SBK: Lorenzo Baldassarri—now the hunt for the front-runners has truly begun
SuperbikeTuesday, 05 May 2026 at 16:14
Lorenzo Baldassarri can be considered the breakout rider of the 2026 Superbike World Championship. There was no doubt he could be fast, but imagining he would do better than his Go Eleven predecessor, Andrea Iannone, was difficult.
Instead, Lorenzo Baldassarri is steady, consistent, and fast both in qualifying and in the race. After surprising everyone with a podium in his debut race in Australia, in Hungary he set the second-fastest time in qualifying, stepped onto the podium in the Superpole Race, and finished fourth in Race 2. Clearly, with Nicolò Bulega in alien mode, he can’t aim for the title, but a top-5 finish in the final standings is well within his reach.
“In Hungary it was a great weekend, apart from Saturday’s crash,” Baldassarri tells Corsedimoto. “Luckily I wasn’t hurt despite flying off at 200 km/h and hitting the gravel quite hard. The team and I showed once again that we’re fast and consistent because we were always among the top four: we scored our first podium in the Superpole Race, our best qualifying, and took a fourth place very close to the podium in Race 2 with a big comeback after a few tricky opening laps.”
Nicolò Bulega is on another planet.
“Nicolò currently has everything under control. In terms of dominance, he makes me think of Pecco Bagnaia in the years he won his two world titles. But Bulega also has his weaknesses, like all riders. I’d like to get closer and closer to him over the course of the championship and then who knows, maybe race together a few times so I can study him. It would be nice to fight with him and make the championship more interesting. He’s definitely having an excellent season. His Ducati works really well, but he’s good at riding it: the bike doesn’t go by itself. On TV it all looks easy, but I assure you it’s not. Even I, when I watch the races from home, it all seems simple, but in the saddle it’s different.”
Are you starting to think about the factory Ducati?
“If Bulega moved to MotoGP in 2027, his seat would be coveted by pretty much everyone. I won’t hide that I’d like it too, but right now I have to focus on this season and give my best to achieve the best possible results with Go Eleven, who are helping me a lot. For now I’m thinking exclusively about my current team and then, in the coming months, we’ll see what happens.”
Lately there’s been a lot of talk about Kimi Antonelli. Do you know him?
“No, I could have met him during a shared go-kart training session, but unfortunately we didn’t cross paths. I thought I’d see him during other training sessions with Valentino Rossi, but he wasn’t there. I’m really pleased that an Italian kid is so fast and getting these results. In the past I didn’t follow Formula 1 much, but now it’s better and I’ve started following it again.”
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