World Superbike Championship, Donington: Pole for Bulega – black flag for Oliveira

In FP2 on Friday afternoon, World Championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it-Ducati) set the fastest lap at Donington Park with a time of 1:25.460. He was followed by Yari Montella (Barni Ducati) and Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it-Ducati). In FP3 on Saturday morning, it was Sam Lowes (Marc VDS) who set the fastest time on his Ducati Panigale V4R with a lap of 1:24.756. He was followed by his team-mates Montella, Lecuona and Bulega. Alex Lowes finished fifth on his Bimota.

In qualifying on Saturday afternoon, World Championship leader Nicolo Bulega was looking to re-establish the pecking order within the Ducati team. The two Ducati riders, Tarran Mackenzie and Alberto Surra, are no longer at Donington. Mackenzie had a heavy crash in FP2 on Friday and sustained serious injuries. Surra complained of pain in his right shoulder on Saturday after FP3, which is why he was declared unfit for the rest of the weekend. As a result, there will be two fewer Ducatis on the starting grid for the races.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) has held the pole position record at Donington since 2024 with a time of 1:24.629 minutes; the Turkish rider set the fastest race lap in the same year during the second main race with a time of 1:25.597 minutes.

When the pit lane opened at 11.15 am local time, the riders wasted no time in heading out onto the track. After three minutes, the yellow flag was waved – Remy Gardner (Yamaha) crashed out at Turn 10. Just before that, Iker Lecuona had set a lap record of 1:24.462 minutes!

The order after five minutes: Lecuona, Bulega, Sam Lowes, Alex Lowes and Tommy Bridewell. Shortly afterwards, Montella moved into second place with a time of 1:24.872 min. M

A sign of life from BMW rider Miguel Oliveira: halfway through the 15-minute session, he was in 6th place. Right behind him in 7th place: Yamaha rider Xavi Vierge.

The standings five minutes before the end: Lecuona, Montella, Bulega, Sam Lowes, Alex Lowes, Oliveira, Vierge, Bridewell, Bassani and Dixon.

Shortly afterwards, Bulega set the second-fastest time – he was one-tenth of a second slower than his team-mate. With three minutes to go, Bulega pulled out all the stops – clocking a record time of 1:24.410 min!

In the meantime, Oliveira had been shown the black flag.