More from a press release issued by Aruba.it Ducati:
Bulega dominates again at Balaton to take his twelfth win of the 2026 WorldSBK season. Lecuona completes a ninth consecutive 1-2 result for Aruba.it Racing – Ducati with second place.
An intense and action-packed Sunday for the Barni Spark Racing Team. The Superpole Race, originally scheduled over 10 laps, was interrupted by a red flag after only a few laps following an incident involving Oliveira and Locatelli. At the restart, shortened to 8 laps, the race immediately came alive. Montella, starting from the front row, lost ground in the opening stages due to a battle with Baldassarri, but fought back with determination, climbing up to fifth position. Bautista, meanwhile, made the most of the second start, gaining positions and finishing fourth after a solid and progressive race.
In Race 2, run over 21 laps, Montella delivered a strong and fast performance. After a hard-fought start, the Italian rider quickly found his rhythm, consolidating third place and confidently managing the gap over the chasing pack. Lap after lap, he maintained a consistent pace, never leaving the podium positions, crossing the finish line in P3 and also securing the Best Independent Rider award.
A more difficult race for Bautista. After an excellent start that had brought him into the leading positions, the Spaniard became involved in several battles within the midfield group, losing ground as the laps went by. In the closing stages, a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits at Turn 9 definitively compromised his race, forcing him to finish in eleventh position.
The Barni Spark Racing Team leaves Balaton holding second place in the teams’ championship standings. The next WorldSBK round will take place at Most from May 15th to 17th.
Álvaro Bautista, #19: “Today was a bit of a bittersweet Sunday. We kept working to improve the feeling with the bike, and during warm-up we tried a change that seemed promising. In the Superpole Race the pace was quite good, but unfortunately in Race 2 it didn’t deliver the results we expected. I never really felt comfortable on the bike and I struggled a lot. I made a good start, but afterwards I couldn’t ride the way I wanted. At that point, the only thing I could do was bring the bike to the finish line. I’m sorry because we are working well, but not everything we try works as expected. Still, we can take away some positives and we’ll try to put everything together for the next round, with the goal of continuing to improve.”
Yari Montella, #5: “I’m extremely happy! We did a fantastic job. Getting a podium here in Balaton, on a circuit that isn’t among my favourites, is something special. We built the weekend step by step from FP1, improving session after session. Between the Superpole Race and Race 2 we made some changes that proved decisive. We managed to bring home a very important podium. The race was enjoyable in some aspects and more difficult in others. At the beginning, I used the chaos of the opening laps to create a gap and try to break away. Fortunately, I managed to build an advantage of around two seconds, which then allowed me to manage the race. Towards the end I struggled a bit with rear grip and Baldassarri got closer, but I was able to control the situation. It’s an important and solid podium. I’m really happy for myself, for the team, for all the people working for me back home and for my sponsors.”
Marco Barnabò, Team Principal: “I’m very satisfied with Yari’s podium, but also with the Superpole Race, where we finished fourth and fifth. With Yari, I’m pleased with the work we did. Since Friday we improved in every session and eventually secured the podium in Race 2. With Álvaro we understood that we are reaching a limit. We are carrying out many tests and working hard on the setup to give him confidence and put him in the best condition to express his potential, but probably one of the changes we made didn’t work as expected in Race 2. In the short race things had gone very well, but we wanted to do even better. Over the next few days we will carefully analyse the data to understand how to intervene ahead of the next round. I would like to thank all our sponsors for their support.”
Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): “I’m really happy with the team today, and especially with Lorenzo, who gave a great response. After yesterday’s crash, it wasn’t easy to get going again, but instead he came back even stronger and more determined, demonstrating his maturity and professionalism with incredible grit. This morning’s podium is confirmation of his strength, and in Race 2, fourth place left us bittersweet taste. Maybe one more lap and we could have come home with another podium. The championship is still long, and we’re there in every race. We’re growing together, we’re having fun together, and we can achieve even greater results if we keep working focused and calmly on our path!”
The Superpole Race in the morning was scheduled to be run over the traditional ten laps, but was contested over eight, due to a lap one collision involving three riders.
Garrett had a strong ride into a final eighth place in the shortened race, and as a result, started Race Two in eighth place on the grid. He was the second non-Ducati rider inside the top eight places in the ‘sprint’ race.
In Race Two, Garrett went three places better in one regard and one place better in another, as he was the first non-Ducati rider home this time, after a top-class performance to make it up to fifth place. After some surprisingly disappointing results at the previous round in Assen, Gerloff was particularly pleased to put in the kind of top five ride he and his team know they are capable of.
In the championship, Garrett is 14th overall, with 40 points, having posted ever-improving race results of 13th, eighth, and fifth at Balaton.
Autodrom Most in Czechia will be the venue for the fifth round of the championship, to be held between 15-17 May.
Garrett Gerloff stated: “I felt a lot better today than I did at Assen last time out. That was one of the worst weekends I have had, and it felt difficult to explain – because I felt I was doing pretty well with my riding and I felt the bike was working not too badly – but we seemed to have no speed all weekend. I was just scratching my head. It is so difficult as a rider not to think that ‘you are just slow now’. So it was nice to come here to Balaton, make changes, and every change we made was helping me feel better and better. To finish with a top five in Race Two was one of the best things I could do for the team and myself. It has given us a lot of motivation to stay strong for the rest of the season.”
- Ninth after serving a double Long Lap penalty for a jump start in Race 1 yesterday and denied the chance to fight for a top result in the Superpole clash by a technical issue this morning, Lowes bounced back in style to claim a hard fought sixth over 21 laps in Race 2.
- Lowes remains third in the World Championship standings on 99 points moving to the fifth round of the series at the Most track in the Czech Republic on the weekend of May 15-17.
Sunday’s race action got off to a dramatic start in the 10-lap Superpole Race battle that was red flagged on the opening lap after an incident at turn six involving Andrea Locatelli and Miguel Oliviera, which Lowes unfortunately found himself caught up in.
Upon further investigation by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards, Lowes was cleared of having any involvement in the cause of the incident, while Locatelli was given a double Long Lap penalty for irresponsible riding to serve when the race restarted over a shortened distance of eight laps.
Immediately after the restart, Lowes began to encounter gear selection issues which became progressively worse and he was unable to properly change gear as a result of damage to his quickshifter sustained in the first part of the race, he quickly dropped out of top six contention to finish in P20.
Determined to bounce back in style in Race 2, Lowes duly obliged and in the early stages he was pitched into an all-Brit battle with Tarran Mackenzie and twin brother Alex before the latter fell out of contention on lap eight.
The 35-year-old moved up the order into seventh on lap 11 and next in his sights was Alberto Surra, who at one stage was over three seconds clear of Lowes.
Lowes pounced to seize sixth position on lap 15 and it was a place he secured quite brilliantly with some impressive late race pace that saw him set his best time of 1:39.488 with three laps remaining.
Sam Lowes:
- Superpole Race: 20th
- Race 2: 6th
The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team concluded the weekend on a positive note, with Remy Gardner finishing ninth and Stefano Manzi tenth in the final feature race, collecting valuable points at the end of Round 4 of the 2026 FIM World Superbike Championship.
Gardner began the day with the final Warm Up session before heading into the Tissot Superpole Race confident of delivering a strong result. In a shortened eight-lap race due to a red flag, he fought hard and recovered to finish 11th, narrowly missing out on a top-nine position that would have secured a third-row start.
Starting 12th on the grid for Race 2, the Australian rider delivered a strong performance from the outset. After a solid opening lap, the 28-year-old showed consistent race pace throughout the 21-lap contest, moving into the top ten. Maintaining a strong rhythm until the chequered flag, Gardner crossed the line in ninth place, demonstrating clear progress.
On the other side of the garage, Stefano Manzi also enjoyed a productive Sunday. Starting 19th in the Superpole Race, he made up several positions to finish 14th, showcasing strong speed. Carrying that momentum into Race 2, Manzi started 17th and fought his way through the field, gaining seven positions with an impressive pace to finish tenth, just behind his teammate.
Both riders will return to action in a few weeks for Round 5, as the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team heads to Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic.
Remy Gardner – Superpole Race: P11 / Race 2: P9: “Overall, it was a positive end to the weekend. We made some solid improvements from yesterday, and we need to focus on the positives. In the Superpole Race, we were close to the top nine, which would have helped for Race 2, but it wasn’t a bad result. In Race 2, I was able to maintain a good pace until the end, which is encouraging, and finishing ninth shows good progress considering where we started. We’ll aim to carry this momentum into Most with confidence, as it’s a track where we’ve performed well in the past.”
Stefano Manzi – Superpole Race: P14 / Race 2: P10: “It was another solid Sunday, and it’s becoming a consistent trend. Once again, we made strong progress from Friday, and I’m happy with the improvements. At the same time, it motivates us even more, as we know there is still untapped potential if we can start the weekend stronger. Today our pace was good, especially in the latter stages, and I was able to catch Remy and battle with him until the end. I’m looking forward to getting back on track in a few weeks and making further progress. Finally, I’d like to congratulate my crew chief Tommaso and his wife on the birth of their third son—huge congratulations to them!”
Sunday Potential Not Fulfilled for Pata Maxus Yamaha at Balaton Park’s Hungarian WorldSBK. Xavi Vierge, Andrea Locatelli and Pata Maxus Yamaha were disappointed to not be able to maximise their full potential on Sunday at Round 4 of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship at Balaton Park in Hungary, today.
WorldSBK however will be back in action at Most in the Czech Republic in just under two weeks’ time, where Pata Maxus Yamaha has enjoyed podium performances in the past, from 15-17 May.
Xavi Vierge – SPRC: P10 / Race 2: P12: “It has been a very, very difficult Hungarian Round – we have been working like crazy since Friday and it looked like in some parts of the weekend we had some positives, but today in Race 2 I was struggling a lot again especially in the second half of the race. It has been the first really tough weekend together, and there is now a lot to analyse to understand the way to follow. All I can say is thank you to Yamaha and the team for the hard work, and we have a week to look at everything and come back to Most with recharged batteries.”
Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P13 / Race 2: DNF: “The first thing to say is about the Superpole Race – I never want another rider involved in a crash to have an injury and I am so sorry about Miguel. I do not want to speak about the decision of Race Direction to penalise me, it’s better to say nothing. With the penalties and the bad grid position, we had a lot of work to do in Race 2 but I really think we could have done well because my feeling on the bike was good – unfortunately, we do not understand yet what happened with the crash. Some really bad luck for us, but in some ways it was a positive weekend because I had a good feeling on my R1 since Friday and I was quite happy, and I always try to do my best. We need to keep moving forward and looking at the next one, for sure we need to work hard and try to improve to close the gap – this is the reality.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Maxus Yamaha: “After a positive Assen and a positive start to the Balaton weekend, it has turned into a difficult Hungarian Round for the Pata Maxus Yamaha team – especially today on Sunday. Yesterday’s Race 1 result gave us encouragement for today with a very solid ride for Loka and a brilliant recovery to the top 10 for Xavi, but today didn’t go to plan. On Andrea’s side, things unravelled not so much with the Lap 1 accident in the Superpole Race but more with the extremely questionable decision to award him a double long lap penalty on the restart, for Irresponsible Riding. Being hit by another rider from behind in a racing incident is one thing, but then to be penalised for it is quite another and we do not understand the decision. This compromised the Superpole Race result and also this afternoon’s Race 2, where instead of being able to start from the second row and find his flow with the fastest riders, Loka was stuck in a group when he fell from contention – we are extremely lucky that Loka has “cosmetic” injuries only after a massive last-corner high-side. From P17 on the grid, Xavi again made a great recovery in the Superpole Race to the top 10, but missed out by just one position to improve his Race 2 grid slot. We’ve been chasing the right set-up for him all weekend and of course, the team and the engineers did everything they could to improve the package for Race 2. However, Xavi suffered under braking and also with grip for the whole race and could only bring it home P12. We missed out on a big haul of points today that could have dramatically improved Loka’s championship position in particular, but we can’t look backwards and we’re now fully focused on Most and performing to our full potential in the Czech Republic.”
Chantra improves pace in Race 2 as Kunii gains valuable WorldSBK experience at Balaton. Honda HRC riders Chantra and Kunii round out WorldSBK round four at Balaton Park with a P15 and P16 finish in Sunday’s Race 2.
The Honda HRC team has now completed the fourth Superbike World Championship round, placing fifteenth and sixteenth in Sunday’s final race at Hungary’s Balaton Park with Somkiat Chantra and substitute rider Yuki Kunii.
The warm weather continued today, making for an uninterrupted race day. On track this morning for the Superpole race, Chantra and Kunii lined up on row seven and eight of the grid respectively. The race began on time but an incident on lap one involving Oliviera brought the race to an immediate halt with a red flag. Restarted a short time later, the race was reduced to a distance of just 8 laps.
Chantra and Kunii maintained their starting positions through the initial stages, lapping with half a second of each other for the first few laps. The gaps opened up a little from mid-race on, but both the Thai and Japanese rider maintained their pace, each focused on their own performance. While Chantra gained one position to finish nineteenth, teammate Kunii held twenty-first all the way to the line.
The weekend’s second and final 21-lap race ran mid-afternoon in dry, sunny conditions. Chantra and Kunii both gained two positions in the early stages following mistakes for riders up ahead. Establishing a consistent rhythm, the pair continued to work hard and stay out of trouble, in light of further incidents involving other riders. Somkiat consistently improved his pace, setting his best lap of the weekend on the penultimate lap after moving into the points zone on lap seven. Holding fifteenth for the remainder of the race, Chantra completed the race to score one championship point. Replacement rider Yuki did his best to keep his teammate within sight, eventually crossing the line in P16.
Somkiat Chantra: “Today we had both the Superpole Race and Race 2. In the Superpole Race, we made some changes to the bike and electronics, and the feeling was a bit better. My pace was more consistent, so that was a positive step. The race itself was not bad, but I was a bit unlucky at the start, stuck behind other riders, and it was difficult to overtake, especially through the opening corners. In Race 2, we struggled more in the early laps because I had some rear spinning but during the race I was able to improve my pace. I focused on being more consistent and was able to set my best lap of the weekend. Overall, there are some small positives, like finishing in the points today. I want to thank the team for their hard work. We know we are still not where we want to be, so we will keep working hard and pushing step by step to move closer to the front.”
Yuki Kunii: “Today was another new experience for me, especially with the Superpole Race, which was very short and intense. With the red flag and the restarted race run over just eight laps, it was quite crazy. I did my best, but I wasn’t feeling completely comfortable on the bike and made a few mistakes. We had tried a small setup change, but for Race 2 we decided to go back with the setting, and the feeling improved. From start to finish, I was able to push a bit more compared to yesterday and, overall, I’m happy with the weekend. Being part of a full factory team like Honda HRC has been an amazing experience. At the same time, it reminded me how high the level of this championship is, and how much I still need to improve, especially in managing the bike over race distance. I want to thank Honda HRC and team for the opportunity.”
The race weekend in Hungary was blessed with warm and dry weather from the first practice session to the final two races on Sunday, 3 May.
bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team pairing of Lowes and Axel Bassani found little in the way of good fortune on the final day, however, at the unique 4.075km-long Balaton Park Circuit.
The planned ten-lap Superpole Race was shortened to only eight after an opening-lap multiple-rider collision into the T6/7 area. In the restart, Alex would take a positive seventh place in the intense short race, and Axel would end up 15th.
Soon after Race Two had started, Lowes was in a battle within the group chasing the leading riders. While riding in fourth place, he was pushed wide and lost several positions. He was moving forward from then on, but while chasing another competitor in the T9/10 chicane, he touched his rival on the exit of the second apex, crashed out, and was unable to restart.
Bassani experienced an early technical issue with some aspect of his braking system in Race Two and had to retire.
After four rounds and 12 races, Lowes is fifth overall in the championship points table, and Bassani is now ninth. Alex has 82 points and Bassani 67. bimota remains second in the Manufacturers’ Standings and BbKRT is now third in the Teams’ Standings.
The fifth round of the 2026 WorldSBK Championship will take place at the Autodrom Most, in Czechia, between 15-17 May.
Alex Lowes stated: “Not the Race Two that we wanted. This track is a bit special. It is not easy to pass and you need a good track position. I was really happy with the Superpole Race. We did a good job and even set our best lap of the weekend. In the final race I made a good start and had a really good T1 and T2, in fourth place. This was the main job done as it helps you with track position. Then, Baldassarri hit me and that put me out, so I lost five or six positions. We had made a change on the front of the bike and I could see a few other riders going out of the track, while I was stopping the bike quite well. I was just following Taz Mackenzie through the chicane at T9 and T10 and I think I misjudged his speed in the second apex. I was thinking to pass him in T10 but it completely caught me off guard. I hit the back of him with my hand and lost the front. That is hard to accept because I think we had a really positive weekend, I was maximising the pace we had, made good starts and I was getting myself in good positions. I think with the progress we made from Friday to Saturday to Sunday, it’s a shame to end this weekend with this race. Overall, I think how we did as a team was really good.”
Axel Bassani stated: “It was quite a difficult Sunday for us. It started well in FP3, when I had a good pace. Also in the Superpole Race, my pace was really good, but it was quite near to impossible for me to overtake the riders in front of me. When I had the possibility to be free, I was immediately in the 1’39.6 lap times. We know it is difficult for us to overtake, and we finished P15. In Race Two, from the warm-up lap, I had some issues with the front brake, a lot of vibration. I tried to do the first lap of the race, but it was also locking on the straight. It was dangerous for me and the other riders, so I decided to stop. This was really impossible to ride. We will try to recover this week and try to be more ready for the next round in Most.”
