Fresh off securing the WorldSBK title at Cremona, Nicolo Bulega reasserted his dominance with a commanding performance in Race 1 at Estoril, putting an end to team-mate Iker Lecuona’s recent winning run.
Nicolo Bulega set the tone early in Superpole by smashing Toprak Razgatlioglu’s 2025 track record by half a second. Although a slight error into Turn 1 on the opening lap dropped him to third behind Lecuona, who realised the holeshot and Alex Lowes, the 2026 WorldSBK champion quickly reset.
Nicolo Bulega equals Alvaro Bautista’s 2023 record
By Lap 2, Bulega had cleared Lowes’ Bimota, before pulling off a clinical late-braking pass on Lecuona at Turn 1 a lap later. From Lap 3 onwards, Bulega controlled the pace from the front to lock in his 27th win of the season. This new victory sees him match Alvaro Bautista’s 2023 record for the highest number of race victories in a single WorldSBK season.
Alberto Surra resists home favorite Miguel Oliveira
The battle for the final spot on the podium saw Alberto Surra deliver one of the performances of the day. Following up on his standout ride at Cremona, the Motocorsa rider soaked up immense pressure from local hero and five-time MotoGP winner Miguel Oliveira.
While the factory Ducati duo proved unreachable, Surra maintained a cool head, holding a solid two-second margin over Oliveira to claim a hard-earned third place. It marks his second podium in three races and his first in a full-length feature race. Meanwhile, Oliveira scores his best result since his breakthrough weekend at Portimão, ahead of Alex Lowes in fifth.
Lorenzo Baldassarri produced a standout ride to sixth place, surviving a Lap 6 collision with Yari Montella that was reviewed by Race Direction without further penalty. Behind them, Axel Bassani pipped Montella to 7th by just 0.033s at the line, while Alvaro Bautista and Garrett Gerloff completed the top 10.
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