The summer has been especially long for the World Superbike Championship, which held its last round to date in Donington from July 10 to 12. A “vacation” of two months without races that ends in France this weekend with the dispute of the ninth round of the year in one of the emblematic tracks of the championship, that of Nevers Magny-Cours.
Before the summer break we saw Iker Lecuona capable of winning the game for the first time in the season against Bulega, although then a crash by the Spanish driver in the Superpole Race ended up resulting in Nicolò increasing his advantage by leaving the British event. with 133 points advantage.
That means that, numbers in hand, Bulega has his first chance to take the title this weekend. But theory is one thing and practice another, because with 186 points still to be decided in the three remaining rounds, for the Italian to win the title implies that Lecuona would add eight points or less throughout the weekend, something that has not happened all year and that seems complicated.
Precisely Lecuona is being Bulega’s great burden, because with the number of victories he has achieved so far this year and which is summarized with “all but one” it is the consistency of his teammate in second place that has prevented him from being crowned already. So, although the mathematics says that it is possible, the most likely thing is that the title will not be decided in France although it could be practically closed in Cremona at the end of the month.
And the 2026 season is going to go down in history as Ducati’s most dominant season in recent history because all the victories have been theirs. It will be necessary to see, of course, if Miguel Ángel Oliveira has been able to recover physically in these two months and can once again show his level at the beginning of the year when he was able to get on the podium on several occasions and positioned himself as the only non-Ducati capable of aspiring to do so.
Because the rest of Ducatis, now outside the official team, are being fast and constant enough to not leave more than crumbs to the rest as reflected by the recent performances of Montella and also of Sam Lowes, Baldassarri, Bautista or Bridewell at certain times.
For whom it will be an important test is Álvaro Bautista himself, who has his future up in the air and who has publicly declared that this will be decided not only in France but also in the tests with Michelin tires that are scheduled in the near future. There are still many places to be confirmed for 2027 in the WSBK and what happens in Magny-Cours could be as important in deciding them as in defining the title.
Details of Nevers Magny-Cours
It is one of the emblematic circuits in France, but, obviously, it is also an outdated track with significant safety deficiencies. To Razgatlioglu’s accident last year we must add others, both before and after, in addition to the possibility of re-entering the track once the rider and the bike go down.
Analyzing what the route is, despite not being particularly long, it does have very fast areas, such as the first partial, which ends in one of the wildest braking of the entire season in turn five. A clear overtaking point at the entrance, but which also allows you to prepare the attack well in the links of the second sector.
The last stretch also offers several overtaking points, so a tight finish to the race isn’t really decided until the finish line itself. Of course, it is very close to the exit of the chicane and, therefore, does not give much room to seek an overtake by aspiration on the last lap.
Where to watch Superbike France 2026
Following the Superbike World Championship from Spain continues to be quite easy, also this weekend with the French round underway. DAZN will once again offer all the activity from the French circuit and, as usual, it will be enough to register for free on the platform to access both the free practice sessions and the qualifying sessions and the races.
Teledeporte will also broadcast the weekend’s races, with the possibility of following them also through RTVE Play if you choose to watch them online. Among the payment alternatives there are still Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, also available within MAX. Added to these is the official WorldSBK Videopass, the championship’s own option to access all the coverage of the season.
Superbike schedules France 2026
Friday, September 4
• 09:00 – 09:25: R3 BLU CRU Champ – Free Practice
• 09:40 – 10:05: WorldSPB – Free Practice
• 10:20 – 11:05: WorldSBK – Free Practice 1
• 11:20 – 12:00: WorldSSP – Free Practice
• 13:30 – 13:55: R3 BLU CRU Champ – Superpole
• 14:10 – 14:35: WorldSPB – Superpole
• 15:00 – 15:45: WorldSBK – Free Practice 2
• 16:00 – 16:40: WorldSSP – Superpole
Saturday September 5
• 09:00 – 09:10: R3 BLU CRU Champ – Warm Up 1
• 09:20 – 09:30: WorldSPB – Warm Up 1
• 09:40 – 10:00: WorldSBK – Free Practice 3
• 10:10 – 10:20: WorldSSP – Warm Up 1
• 11:15 – 11:30: WorldSBK – Superpole
• 12:00: R3 BLU CRU Champ – Race 1
• 13:00: WorldSPB – Race 1
• 14:00: WorldSSP – Race 1
• 15:30: WorldSBK – Race 1
Sunday September 6
• 08:55 – 09:05: R3 BLU CRU Champ – Warm Up 2
• 09:15 – 09:25: WorldSBK – Warm Up
• 09:35 – 09:45: WorldSPB – Warm Up 2
• 09:55 – 10:05: WorldSSP – Warm Up 2
• 11:00: WorldSBK – Superpole Race
• 11:50: R3 BLU CRU Champ – Race 2
• 12:45 WorldSPB – Race 2
• 14:00: WorldSBK – Race 2
• 15:15: WorldSSP – Race 2
