In the MotoEtkinlik Superpole session, Italian rider Nicolo Bulega secured pole position with a lap time of 1:34.318. With this time, the Aruba.it Ducati rider broke the all-time record for Magny-Cours. The previous record was set by Toprak Razgatlıoğlu with 1:34.930, and Bulega’s time was 0.612 seconds slower. Sam Lowes finished second, and Iker Lecuona third, completing the first row.
Session References and Pole Change
The session started at 12:15 Turkish time. The track was dry, the air temperature was 23 degrees Celsius, the ground temperature was measured at 30 degrees Celsius, and the humidity level was 68 percent. The initial reference times came from Jake Dixon and Garrett Gerloff. Following them were Sam Lowes and Tommy Bridwell taking the lead. When the first five minutes of the session were completed, no rider had yet dropped below the 1:35 barrier.
However, the situation changed after the fifth minute of the session. Previously, Bulega dropped below the 1:35 barrier with 1:34.900. Immediately after, Iker Lecuona overtook him with 1:34.676, taking temporary pole position. The Spanish rider solidified his position in the final part of the session by pulling the time to 1:34.596 in the last segment.
Bulega’s response was immediate. The Italian rider took pole position, leaving Lecuona 0.278 seconds behind with a lap time of 1:34.318. Bulega completed a total of seven laps. At the end of the session, four riders had surpassed the 2025 qualifying time. These four riders were Nicolo Bulega, Sam Lowes, Iker Lecuona, and Yari Montella, who recorded 1:34.872.
Incident and Track Limits Effect
The final minutes of the session were mixed with two separate accidents. Tommy Bridwell crashed on Turn 15. Due to Bridwell’s accident, Miguel Oliveira, Garrett Gerloff, Remy Gardner, Axel Bassani, and Danilo Petrucci were flagged. Bridwell returned to the track shortly after. However, while the flag was still up, another incident occurred on Turn 8. Lorenzo Baldassari also fell in the same area. The effect of the Turn 8 flag became much wider, and 14 riders on track were flagged. During this time, the pole sitter Bulega and the temporary pole sitter Iker Lecuona were present. Both riders had recorded their best times before the accident, so the ranking was not affected. The two riders who crashed placed themselves in the top 10; Bridwell was 7th, and Baldassari took 8th place.
Track limits were also decisive throughout the session. Marshals invalidated seven laps during the session. The rider who lost the most laps was Iker Lecuona. The Spanish rider lost a total of three laps: two on Turn 11 and one on Turn 3. Somkiat Chantra lost two laps, one of which was 1:37.041. Lorenzo Baldassari, Jake Dixon, and Sam Lowes each lost one lap for the same reason. Our representative, Bahattin Sofuoğlu, did not qualify for the Superpole. The Motoxracing Yamaha rider was deemed unfit to race due to a concussion diagnosis following an accident during the second practice on Friday. Mattia Rato, who completed the session on the other motorcycle, took 20th place with a lap time of 1:36.101. One lap by the Italian rider on Turn 6 was also invalidated due to track limits.
Grid Ranking
In the Superpole grid, following Bulega, Sam Lowes will start from second with 1:34.486, and Iker Lecuona will start from third with 1:34.596. Yari Montella, Alberto Surra, and Alex Lowes are in the second row. The difference between Alex Lowes and Tommy Bridwell was only one hundredth of a second. In the third row, Bridwell, Lorenzo Baldassari, and Xavi Vierge are positioned. Jake Dixon is tenth, Andrea Locatelli is first, and Garrett Gerloff took twelfth place. Remy Gardner is third, Alvaro Bautista is fourth, and Stefano Manzi is fifth. Somkiat Chantra is eleventh, Axel Bassani is seventh, and Danilo Petrucci is eighth. Miguel Oliveira and Mattia Rato close the grid.
The race will run over 21 laps starting at 16:30 Turkish time. It will conclude with the Superpole Race at 12:10 on Sunday, the weekend, and the second race at 15:00.
Figures
- Archive: What Bulega needs to do for World Championship (September 1, 2026)
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