The Superbike World Championship arrived in Cremona prepared to experience a special weekend on Italian soil. Nicolo Bulega had the championship undecided, but he had enough in his favor to “simply” finish the job after a great season.
What perhaps he did not expect was to find Iker Lecuona willing to complicate the party from the first moment. The Spaniard was the strongest driver of the weekend, and took the three available victories, forcing Bulega to wait until Race 2 to be able to definitively celebrate the title.
SBK Italia – Race 1: Lecuona starts in charge
Lecuona, as we have already seen several times this season, went out all out as soon as the traffic light went out and arrived first at Turn 1, while Bulega and Alberto Surra initially lost positions to Yari Montella. But the Barni rider suffered a crash at turn 13 of the first lap that sent him to the back of the group and left the way clear for the two official Ducati riders.
The Spaniard took perfect advantage of the situation to start opening up a gap from the first stages and although Bulega managed to match his pace for a few laps, Lecuona pushed again and progressively increased the difference until leading the race with authority. Not even a scare on the tenth lap changed the situation.
Behind him, Surra seemed on course for his first WorldSBK podium until he crashed at Turn 7 during lap nine. His fall left third position in the hands of Sam Lowes, who had to fight in the final laps with Lorenzo Baldassarri to secure the spot.
Lecuona finally crossed the finish line 5.5 seconds ahead of Bulega and took his second victory of the season, while Sam Lowes completed the podium. The Spaniard’s victory also meant that Nicolo would not be able to close the title on Saturday.
SBK Italia – Superpole Race: Lecuona does not give in either
The Superpole Race started again practically the same as Saturday’s. Lecuona took command from the first corner ahead of Bulega and Surra, although this time the differences were much smaller. The two official Ducati riders had also opted for different tires, with the Spaniard using the SCX and the Italian the SCQ and perhaps that could have made the difference.
Bulega tried on the third lap and overtook his teammate under braking at turn 11, but Lecuona responded just two corners later by immediately recovering the first position. That was practically the only clear attack by the Italian, who ended up giving ground until crossing the finish line just over two seconds away.
The fight for third position was much more intense. Montella overtook Surra during lap eight, but the Motocorsa rider responded immediately and managed to hold onto the position until the end to claim his first WorldSBK podium. Lecuona thus added his second consecutive victory of the weekend and Bulega arrived at Race 2 knowing that a place in the top five would be enough to become champion.
SBK Italia – Race 2: Bulega is proclaimed champion and Lecuona completes the triplet
The last race once again had a clear protagonist from the start. Lecuona, starting from pole, again reached Turn 1 first while Bulega initially had to fend off Surra. The situation did not last long and the two official Ducati riders quickly settled into the first two positions.
The Spaniard little by little built an advantage that reached second on the sixth lap and continued to grow from there. Bulega, aware that he did not need to take risks to win the championship, remained second while Lecuona ended up escaping definitively to achieve his first treble in WSBK.
From behind, Montella overtook Surra on the third lap and ended up securing the last place on the podium. The Motocorsa rider could not repeat the result achieved in the morning, although he also closed a great weekend with fourth position. The fight between the Lowes brothers ended early when Sam fell after trying to overtake Alex, while Jake Dixon took advantage of the situation to finish inside the top 6.
So, this time Bulega’s second position was enough to mathematically make him the 2026 Superbike World Champion with two rounds and six races still to go. The Italian culminates in this way and at home a season in which he arrived in Cremona with the numbers in his favor and ended up celebrating the title in front of his home crowd.
After the Cremona event and with the title decided ahead of the rounds in Portugal and Spain, it will be interesting to see how the two Ducati riders approach the end of the season. We will have the answer in two weekends at the Autodromo Do Estoril.
