Nicolò Bulega secured his first World Superbike title with second place in Sunday’s Race 2 at Cremona. Teammate Iker Lecuona won all three races of the Italian round, but could not prevent the Ducati rider from clinching the championship with six races remaining.
News Summary
- Bulega is the 2026 WorldSBK champion after finishing second in Cremona’s final race.
- Lecuona completed a hat-trick, winning Race 1, the Superpole Race and Race 2.
- Yari Montella finished third in Race 2, while Bulega became the second Italian rider to win the World Superbike title.
Nicolò Bulega secured the 2026 World Superbike Championship at Cremona on Sunday (27), finishing second behind Aruba.it Ducati teammate Iker Lecuona in Race 2. Lecuona had the pace to win every race of the Italian round, but Bulega arrived at the final contest needing only a top-five finish to settle the title.
Lecuona started Race 2 from pole and took the lead into the opening corner. Bulega held second after resisting an early challenge from Alberto Surra, leaving the factory Ducatis at the front. By the end of lap six, Lecuona’s advantage had reached one second; he extended it beyond four seconds by lap 16 and won the 23-lap race by 8.590s. Bulega stayed clear of the fight behind him to take the points he needed.
Yari Montella passed Surra for third on lap three and completed the podium for Barni Ducati. Surra finished fourth, ahead of Alex Lowes and Jake Dixon. Sam Lowes retired after a crash, while Miguel Oliveira and Álvaro Bautista were also among the non-finishers.
WorldSBK 2026: Cremona Race 2 result
| Pos. | Rider | Team/Bike | Laps/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I. LECUONA | Aruba.it Racing / Ducati | 23 laps |
| 2 | N. BULEGA | Aruba.it Racing / Ducati | +8.590 |
| 3 | Y. MONTELLA | Barni Spark Racing / Ducati | +12.724 |
| 4 | A. SURRA | Motocorsa Racing / Ducati | +13.914 |
| 5 | A. LOWES | bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team / bimota | +17.159 |
| 6 | J. DIXON | Honda HRC / Honda | +20.917 |
Lecuona won all three Cremona races: Saturday’s Race 1, Sunday morning’s Superpole Race and Sunday afternoon’s Race 2. Bulega finished second in each of them. After his two practice crashes on Friday, the Italian had said that preserving second place in Race 1 was the sensible choice for his championship campaign. That approach carried him through the remainder of the weekend.
The title ends Bulega’s run of two consecutive runner-up finishes in WorldSBK, both behind Toprak Razgatlıoğlu. He had dominated much of 2026 before arriving in Cremona, including a record run of 25 consecutive victories spanning the end of last season and the start of this one. Lecuona’s three wins made him the rider of the weekend, while Bulega left with the championship.
Bulega is the second Italian World Superbike champion, after Max Biaggi, and the first rider to win both the World Supersport and World Superbike titles. He claimed the WorldSSP crown in 2023 with Ducati. His move to VR46 in MotoGP for 2027 has already been confirmed.
WorldSBK returns at Estoril on October 9–11, followed by the season finale at Jerez on October 16–18. Bulega will enter those final two rounds as champion.
Who won the 2026 WorldSBK championship?
Nicolò Bulega secured the title by finishing second in Cremona’s Race 2, with six races still to run.
Who won the WorldSBK races at Cremona?
Iker Lecuona won all three: Race 1, the Superpole Race and Race 2. Bulega finished second in each race.
Is Nicolò Bulega moving to MotoGP in 2027?
Yes. Bulega will join VR46 for the 2027 MotoGP season.
