SBK Balaton Practice 1: Lecuona turns up the heat; Bulega now behind

Everyone had been eagerly awaiting Balaton Park, hoping this slow, narrow track would shake up the Superbike deck a bit. And the appetizer was indeed spicy: with a stellar final lap, Iker Lecuona managed for the first time to leave his so-far-unbeatable teammate behind. Now we’ll see what Nicolò Bulega has up his sleeve: see you this afternoon.

The in-house skirmish between the two Ducati riders was the expected flash; otherwise, everything stayed much the same as the previous round in the Netherlands, with the three riders from the Assen podium back at the sharp end. Sam Lowes once again confirms himself as a top Superbike force, but Lorenzo Baldassarri was flying too: two satellite Panigales acting as bridesmaids to the two factory bikes. Lecuona was superb: 1'39"454, just a tenth off the Balaton benchmark set last year in the race by King Toprak Razgatlioglu at 1'39"382. Worth noting the better environmental conditions this time, with cooler air and asphalt.

Four Ducatis ahead of everyone, as has become customary. Bimota keeps shining with Alex Lowes in fifth, but the gap to the top is hefty—almost a second. At the last gasp, Garrett Gerloff’s Kawasaki emerged: the American did fairly well in Portugal and the Netherlands too but couldn’t capitalize—will this be the time? BMW on this track a year ago thrashed everyone, but without Toprak it’s tough: seventh for Miguel Oliveira, but over a second off the Ducati. Danilo Petrucci (fifteenth) nowhere to be found: we’ll see later if things improve. Yamaha settles for Xavi Vierge’s tenth place, while Honda with Chantra and stand-in Kunii is anchored at the bottom of the standings—how depressing.

Regarding the Pirelli tire allocation, note the return of the super-soft SCQ, which will be usable for qualifying and the ten-lap Superpole Race. It’s the first time this season it’s been allowed, given that Balaton Park isn’t particularly abrasive on tires. Heads up: riders have only four units available, so anyone wanting to use it in the Sprint will need to ration it carefully. For the long races, the SCX and SC0 will be available: the latter option (code E625) was the most used last year.

The round at Balaton Park is the fourth of the 2026 World Championship and kicks off a true tour de force featuring three events packed into the month of May. After Hungary, Superbike will move to Most in the Czech Republic, then to MotorLand Aragon in Spain. After this tight run of commitments, the World Championship will land in Misano on June 12–14, the first act of the second half of the season. Will the title be decided before summer even begins?

Corsedimoto on Instagram: follow us here