SBK: Bulega’s streak ends — 90% isn’t enough

Nicolò Bulega’s streak of consecutive victories in the Superbike World Championship comes to an end: beaten by Iker Lecuona in Race 1 at Donington Park.

The unprecedented run of consecutive wins by Nicolò Bulega in World Superbike stops at 25. In Race 1 at Donington Park, the former Moto3 and Moto2 rider was defeated at the culmination of an exhilarating, gripping, and phenomenal in-house showdown within Aruba.it Racing - Ducati against Iker Lecuona, decided only at the very end. On the undulating Midlands circuit, the rider from Emilia engaged in an epic duel for the top step of the podium, but had to yield by 0.165s to his in-form teammate, who brilliantly matched blow-for-blow the attacks of the dominant force of this early stretch of the 2026 season.

The 2023 Supersport World Champion tries to see the glass as half full, buoyed by a colossal 116-point lead in the championship. "Second place isn’t a bad result. Congratulations to Iker, he and his team simply did better than us; they deserved the win. I tried until the end. If I was at 90% today, Iker pushed at 100%: I was missing that 10% which I hope to find tomorrow," admitted Nicolò Bulega, who, together with the Spaniard, produced a spectacular series of passes and counter-passes.

The “derby” lit up in the last three laps. A slip-up at Melbourne Hairpin forced Iker Lecuona to sweat bullets to fend off Nicolò Bulega’s final assaults. "On the last lap I wanted a good outside line (at Melbourne Hairpin) so I’d be set up for the final corner. Unfortunately, that’s not how it went: braking too hard, I ran a bit wide." In the remaining two races scheduled for tomorrow, a good technical compromise will be needed. "In the first part of the track I could ride more or less how I like. In the last sector, where the tight hairpins are, I was really lacking acceleration. In first and second gear, Iker was maybe gaining two tenths that I had to make up under braking, but I was always too far to try a clean overtake".