Iker Lecuona (Ducati) even outclassed Bulega: “I didn’t expect that”

The confidence exuded by Iker Lecuona after setting the fastest times in Friday’s free practice sessions proved well-founded. On Saturday, the Spaniard capitalised perfectly on his progress with the Ducati V4R to secure his first pole position and victory in the first race at the Cremona Circuit.

What makes this so special is that the Spaniard handed his Aruba.it Ducati team-mate Nicolò Bulega – who had been so dominant up to that point – his first defeat in the 2026 Superbike World Championship during qualifying, and he also pulled away from the championship leader by almost seven seconds at times during the race – the gap at the finish line was 5.5 seconds – the Italian hasn’t been outclassed like that for a long time!

“I just feel brilliant on the Ducati on this track,” Lecuona enthused. “On Friday afternoon we made further progress with the set-up, and on Saturday we finally secured pole position. In the race, I mainly tried to put in consistent, mistake-free laps. In Turn 10, I nearly lost the front-wheel grip, which is why I then concentrated on managing my lead. It was brilliant to lead the race from the start, to control it and to feel the thrill.”

Lecuona himself doesn’t attach much significance to his commanding victory. “I hadn’t expected such a big lead, but I think Nicolò wasn’t 100 per cent focused and is probably thinking more about the World Championship here. Besides, he had a bad Friday and was probably aware that he’d have had to take a bigger risk to beat me today. So I don’t think he’s shown all his cards.”

Lecuona’s lap times varied by just 0.8 seconds!

If you analyse Lecuona’s lap times, only the first and last laps were slower than 1:28 mins. No other rider was as consistent.

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“When I slowed down, I lost my focus a bit and I told myself, ‘Just see it through’,” grinned the 26-year-old. “I was able to pull off those fast 1:28-minute laps quite easily. We’ve done a great job and riding the bike was really fun. Even when it was slippery, I was able to control it and felt safe at all times. Perhaps we can make a small improvement for Sunday, but for now I’m very happy with the win – it’s only my second win this year and my first ever in the Superbike World Championship.”