Bulega Defeats Lecuona in Intense WorldSBK Most Battle

Nicolo Bulega further strengthened his dominance in the 2026 WorldSBK season after winning Race 1 of the Czech Republic round at Autodrom Most following an intense fight against Iker Lecuona.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider defeated Lecuona by 0.826 seconds after a long battle throughout Saturday afternoon’s race.

Yari Montella completed the podium for Barni Spark Racing Team, while Garrett Gerloff delivered an impressive fourth-place finish for Kawasaki ahead of Axel Bassani.

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The race was initially interrupted following a heavy crash for Danilo Petrucci at Turn 13 during the original start. The Italian rider was taken to hospital for further checks after suffering injuries to his back, hip, and hand.

Race Direction subsequently red-flagged the event before a full restart procedure was carried out.

At the restart, Bulega once again demonstrated the Ducati Panigale V4 R’s strong launch performance by immediately taking the lead ahead of Montella and Lecuona.

From a technical standpoint, Ducati once again showed major strength in acceleration zones and braking stability, two key performance areas around the stop-and-go layout of Autodrom Most.

Although Bulega initially opened a small gap during the early laps, Lecuona gradually closed the deficit and began applying serious pressure midway through the race.

The Spanish rider briefly moved into the lead at Turn 1 with seven laps remaining, setting up a tense battle between the two Aruba Ducati machines.

However, with three laps remaining, Bulega launched the decisive counterattack and reclaimed the lead before controlling the race through to the chequered flag.

"I tried to forget the bike issues and simply focus on maintaining my own rhythm in the closing laps," Bulega explained after the race.

Further down the field, the race also featured contact between Sam Lowes and Alberto Surra, with Surra later receiving a long-lap penalty for the incident.

Meanwhile, Michael van der Mark produced a solid performance as a replacement rider for the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team.

Despite starting from the back of the grid following a penalty, the Dutch rider avoided trouble and finished 14th to secure valuable championship points.

The victory further reinforces Bulega’s status as one of the leading contenders for the 2026 WorldSBK title as Ducati continues to dominate across multiple circuit characteristics this season.