Nicolo Bulega sealed a dominant victory in the red-flagged Race 2 at the French WorldSBK Round, completing his eighth treble of the 2026 season.
Bulega was unchallenged after getting the holeshot to lead into the first corner from team-mate Iker Lecuona and Alberto Surra, who passed Yari Montella for third on the opening lap.
The Ducati’s locked out the top six, with Montella ultimately getting past Surra as the podium was unchanged from the Superpole Race.
Ducati’s duel for the top six
As the norm with the factory Ducatis leading out front, the battle behind caught the attention, with Surra initially taking charge after passing Montella on the first lap of the race.
Andrea Locatelli had a bizarre crash at the penultimate corner that saw his bike slide down pitlane after contact with Stefano Manzi, though he too would later crash out at the end of the race.
Montella however got back on terms with the Italian rookie after four laps, and put on a strong pass to move back onto the podium. The overtake saw Surra drop back into the clutches of the Bimota of Alex Lowes, although the Bimota rider struggled to find a way past.
The battle came to a premature end after Lowes slid out of contention with 11 laps remaining, with Jake Dixon crashing out of 12th on the Honda just moments later.
Further behind Baldassarri passed Tommy Bridewell, and was lapping almost two-tenths a lap quicker than Surra to close in on fourth place. Despite holding off his compatriot for a few laps, Surra had to concede the place to Baldassarri with seven to go.
Behind that pair, Bridewell had to fend off a challenge from two-time champion Alvaro Bautista to keep hold of sixth place. Bautista attempted a number of moves at the hairpins, but eventually hung around the outside to take sixth from the British rider.
However, a crash for Bridewell at Turn 3 on the penultimate lap damaged the air fence and brought a premature end to the race, with the red flag thrown out due to unsafe conditions.
Bulega secures French WorldSBK treble
Despite the battles further down the , no one was able to touch Bulega as he led every single lap to complete a dominant treble by 5.458s.
Lecuona finished second after being unable to get close to Bulega throughout the race, as Montella completed the podium in third.
Baldassarri, Surra and Bautista completed the all-Ducati top six, with Garrett Gerloff on the Kawasaki the best of the rest in seventh. Xavi Vierge took eighth over Axel Bassani, who once again progressed from the back of the grid, while Remy Gardner completing the top 10.
Sam Lowes had a difficult race after his Superpole Race crash and took 11th. Danilo Petrucci and Alex Lowes after remounting following his crash, alongside Somkiat Chantra and Miguel Oliveira – with all 15 finishers taking points.
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