WorldSBK returns from its summer break for Round 9 of the 2026 season at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, where championship leader Nicolo Bulega could, mathematically, clinch his first world title on French soil.
This weekend could prove decisive in the 2026 WorldSBK championship. Uncontested leader this year, Nicolo Bulega has conceded only one race win to his Ducati teammate Iker Lecuona out of 24 starts so far. The Italian may yet seal the deal in Magny-Cours.
A potential title decider in France
Nicolo Bulega heads into the French round with 491 points, 133 clear of teammate Iker Lecuona on 358. The championship leader arrives in France with a commanding advantage, having already taken two wins at the circuit in 2024.
To secure his first WorldSBK crown, the Montecchio Emilia native must outscore Lecuona by 53 points across the three races. If he were to win all three starts, Bulega would equal Toprak Razgatlioglu’s all-time record of 11 triple-race clean sweeps.
That is a tall order after a heavily packed summer. The MotoGP-aspiring rider spent much of the break testing different machinery, juggling multiple projects.
“This summer I only took one week of vacation,” he shared with media in Magny-Cours, including Motorsport Week. “During the last part of the summer, I was constantly testing things for MotoGP and other projects. It’s not easy switching from one world to another. Tomorrow, especially in FP1, I expect it won’t be easy for me since I spent 4 or 5 days testing with the MotoGP bike over the summer. Tomorrow morning, it’ll feel a bit strange coming back to Superbike, but by FP2 I should be ready.”
“I’ll always be out there to win”
With 23 wins since the start of the 2026 season, Bulega is closing in on Alvaro Bautista’s single-season record of 27 victories set in 2023.
“I know Álvaro Bautista won 27 races in 2023, and I’m at 23 so far this year. It would be great to win even more. The title is important, but for me, winning races matters too, Bulega insisted. I will never change my approach. I’ll always be out there to win.”
On the other side of the Ducati garage, Iker Lecuona will aim to add another victory to his tally, building on the momentum of his breakthrough win in Race 1 at Donington Park – his first success in 141 WorldSBK starts, achieved by ending Bulega’s 25-race winning streak by just 0.165 seconds.
Rivals regroup after private tests
To try to compete with Ducati, Honda HRC and ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team undertook private tests at Magny-Cours and Estoril over the summer with their riders, most of whom missed part of the 2026 campaign through injury. With both recently re-signed Miguel Oliveira and Danilo Petrucci back to full fitness, BMW hopes to grab precious points, while Honda’s riders and engineers are working hard to bring the CBR1000RR-R back to a solid level.
Currently 13th in the standings, MGM Optical Express Racing’s Tarran Mackenzie will miss another round after his Donington Park crash, where he sustained fractures to his left clavicle, left scapula, left tibia and left fibula. Despite surgery and rehabilitation, he failed the pre-round medical check and has been declared unfit; his team will not field a replacement rider in France.
Discussion about this post