Despite it only being May, the World Superbike Championship (WSB) has almost reached its halfway stage with five of the 12 rounds having already concluded. And whilst the battle for the podium has been close, the battle for the victory has been less so with Aruba Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega having won all 15 of the races to take place so far.
Brilliant Bulega
Coming into 2026, Bulega was a clear favourite for honours. He was the only rider to get anywhere near Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2025 and with the Turkish rider having moved to MotoGP this year, Bulega was always going to be the man to beat on the factory Ducati.
Winning every race to take place so far may have surprised some but that’s what’s happened and, at this moment in time, it’s hard to see where a defeat is going to come from. Unless team-mate Iker Lecuona can bridge the gap – and the Spaniard is definitely getting closer – it looks like only technical issues will thwart Bulega sweeping all before him this year.
Staying focused won’t be a problem for the 26-year old although he’ll no doubt be relieved to get his 2027 plans finalised as soon as possible with a move to MotoGP and the 850cc era expected. If truth be told, he probably already knows and his motivation will be to keep winning in World Superbikes, keep breaking records and leave on a high.
Lecuona steps up
Having taken two podiums in the Moto2 World Championship across the 2018 and 2019 seasons and then taking several top ten finishes in the premier MotoGP class, including a best finish of sixth, Lecuona’s had to wait a considerable time before getting to show his ability again.
Deservedly earning himself an opportunity with the Ducati factory team, his four previous years with Honda in World Superbikes were challenging to say the least as he, like many before and after him, found the going tough on the least competitive bike in the field. Those years saw him stand on the podium on just two occasions with ninth overall, in his first year on the Fireblade in 2022, his best season.
Riding over the limit, he picked up several injuries but, as the saying goes, class is permanent and whilst it could be argued he should be running at the front year this year due to being on the best bike and with the best team, the four previous years will have tested his resolve.
He’s showing his character and after a steady start to the 2026 season, he’s found his feet now. With second place finishes to Bulega in each of the last 12 races, he’s well placed to halt his team-mate’s run of victories.
Crushing the opposition
It’s not just Bulega and Lecuona who have been running at the head of the pack for Ducati in this year’s WSB series and the Bologna-based manufacturer are, in general, dominating proceedings.
Italy’s Yari Montella, in his second year in WSB, has finished third in the last four races to move into the same position in the Championship standings firmly establishing himself as the number one rider at the Barni Spark Racing Team, no mean feat given his team-mate is double World Champion Alvaro Bautista.
Bautista, a Ducati satellite rider for the first time in his career, has found the going tough with only one podium to his name and his season took a turn for the worse at the recent round in the Czech Republic leaving him with several fractures and a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
He’s been upstaged by not just Montella but by Lorenzo Baldassari too. He was a surprise choice to replace the outgoing Andrea Iannone at Team Go Eleven, particularly as his only other season in WSB in 2023 yielded just 20 points and a best finish of 12th. He’d also done very little racing in 2025 but after a podium at the very first round, he’s established himself as a regular podium contender. With eight top six finishes to his name, the decision to replace Iannone now looks to have been a wise decision
Baldassari sits in fourth overall after the first five rounds, just four points ahead of yet another Ducati rider, British rider Sam Lowes. That makes it five Ducati riders in the top five of the championship with all his three podium finishes coming at the Dutch round at Assen in mid-April.
He’s dropped off the pace a little since then with crashes not helping his cause, some of which, it must be said haven’t been all his doing. When things go well, Lowes look to be the closest challenger to the top three of Bulega, Lecuona and Montella.
Bimota’s falter
After returning to WSB in 2025, much was expected of the bimota team this year but it’s fair to say they haven’t kicked on as they would have liked. True, it’s hard for anyone to get close to Ducati at present but with riders Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani both having finished on the podium at the opening round, they’ve faltered since.
Bassani was particularly impressive at that opening round at Phillip Island, Australia securing himself a brace of second place finishes. But he’s slipped back to seventh overall in the standings having only registered one top six finish in the following 12 races.
Team-mate Lowes has fared slightly better having featured in the top six on six further occasions to edge 15 points clear of the Italian. But it’s a battle for both riders, as it is for others such as Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli, a race winner last year, and Xavi Vierge, such is the dominance of Ducati whether it’s the factory or satellite riders.
Both Lowes and Bassani have tasted the gravel trap as they push for the podium positions so there’ll be hoping the next few rounds will see them bridge the gap to the front and make a return to the rostrum.
No luck for BMW
Without doubt, the BMW Motorrad team have been the unluckiest on the grid with both riders suffering significant injuries at recent rounds. Series debutante Miguel Oliveira started strongly with a trio of podiums at his home-round at Portimao, Portugal and then scored another podium in Hungary.
No sooner had he done that though, he was wiped out in the second race at Balaton. Several fractures were the outcome and it’s doubtful he’ll be back until Misano in mid-June.
Former rider Michael van der Mark was drafted in as his replacement, joining Danilo Petrucci at Most. After three years on Ducati, Petrucci hasn’t adapted to the BMW as well as he would have liked with sixth place in race three at the opening round back in February his best result. He also suffered injury at Balaton which was then made worse with a huge highside at Most putting him on the sidelines for a period too.
So, at present, both of BMW’s main riders are out injured and whilst van der Mark will continue to deputise for Oliveira at the next round at Aragon on May 30-31, Petrucci’s replacement has yet to be named.
Mackenzie and Bridewell impress
As well as the aforementioned posse of riders, two more Ducati runners impressing are the British pairing of Tarran Mackenzie and Tommy Bridewell, the former racking up regular top ten finishes.
Mackenzie was at home on the Ducati Panigale as soon as he swung his leg over it halfway through last season with the former British Superbike Champion finally getting to show his talent after battling away for a year and a half on the uncompetitive Petronas Honda. Opening his season with a fourth place in Australia, he’s added four more top ten finishes to his name since and is thriving at the MGM Optical Express Racing team.
Bridewell, meanwhile, was due to compete on the Ducati in the British Superbike Championship until his Superbike Advocates team made a last-minute switch to the WSB series instead and having first contested a WSB race in 2008, he’s had to wait a long time to get to compete on a full-time basis.
He’s making up for it now though and despite having to learn a lot of the circuits, the 2023 British Superbike Champion has been in the points on six occasions with the last round at Most seeing him claim two, well-deserved top ten finishes. Now he’s cracked the top ten, the next challenge is to feature there on a regular basis.