Nicolo Bulega etched his name into the history books with a dominant flag-to-flag WorldSBK win at Balaton Park.
The factory Ducati rider secured his 14th consecutive WorldSBK victory, surpassing Toprak Razgatlioglu’s record of 13, with the streak spanning from Estoril 2025 to Saturday’s Race 1.
Bulega grabbed the holeshot into Turn 1, but the standout start came from Alberto Surra, who charged from ninth to second.
Montella remained in third place for Barni Spark, making it an all-Italian and Ducati front three, followed by Miguel Oliveira.
On the flip side, Baldassarri, who started second, dropped down to ninth position by the end of Lap 1.
The GoEleven rider suffered a massive tumble into the gravel trap at Turn 7/8, destroying his Panigale V4 R, but fortunately managed to walk away immediately.
Out front, Bulega formed a 2.8s advantage by Lap 3, proving once again he was the best of the rest in the early stages.
It was announced that Marc VDS rider Sam Lowes jumped the start, meaning he was issued a double long-lap penalty. He dropped down to 16th after taking both penalties.
Iker Lecuona crafted a successful move on Oliveira into Turn 1 on Lap 4 with some exceptional late braking, before the Spaniard gained further confidence to replicate the move on Montella at the same corner on the next lap.
Lecuona caught up to Surra as he built momentum, then completed a third successive move at Turn 1 in as many laps, this time on the Motocorsa rider.
By the time Lecuona claimed second spot, Bulega was over 4.5s up the road, a gap that looked hard to overcome at this stage of the race.
Behind the factory Ducati duo, a lively Lap 8 battle saw Montella overtake Surra for third, before Surra cheekily block-passed him into the following corner, then Oliveira found a gap for fourth and took it.
The BMW rider later made a move on Surra to take third, before Montella followed later in the lap as he secured a permanent move on the 21-year-old on Lap 9.
The battles for third allowed Bimota’s Alex Lowes and two-time champion Alvaro Bautista to close in on Surra, with both making their way through on Lap 11.
Amid all the battles behind the factory Ducati duo, Bulega and Lecuona dominated proceedings to stretch a multiple-second advantage over the rest by the halfway point.
Lecuona had cut the gap to 3.6s from 4.5s by Lap 12, and underlined his pace by setting his fastest lap of the race.
By the time Bulega crossed the line, the gap had reduced to 2.5s, but the Italian was still a class apart.
After fighting his way through the field following a three-place grid penalty for impeding in qualifying, Lecuona sealed a seventh consecutive 1-2 finish for the Aruba.it Ducati team.
Oliveira and BMW return to the podium in third, finishing 10 seconds behind the factory Ducati squad.
Yari Montella and Alvaro Bautista claimed fourth and fifth for Barni Spark Racing Team, respectively.
Alex Lowes settled for sixth for Bimota, finishing ahead of Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli and Surra in eighth.
The second half of the race saw Marc VDS rider Sam Lowes work his way through the field, reaching ninth after recovering from as low as 18th.
Xavi Vierge rounded off the top 10 positions after starting the race in 16th place, fending off a battle consisting of Danilo Petrucci, Tarran Mackenzie and Garrett Gerloff on the final lap.
Tommy Bridewell claimed 14th on his debut outing in Hungary, with Stefano Manzi claiming the final point for GRT Yamaha.
READ MORE – Nicolo Bulega sets new lap record in WorldSBK Balaton Park Superpole
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