Nicolo Bulega secured a record-breaking 14th consecutive WorldSBK victory in the opening race at Balaton Park.
Bulega arrived in Hungary off the back of 13 consecutive WorldSBK victories, with four at the end of 2025, and nine in the opening three rounds of the 2026 season.
His victory in Race 1 allowed him to pass Toprak Razgatlioglu’s record for the most consecutive WorldSBK race wins.
After securing pole position on Saturday morning and getting a perfect start in Race 1 in the afternoon, Bulega was able to lead the race from start to finish.
In the opening laps, Bulega was able to consistently extend his gap to Alberto Surra, who made his way into second place on the opening lap.
However, once his team-mate, Iker Lecuona, was able to fight his way through the field into second place on the seventh lap of the race, Bulega’s lead began to shrink.
Despite the pressure that he was under, Bulega was able to hold onto his lead and take his 30th win in WorldSBK.
After securing the record for most successive WorldSBK victories, Bulega said to Speedweek, “Setting this record is incredible. It’s only my third year in the Superbike category. I’ve already won 30 races in total, which is quite a lot.
“Of course, I’m very happy about it, but I also owe it to my team. To achieve all this as an Italian with Ducati, an Italian brand, is a dream come true and simply fantastic.
“I want to continue like this and achieve more wins and records.
“Although I didn’t go into the race with these thoughts, I just wanted 25 points for the championship.”
Nicolo Bulega: Despite a successful Saturday, he still needs ‘to find something for Sunday’
With two more races to come at Balaton Park, Bulega could extend his record to 16 consecutive victories.
However, he is aware that Lecuona will be his main threat on Sunday, after he was able to overcome a grid penalty in Race 1 and secured his seventh second-place finish of the season.
When discussing his teammate, Bulega stated, “Iker was very strong and put on a lot of pressure in the second half of the race.
“I was able to use the first few laps to my advantage and build a gap of a few seconds.
“I hadn’t expected him to move up to second place so quickly. So I pushed a bit harder, but he still gained a little time on me with every lap.
“That means we still need to find something for Sunday. I’m not as good as him in some parts of the track, so there’s still a chance we can improve.”
READ MORE – Nicolo Bulega takes record-breaking WorldSBK Race 1 victory at Balaton Park
Discussion about this post