the race scored championship points.

    The retirements left big gaps for Bassani and Bautista to come home comfortably on the rostrum behind Bulega with Mackenzie scoring his best WorldSBK result in 4th, clearly enjoying his time aboard the satellite MGM Ducati.  Locatelli narrowly held off a charging Petrucci for 5th, with Oliveria, Lecuona and Baldassari close behind.

    Gerloff was alone in 10th and not quite as fast as he had been in dry conditions.  Up front, Bulega employed a swimming celebration to symbolise his treble victory around Phillip Island that has absolutely lived up to his reputation as the overwhelming 2026 title favourite.

    Race 2 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    Championship Standings

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK