Magny-Cours, FP2: Five Ducatis in a battle of the heat ahead of Yamaha, BMW and Kawasaki

Ducati privateer Tarran Mackenzie will be absent from the 2026 Superbike World Championship round at Magny-Cours, having been denied a starting place following his crash at Donington Park seven weeks ago. Otherwise, all the regular riders have returned fit and well after the long summer break.

The balance of power has remained unchanged during the break. In the morning’s FP1 session, World Championship leader Nicolò Bulega set the fastest lap time of 1:35.556 minutes. He was followed by two more Ducati riders: Sam Lowes (Marc VDS) and Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it). However, Xavi Vierge put in a surprisingly strong performance on the Yamaha R1, finishing fourth as the fastest non-Ducati rider.

Two crashes in the first ten minutes

At the start of the second practice session at 3 pm, it was a scorching 32 degrees – typical of the height of summer. On his very first flying lap, Lecuona was thrown from his bike in the fast Turn 13. Shortly afterwards, Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha) crashed between Turns 1 and 2. The Turkish rider was thrown about violently and could only leave the danger zone with the support of two marshals. Meanwhile, after ten minutes, Bulega set the first impressive lap time of 1:35.916.

Next, Andrea Locatelli was forced to retire – the Yamaha works rider’s R1 came to a halt due to a technical problem.

After 15 minutes, Bulega remained in the lead, followed by his Ducati team-mates Sam Lowes and Alberto Surra. In fourth and fifth places were the Bimota aces Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani. Jake Dixon (Honda) was a surprise in eighth, followed by Miguel Oliveira (BMW) and Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki). The top 10 were all within a second of each other.

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Magny-Cours: Der Samstag

FIM Superbike World Championship

05.09.2026 - 09:35

At the halfway point of the 45-minute session, only four of the 21 riders had managed to improve on their lap times from the morning – the high track temperatures made it difficult to set faster times. During this phase, the riders focused on setting up their bikes for these conditions, as similar temperatures are forecast for the long races on Saturday and Sunday.

Iker Lecuona (Ducati), who had crashed, surged up to second place

With 15 minutes to go, Lecuona had also resumed practice. The Spaniard, who handed Bulega his only defeat this year, slotted into third place, 0.4 seconds behind his team-mate. The top 10 now consisted of eight Ducatis and two Bimotas. In positions 11 to 15 came Dixon (Honda), Oliveira (BMW), Gerloff (Kawasaki), Vierge (Yamaha) and Petrucci (BMW).

In the final minutes, several riders jumped on their bikes for a fast lap, which shook up the order considerably. Yari Montella (Ducati) managed a significant improvement, moving up to second place with a time of 1:36.041 minutes. Xavi Vierge (Yamaha) stormed up to sixth place as the best non-Ducati rider. Behind him, Oliveira shone in seventh and Gerloff in eighth.

However, Bulega’s fastest time in both free practice sessions remained unchanged. The Italian’s fastest lap from the morning was only marginally slower than Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (BMW) circuit record of 1:35.500 set in 2025.