Nicolo Bulega won FIM Superbike World Championship Race One Saturday afternoon at TT Circuit Assen, in The Netherlands. Bulega started from pole position and rode his Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4 Rto a 1.61- second margin of victory in the 21-lap race.
His teammate, Iker Lecuona was the runner-up and Sam Lowes rode his ELF Marc VDS Racing Ducati Panigale V4R to third.
Alvaro Bautista crossed the finish line fourth on his Barni Spark Racing Ducati Panigale V4R.
Alex Lowes got fifth on his biota by Kawasaki KB998 Rimini.
Nicolo Bulega leads the championship with 149 points, 61 ahead of Iker Lecuona who has 88 points. Miguel Oliveira is third with 65 points.
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made it 11 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship wins in a row in perhaps the best race of the season so far. The #11 had to pass teammate Iker Lecuona three times in order to secure victory at the iconic TT Circuit Assen as a mid-race rain shower played havoc with the WorldSBK field during the Pirelli Dutch Round with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) claiming his first podium of the season.
BULEGA VS LECUONA: The #11 resists his teammate… just
Contrary to race starts at Portimao, Lecuona got a great launch when the race started to leapfrog polesitter Bulega to take P1 at Turn 1, but Bulega re-claimed the lead at Turn 11 on Lap 2 with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) in P3. The trio were able to pull away from the chasing pack with Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) holding up the riders as he got a great start to move into P4 from the third row over the first couple of laps. Once the #11 claimed the lead, it looked like he had the race under control, but late rainfall allowed Lecuona to take advantage to pass his teammate on the exit of the chicane on Lap 15, after gaining more than second on him across that lap. On Lap 17, Bulega responded through the final sector but the #7 outbraked the #11 to maintain P1; meanwhile Sam Lowes had closed up on the factory duo. On Lap 19, Bulega forced his teammate out of the way at Turn 4 to claim P1 once again, and this time he pulled out a gap over Lecuona as they claimed the fourth 1-2 finish in a row for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati, while Sam Lowes came home in P3. For Bulega, it was his 27th win, going level with Doug Polen, while the Marc VDS Ducati rider claimed his sixth WorldSBK rostrum.
BAUTISTA PROPELS HIMSELF TO P4: A strong start gives the #19 a good result
Despite his pace improving as the race progressed, Bautista was unable to close on the #14 ahead after losing four seconds to the Brit, eventually finishing in P4 for his best finish since Race 2 in Australia, where he was on the podium. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) finished in fifth, a relatively calm race for the #22 amid all the chaos. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) came home as the lead Yamaha rider as he fought his way to P6, ahead of Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), whose comeback through the field was anything but easy.
INSIDE THE TOP TEN: Oliveira, Mackenzie fight their way through the field
The #88 had to fend off multiple challenges from many riders as he moved up the order to finish in P7, ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) in eighth. ‘Balda’ had to fight back after running wide at Turn 7 when Oliveira came through, eventually finishing in eighth place, just 0.041s clear of Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing). The #95 was quick before the rain fell as he moved into the battle for P6, eventually finishing in ninth place. Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) lost out in the final laps as he rounded out the top ten.
ROLLERCOASTER RACE: Montella rises and falls on his way to P11
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) had an up and down race. He was running on the outskirts of the top ten throughout the majority of the race, but took advantage of the rain to move as high as P6 before dropping down the order to 11th. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) finished in 12th with Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates), Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) rounding out the points-paying positions.
EVERYONE FINISHES THE RACE: First time since Most 2025
Despite mid-race rain, all 22 riders finished the race. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) finished around one second away from the points as he came home in 16th, with Jonathan Rea (Honda HRC) in 17th. Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was running in the second group but was given a double Long Lap Penalty for a jump start. When attempting to take the first one, he had a huge moment and ran into the gravel; dropping him out of contention. Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was 19th after he took a Long Lap Penalty for course cutting at the final chicane. Bahattin Sofuoglu (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team), Twan Smits (Team Apreco) and Mattia Rato (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) were the last runners in Race 1. For the first time since the Tissot Superpole Race at Most last year, every rider who started the race finished it.
The top six from WorldSBK Race 1, full results here:
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.618a
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +2.923s
4. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) +6.376s
5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +11.775s
6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +17.167s
Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) 1’33.341s – new lap record
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