Magny-Cours, Superpole: Nicolò Bulega sets record, debacle for BMW

On Friday, Ducati factory rider Nicolò Bulega dominated at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, and in the morning’s third practice session, the World Championship leader was the first and only rider to clock a time under 1:35. With a time of 1:34.987, the Italian was just a hair’s breadth slower than the pole record of 1:34.930, set last year by Toprak Razgatlioglu on a BMW.

This clearly established Bulega as the favourite for the Superpole on Saturday morning at 11.15 am. At the start of the session, temperatures were a pleasant 22 degrees Celsius, which, according to the weather forecast, could rise to as high as 30 degrees over the course of the day. The Superpole is a traditional qualifying session in which all riders have 15 minutes to set their best possible time.

For the ninth round of the season, Pirelli is supplying the sticky SCQ tyre, which may be used in qualifying and also in the Superpole Race on Sunday morning. For their first run, riders often use the soft SCX race tyre. Given the tight time constraints, all participants were keen to ensure a solid lap with minimal risk right from the start.

When the traffic lights at the end of the pit lane turned green, most riders headed straight out onto the track – BMW rider Danilo Petrucci was the last to mount his bike. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki) set the first impressive lap time of 1:35.523 mins.

As expected, Bulega beat the record with his first flying lap in 1:34.900 mins, but his team-mate Iker Lecuona pushed the Italian down to second place with a fantastic 1:34.676 mins. Behind the two Ducati works riders, Sam Lowes (Ducati), Alex Lowes (Bimota) and Tommy Bridewell (Ducati) initially followed. Gerloff dropped down to ninth place, but the Texan was still the fastest rider on a Japanese make.

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Magny-Cours: Rennen 1

FIM Superbike World Championship

05.09.2026 - 15:15

After a maximum of two fast laps, the riders made a pit stop to have a new qualifying tyre fitted. With six minutes remaining, the first riders headed back out onto the track. Bulega turned heads with the fastest sector times. Whilst Lecuona could only improve marginally, the rider with 23 wins this season clocked an outstanding lap time of 1:34.318 minutes.

Crashes in the closing stages – involving Tommy Bridewell at Turn 15 and Lorenzo Baldassarri at Turn 8 – brought out yellow flags, which in turn ruined fast lap attempts for other riders.

Only Sam Lowes managed to squeeze in a clear lap, with which the Marc-VDS rider broke up the Aruba.it duo and slotted into second place. That’s how it stayed: the front row consists of Bulega, Sam Lowes and Lecuona. Yari Montella and Alberto Surra rounded off Ducati’s dominance in fourth and fifth on the grid. The only non-Ducati rider in the first two rows is Alex Lowes (6th) on the Bimota KB998.

Behind the Ducatis of Bridewell and Baldassarri, Yamaha ace Xavi Vierge qualified in ninth place. Jake Dixon secured the best result for Honda in tenth place. Garrett Gerloff, riding the sole Kawasaki, was relegated to 12th place.

Disappointing: BMW, with Petrucci and Miguel Oliveira, only managed 18th and 19th on the grid. Trailing by 1.635 and 1.762 seconds respectively, the two factory riders were only marginally faster than Yamaha privateer and rookie Mattia Rato, who set the slowest time.

Because Bridewell ignored yellow flags on his fastest lap, the Englishman was handed a penalty during the session and must start from last place in the first race. All other riders from 8th place onwards will therefore move up one position.