Superbike, watch out for Alberto Surra: at Cremona, the Motocorsa team is dreaming big

The Italian rider got off to a great start at his home round and is aiming high this SBK weekend: will he make a dream come true?

Factory Aruba Ducati’s Iker Lecuona and Nicolò Bulega occupy the top two spots, but sitting third in the combined Superbike free practice times at Cremona is Alberto Surra. The Motocorsa rookie is enjoying a strong 2026 season and wants to further showcase his full potential this weekend in Lombardy.

Friday’s sessions showed he’s part of the group of riders capable of fighting for the third step of the podium. At the Cremona Circuit, he might have his best chance of the year to clinch a result he hasn’t yet achieved. His best finishes in the 2026 WorldSBK have been fifth in the Superpole Race at Magny-Cours, fifth in the SPR at Most, and fifth in Race 2 in France. Cracking the top five is definitely positive, but his hope in Lombardy is to make the podium for the first time.

Surra summed up a positive Friday at the Cremona Circuit, made improvements from FP1 to FP2, and feels he has a strong technical package: "I’m really happy," he told the official WorldSBK website. "We improved the setup and that’s really positive; we found something that can help us both here at Cremona and in the upcoming races. We’re working a lot, I’m super happy and motivated to get a great result."

The rider from Piedmont isn’t hiding his dream for this Superbike round in Italy, while fully aware of how hard it will be to achieve: "My goal is the podium, but it will be tricky; there are several competitive riders. We still need to work, we haven’t exploited all our potential yet, also because there were two yellow flags while I was significantly improving my times. On the last run I still managed to improve, even though I had three laps on the tire."

Obviously, it will be crucial to keep working well in FP3 and then be effective in Superpole. Ideally, he should qualify at least on the second row, to minimize issues at the start of the races and avoid having to mount difficult comebacks.

Speaking about his future, Surra admitted that he’s likely to remain with his current team in 2027: "I will probably stay with Motocorsa, because it’s a big family and I have a great relationship with the team. If I stayed with them, I’d be really happy."

He had also been linked to the Aruba Ducati team, where Franco Morbidelli now seems set to arrive, so Surra should continue his Superbike journey with Motocorsa. He immediately built a good rapport with team manager Lorenzo Mauri and the rest of the crew, there’s been notable growth round after round, and the positive results have not been a coincidence but the product of hard work by all parties.

Barring surprises, the contract extension to continue their partnership into the 2027 season will be signed soon. Doing it after stepping onto the podium at the Cremona Circuit would be even sweeter.

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