Estoril, Race 2: Ducati dominates the top four – Bulega’s twelfth hat-trick

When the second race got underway at 3.30 pm local time, the skies above the Circuito do Estoril had cleared and the thermometer read a pleasant 24 degrees Celsius. However, a few dark clouds clung stubbornly to the mountain range behind the circuit. The riders had 21 laps ahead of them. 36,257 spectators watched the eleventh round of the season in person.

The starting situation for the second race: Bulega had already clinched the 2026 Superbike World Championship title in Cremona and, with his 28th victory of the season in the Superpole race, had taken the all-time wins record. If the Aruba.it Ducati team-mate were to win the final race as well, he would surpass Jonathan Rea’s points record, who had won his fifth of six titles in 2019 with 663 points.

The grid had been reshuffled following the Superpole race. The front row consisted of the three Ducati riders Nicolò Bulega, Iker Lecuona and Alberto Surra. BMW ace Miguel Oliveira led the second row from fourth on the grid, followed by Álvaro Bautista (Ducati) and Axel Bassani (Bimota). The third row consisted of Xavi Vierge (Yamaha), Jake Dixon (Honda) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Ducati).

Bulega got off to the best start, but as they entered Turn 1, Lecuona braked his way past on the inside – and emerged from the first lap with the Italian in the lead! Oliveira lost a lot of places and found himself stuck in mid-field in 13th.

At the front, Bulega left no doubt that he intended to win this race. With the fastest lap of the race in 1:34.696, the Italian pulled several metres clear of Lecuona. Surra, in third place, was already 2.7 seconds behind after just two laps. The 22-year-old was locked in a thrilling battle with Bautista, Bassani and Yari Montella. In seventh place, Yamaha rider Xavi Vierge was the best-placed rider on a Japanese factory bike.

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After five laps, Bulega led by 0.5 seconds ahead of Lecuona and 5.8 seconds ahead of Surra. Bautista was embroiled in a battle for position with Bassani and was focusing more on the riders behind him rather than pushing for third place. Other positions: Vierge (7th), Oliveira (9th), Garrett Gerloff (11th/Kawasaki) and Dixon (12th).

Bulega and Lecuona were a second faster per lap than the rest of the field and were long out of sight of them. From lap 8 onwards, even the Spaniard could no longer keep up with the world champion’s blistering pace and fell further and further behind.

Easy come, easy go: a mistake by Miguel Oliveira (BMW)

At the halfway point of the race, Oliveira had lost many of the positions he’d previously fought so hard to gain after overbraking in Turn 1. The BMW rider was now down to eleventh place, behind Baldassarri (7th), Alex Lowes (8th/Bimota), Gerloff (9th) and Vierge (10th). Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) had meanwhile parked his bike in the pits. At the front, Bulega continued to set the pace with a 1.6-second lead over Lecuona. Surra (3rd) defended his position tenaciously against veteran Bautista.

On lap 13, Bautista finally found a gap and snatched third place from Surra – whilst from behind, the youngster faced a threat from Surra’s team-mate Montella. Alex Lowes (7th) kept Baldassarri and Gerloff at bay – until he crashed in Turn 4 on lap 16! Then things happened in quick succession: Bautista and Loris Baz (Ducati) crashed independently of one another on lap 17 and were forced to retire from the race. Tyre wear was becoming noticeable, as even at the front, lap times had dropped to just 1:36.

Ducati star Nicolo Bulega breaks Jonathan Rea’s points record

In the final third of the race, nothing changed at the front. Bulega stoically completed his laps and crossed the finish line with a 4.9-second lead over Lecuona to secure another hat-trick. With 664 World Championship points, the Italian has set the points record with one round still to go. Surra rounded off the all-Ducati podium in third place.

The best rider from another manufacturer was Axel Bassani, who brought his Bimota KB998 home in fifth place. Garrett Gerloff, riding the sole Kawasaki, finished seventh. Local hero Miguel Oliveira (BMW) was narrowly beaten into eighth place. On the cool-down lap, however, the 31-year-old still treated his fans in the stands to a proper burnout.

The best Yamaha rider was Xavi Vierge in ninth, whilst Jake Dixon secured a top-10 finish for Honda.