SBK Cremona: Nicolò Bulega, two crashes in one day—what’s going on?

So far it’s been a perfect World Championship for Nicolò Bulega: precise, determined, blisteringly fast. Twenty-six wins in twenty-seven races speak for themselves, with his worst result being second. But here in Cremona, on the eve of the weekend that could crown him Superbike World Champion, things didn’t go smoothly: the serial winner had two tip-offs, one per session, luckily without damage.

In the morning Nicolò lost the Ducati Panigale V4R right at the end while attacking the provisional benchmark set by teammate Iker Lecuona. In the final session he went down after seven laps: the mishap therefore cost him time that would have been precious for race prep. In Superbike there’s only one bike available, so this kind of issue can’t be resolved as in MotoGP. There’s a suspicion that the heavy crash during Mugello testing left some aftereffects, meaning Bulega might not be entirely right physically. Remember that here in Cremona last year the Ducati rider pulled off a stunning hat trick, decisively beating Toprak Razgatlioglu and his BMW.

Iker Lecuona climbed to the top of the timesheets from the morning and wrapped up a roaring, lion-like Friday. This looked like the least likely occasion to stare down his unstoppable Ducati teammate, yet the Spaniard is a massive threat: it’s not just about one-lap pace, because his race rhythm is stratospheric too. It will take a super Bulega to baptize the World Championship from the top step of the podium. Standout of the day: Alberto Surra. The Motocorsa youngster, making his World Championship debut, is throwing his weight around on a track he knows well and where he turned laps just a few days ago. Is the podium in sight?

It was a session riddled with spills. Right at the start, heavy crashes by Yari Montella and Remy Gardner were recorded. The latter incident prompted race direction to wave the red flag, with the Australian taken to the medical center for checks, but nothing serious. At the end of the session Xavi Vierge was also launched off, and as is known he’s parting ways with Yamaha: he will be replaced by Jack Miller.

Cremona’s program heats up on Saturday, September 26, 2026 with the race over a distance of 23 laps. It’s the first match point of the event for Nicolò Bulega to clinch the Superbike World Championship mathematically with seven races to spare. It can happen if the 26-year-old Ducati rider gains at least 15 points over teammate Iker Lecuona. In other words, with Bulega first, the Spaniard would need to finish sixth or worse. Sunday offers two more shots: the Superpole Race at 11:00, over the standard 10 laps, and the grand finale with Race 2 (23 laps).

Photo: Mauro Stanzani

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