Cremona, Race 1: Lecuona outstanding, Bulega second – applause for Dixon

For the first time in the 2026 Superbike World Championship, it was not Nicolò Bulega who secured pole position at the Cremona Circuit, but his Aruba.it team-mate Iker Lecuona. For the first race, the two Ducati factory riders were the favourites from starting positions 1 and 2. The front row was completed by the up-and-coming Ducati privateer Alberto Surra.

Ducati’s dominance continued in the second row, with other manufacturers only appearing behind them in the form of Alex Lowes (7th/Bimota), Garrett Gerloff (8th/Kawasaki) and Miguel Oliveira (9th/BMW). The highest-placed Yamaha was Remy Gardner in eleventh on the grid. Honda managed only 17th place, taken by Somkiat Chantra.

At the start of the race at 3.30 pm, conditions were almost ideal, with a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. The Superbike riders had 23 laps to complete. Should Lecuona crash or retire due to a mechanical failure, Bulega could be crowned world champion early with a second-place finish!

Lecuona won the sprint to the first corner, whilst Montella overtook Bulega (3rd) and Surra (4th) to move into second place. Despite the scramble at the first corner, all riders stayed on their bikes. Montella crashed in the final corner but was able to continue the race. Oliveira had a disastrous start: down to 14th after the first lap!

At the front, Lecuona set the pace and, after two laps, led by 1.2 seconds ahead of Bulega, Surra and Sam Lowes. Alex Lowes (Bimota) in sixth place was the best non-Ducati rider. Behind the Englishman came Gerloff and Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha), who got off to a flying start.

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Cremona: Superpole Race

FIM Superbike World Championship

27.09.2026 - 10:55

More battles for position in the broad midfield

From then on, Lecuona and Bulega pulled away from the rest of the field with the fastest lap times. The Spaniard set the fastest lap of the race in 1:28.077 mins. After five laps, the two factory riders were already 3 seconds ahead of Surra and 4 seconds ahead of Sam Lowes and Baldassarri. It has to be said: things were more exciting in the midfield than at the front, where just 1.8 seconds separated Gardner (10th) and Chantra (17th).

Lap 7 saw the end of Twan Smits’ race. The Dutchman is standing in for Bahattin Sofuoglu – who has moved to the Supersport class – in the Yamaha Motoxracing team. Meanwhile, Jake Dixon put in a strong performance, having already moved up eight places to tenth. With his second crash, Montella was now out of the race for good, whilst Tommy Bridewell had to retire his Ducati due to a mechanical failure.

The drama continued: on lap 9, Alberto Surra crashed out of third place whilst under no pressure. Sam Lowes gratefully accepted the gift, but had Baldassarri hot on his heels. Alex Lowes and Gerloff battled for fifth place, whilst Locatelli, Bassani and Dixon fought for seventh. Olivera rounded off the top ten.

BMW star Miguel Oliveira crashed

By the halfway point, Lecuona had built up a comfortable lead of 3.5 seconds over Bulega, and Sam Lowes had created a bit of breathing space ahead of Baldassarri. In the battle for fifth place, Gerloff was currently in the lead. BMW rider Oliveira was no longer in the race – the Portuguese rider crashed at Turn 2.

In the second half of the race, Lecuona methodically worked his way through the laps, consistently lapping faster than his team-mate. After 23 laps, the Spaniard crossed the finish line as the winner for the second time this year. Following his crash during the MotoGP test at Mugello and two crashes on Friday, Bulega clearly preferred to secure a safe second place. With a third-place finish, Sam Lowes kept his chances alive of finishing the 2026 Superbike World Championship in third place.

Gerloff crossed the line 15 seconds behind the winner on the sole ZX-10RR. The Texan had been hoping for a podium finish, but the 31-year-old still put in an outstanding performance to finish fifth. Hot on the heels of the Kawasaki, Bimota rider Alex Lowes came sixth.

Andrea Locatelli brought home the best-placed Yamaha in seventh place. The Italian moved up eight places at his home race. Team-mate Xavi Vierge crashed out. Jake Dixon fared even better in this regard, moving up from 18th on the grid to 9th place. It is Honda’s best finish of the year.