Jerez, FP2: Bulega sets the pace – six Ducatis ahead of BMW and Bimota

The line-up for the 2026 Superbike World Championship in Jerez has remained unchanged since Cremona: Loris Baz is standing in for the injured Tarran Mackenzie at the Ducati Optical Express team until the end of the season, whilst Twan Smits will see out the season with Motoxracing Yamaha.

In the morning’s FP1 session, world champion Nicolò Bulega (Ducati) set the fastest lap time of 1:38.155. He was followed closely by the resurgent Sam Lowes from the Ducati customer team MarcVDS, followed by Iker Lecuona (Ducati) and the up-and-coming privateer Alberto Surra (Ducati). The fastest rider on a different make was Bimota’s star rider Alex Lowes.

At the start of the second practice session at 3 pm, the thermometer read a summery 30 degrees and the sun was shining from a cloudless sky. Lecuona set the first notable lap time after five minutes with a 1:38.692. Shortly afterwards, Bulega took the lead with a lap exactly 0.1 seconds faster. The rider, who turned 27 today, then set the provisional benchmark with a time of 1:38.309.

After ten minutes, not a single Superbike rider had set a faster lap time than in FP1, although Danilo Petrucci (BMW) had only completed one flying lap and Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) had not yet completed a single lap – the 30-year-old’s R1 was undergoing frantic repairs.

When Jake Dixon crashed heavily at Turn 9 after 15 minutes, the second practice session was halted. The Englishman’s Honda CBR1000RR rolled over several times in the gravel trap and was hurled over an airfence. There was still no improvement.

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Jerez: Samstags-Sessions

FIM Superbike World Championship

17.10.2026 - 09:30

When the session resumed, the Pata Maxus works team had finally got Locatelli’s Yamaha up and running. With 27 minutes remaining, the Italian set his first timed lap in 1:40.411. And the first improvements were evident: BMW’s star rider Miguel Oliveira, Álvaro Bautista (Ducati), Loris Baz (Ducati) and Smits all set faster laps than they had in the morning.

At the halfway point of the 45-minute session, Bulega remained in the lead, followed by Surra, Lecuona, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Ducati) and Yari Montella (Ducati). However, even the world champion was still a long way off any records: the Italian was over 0.7 seconds off his lap record of 1:37.659 minutes.

In the second half, the riders continued to work on the race set-up of their motorbikes. Improvements on the morning’s lap times were few and far between due to the high track temperatures. It was only when some riders pushed hard in the final minutes that sector best times began to appear – Sam Lowes (Ducati) was already 0.136 seconds ahead when he had to abort his attempt following a mistake.

Then Bautista crashed at Turn 9, resulting in some riders’ lap times being disallowed.

At least Sam Lowes still managed to climb to second place, securing a six-way lead for Ducati. Miguel Oliveira also put in a good lap, improving to seventh place, 0.6 seconds behind, and making BMW the second-strongest team.

After Alex Lowes had been the fastest Bimota rider in FP1, his Bimota team-mate Axel Bassani took over that role in the afternoon. The Italian finished eighth, 0.654 seconds off the fastest time.

The fastest Yamaha rider in FP2 was Xavi Vierge, who finished 11th, 0.952 seconds off the pace. Garrett Gerfoll placed the sole Kawasaki in 12th position. Following his crash, Honda ace Jake Dixon dropped back to 16th place.