Aruba.it Racing rider Iker Lecuona took victory in the Cremona 1st Race of WorldSBK and took an important step towards the championship. Lecuona held the lead by completing 23 laps, seeing the checkered flag with more than 5 seconds ahead of Nicolò Bulega. Sam Lowes completed the podium in third place.
Lecuona's Race Performance
Starting from pole position in the WorldSBK 1st Race held at the Cremona Circuit, Iker Lecuona took control from the first lap of the race. The Spanish rider maintained the lead after the start, ahead of Yari Montella and teammate Nicolò Bulega. After Montella had an accident in the first lap, Bulega moved to second place while Alberto Surra took third place.
Lecuona managed to maintain his pace throughout the race. The Spanish rider gained ground in the second lap, nearly one second ahead of Bulega. By the seventh lap of the race, Lecuona's advantage exceeded 2 seconds. At the 13th lap, the gap reached 4.2 seconds, and at the 17th lap, it reached 5.5 seconds. In the final part of the race, Lecuona, who maintained his pace, saw the checkered flag with Bulega more than 5 seconds ahead, achieving a comfortable victory in Cremona. This result was Lecuona's second victory of the 2026 season.
Bulega Postponed the Championship Victory
Championship leader Nicolò Bulega started from second place in the race and maintained this position until the finish. Although the Italian rider could not match Lecuona's pace, he secured important points by holding second place. However, this result was not enough to mathematically guarantee Bulega the 2026 WorldSBK championship. Bulega thus postponed the championship celebration until Sunday.
Important Moments of the Race
Alberto Surra, who started in third place at the beginning of the race, retired after crashing on the eighth lap. Yari Montella, who was in second place earlier, also retired after a second accident in the first part of the race. Following these accidents, Sam Lowes moved to third place. Marc VDS Ducati rider maintained his position despite the pressure from Lorenzo Baldassari in the remaining part of the race and finished in third place with the checkered flag. Lorenzo Baldassari finished fourth, while the best rider outside of Ducati, Garrett Gerloff, finished in fifth place.
Ducati Dominance and Results
The dominance of the Ducati riders was noticeable during the FP1 session at Cremona. Iker Lecuona was the fastest rider of the morning session with a time of 1:28.278, while his teammate Nicolò Bulega finished in second place, lagging by 0.119 seconds. Bulega had an accident on lap 10 in the final part of the session but was not injured in the accident. Ducati secured all six top positions in the FP1. With this result, Lecuona achieved his second WorldSBK pole position in his career and Ducati also won the first pole position.
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- Archive: Nicolo Bulega preparing for MotoGP career (September 9, 2026)
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