Track Limits Training Halts Drivers

WorldSBK In the third free practice session of the French GP, Italian rider Nicolo Bulega took the lead with a lap time of 1:34.987. The Ducati rider completed the first lap of the weekend with a time of 1:34, which was just 0.057 seconds behind Toprak Razgatlıoğlu's Superpole record of 1:34.930 set in 2025. Representative Bahattin Sofuoğlu did not participate in the session due to a concussion diagnosis following an accident on Friday.

Technical Details of Practice Runs

The session started at 10:40 Turkey time. The track was dry, the air temperature was 20 degrees Celsius, and the ground temperature was measured at 27 degrees Celsius. The humidity level was 70 percent. The reference time for the session came from Garrett Gerloff. Following him, Jake Dixon, Danilo Petrucci, and Nicolo Bulega set the best times. Lorenzo Baldassarri and Iker Lecuona also briefly took the lead.

Bulega set his lap time of 1:34.987 in the first part of the session. Only 11 seconds later, the yellow flag appeared at Turn 15. The Italian rider immediately discarded the lap he took just before the incident that interrupted the session. All track records belong to Toprak Razgatlıoğlu. In 2025, he set the race lap record of 1:35.500 and the Superpole record of 167.280 km/h. Bulega's practice lap average was 167.177 km/h, falling just below this average. This difference is 57 hundredths of a second.

Standings and Disqualified Times

The only accident of the session was caused by Sam Lowes. ELF Marc VDS fell at Turn 15. The British rider returned to the track shortly after and completed the session in only 5 laps. Despite this, he secured seventh place with a time of 1:35.570. Furthermore, the most intense part of the Saturday morning was the track limits. Marshals disqualified nine laps during the session. Five of these occurred at Turn 11, and three at Turn 6. Miguel Oliveira disqualified two laps simultaneously, both at Turn 6. Tommy Bridewell also disqualified one lap at the same corner. At Turn 11, Somkiat Chantra, Axel Bassani, Mattia Rato, Alberto Surra, and Alex Lowes were among the riders who had a lap disqualified.

The final standings for the session were determined as follows:

• Nicolo Bulega finished first with 1:34.987.
• Garrett Gerloff finished second with 1:35.321 on the Kawasaki.
• Iker Lecuona took third place with 1:35.425.
• Tommy Bridewell took fourth place with 1:35.501.
• Alberto Surra finished fifth as the rider returning from injury with 1:35.552.
• Xavi Vierge 1:35.746, Remy Gardner 1:35.747. Alvaro Bautista was second, and Jake Dixon was third. Andrea Locatelli was fourth, and Axel Bassani was fifth. Miguel Oliveira finished eleventh with 1:36.260, and Mattia Rato took seventh place. Stefano Manzi, Danilo Petrucci, and Somkiat Chantra finished last with 1:36.501.

The starting order for the three races on Saturday and Sunday will be determined in this session. Whether Toprak Razgatlıoğlu's two records will be broken this weekend will also be known there.

Figures

• Archive: What Bulega needs to do for World Championship (September 1, 2026)

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