On the same weekend the British Superbike Championship recently concluded, so too did the World Superbike Championship and whilst it wasn’t a vintage season on the World stage, one could only marvel at the exploits of Nicolo Bulega.
Brilliant Bulega
Lining up on the factory Ducati Panigale V4R for the third successive year, the 27-year old came into the season as the clear favourite given he was the only rider to seriously challenge Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2024 and 2025, particularly the latter. But few could have thought he’d dominate as much as what he did.
Right from the off, Bulega’s single lap pace was a good few tenths of a second quicker than his nearest rivals, led by team-mate Iker Lecuona, and he took that pace into the races where, astoundingly, he won the first 21 races in a row.
Lecuona eventually got the better of him at the eighth round, defeating Bulega in the opening race at Donington Park. Bulega responded though to win the next five races and although his Spanish team-mate defeated him on home turf in Italy, Bulega won the last six races of the season.
That meant he won 32 of the 36 races to take place with second place in the other four and whatever record that there was, Bulega broke it. And whilst he was certainly on the best bike and, it could be argued, the competition wasn’t as strong as previous years, all he could do was beat the riders on the grid which is exactly what he did.
It was a sublime season, and he deservedly moves to the MotoGP Championship next year where he’ll line up for Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Racing Team for whom he rode for in 2015-2019.
Things didn’t work out for him in the intermediate classes back then but he’s a far superior rider now, adding the World Superbike title this year to the World Supersport Championship he won in 2023.
He’s a class act now and having some of 2026 testing the new 850cc Ducati, and with vast experience of the Pirelli rubber which will adorn all the MotoGP grid in 2027, he could well be one to watch when he goes up against Marquez, Martin and co.
Lecuona delivers
As alluded to on these pages earlier in the year, eyebrows were raised when Lecuona was the rider chosen to replace Alvaro Bautista at the Aruba Racing Ducati team after four average years at Honda Racing.
Results there were ultimately determined by the competitiveness, or lack of it, of the Honda Fireblade though and Lecuona had strong rides on occasions, just as he had done in MotoGP in 2020 and 2021 when the then 20-year old rode the Tech3 KTM. He also had two Moto2 podiums to his name.
He was immediately quick on the Ducati and in any other season would have won more than the four races that he did. But he was up against a formidable opponent and team-mate in Bulega which could have been extremely demoralising for riders of lesser resolve.
It’s testament, therefore, to Lecuona’s character that he stuck to his task and never gave up, particularly when he was having to finish second to Bulega in practically every race.
He ended the year with 32 podiums out of a possible 36 whilst his stand-in rides in MotoGP for Gresini Racing, where he finished in the top ten, only enhanced his growing reputation. He’ll start as the WSB favourite in 2026.
Best of the rest
With the two factory Ducati riders dominating, the rest of the field were essentially battling for third overall in the championship and whilst Sam and Alex Lowes, Lorenzo Baldassari and Axel Bassani, all threatened at one stage, Yari Montella emerged from the chasing pack to be the best of the rest.
In his second year in the series, he grabbed his first ever podium at the very first round and although he was unable to replicate that form in Portugal and Holland, by round four he was clearly the rider most likely to challenge Bulega and Lecuona.
Indeed, between Hungary and France, a run of 18 races, he was on the podium in 12 of them and he deservedly claimed third overall come season’s end some 50 points clear of fourth placed Sam Lowes.
Montella will line up for his third consecutive year in WSB in 2027, when he’ll continue with the Barni Spark Racing Team, and if he could maintain his progress, he could well prove to be Lecuona’s closest challenger.
Family pride
As per the previous two seasons, 2026 saw the family battle to see who would come out on top in the Lowes household, Sam or Alex. There was also added intrigue this year as whoever defeated who would also be the best placed British rider in the series.
There was again little to choose between the two riders, Sam on the Elf Marc VDS Ducati and Alex on the bimota KB988, Sam having, arguably, more World Championship success over the years particularly in Supersport where he was World Champion in 2013, and Moto2, where he was ten times victorious, but Alex having more experience in World Superbikes with 12 years to Sam’s two at the start of the season.
Alex started the season stronger with a podium at the first round and a flurry of top four finishes on the bimota, which was still only in its second year. Sam responded at round three with a clean sweep of podium finishes at Assen in Holland and that nip and tuck trend continued all season, Alex the more consistent finisher but Sam taking more podium finishes. Indeed, he ended the year with 12 to just the one for Alex.
However, Sam failed to score in nine races compared to the five of Alex and that meant there was never more than a few points between them. Going into the final round, Alex was in the driving seat with a 12-point advantage but the bimota’s performance had tailed off slightly in the second half of the season whilst the Ducati remained strong and Sam duly delivered in Jerez with three podiums to finish fourth overall.
The battle is set to continue in 2027 with both riders remaining with their current team. Sam continues to get stronger as his experience in the series grows and although the bimota uses the ageing Kawasaki ZX-10RR engine, its strengths elsewhere, particularly in the handling department, will ensure Alex remains well to the fore.
Petrucci bids farewell
The final round of this year’s championship saw one of its main protagonists from recent years bid farewell to the series – Danilo Petrucci.
The Italian has had a long and distinguished career on the World stage, which started back in 2007, including ten years in MotoGP where, after three years amongst the privateer ranks, he got a ride on a factory Ducati, albeit on a year-old model for the first two years.
That changed in 2017 and for the next three years he finished in the top eight overall, whilst race victories were taken in 2019 and 2020, his maiden MotoGP victory coming memorably at his home round at Mugello.
2023 saw him move into the World Superbike Championship where for three consecutive seasons, he regularly challenged for podiums on the Barni Spark Racing Ducati. Three wins and 19 podiums came his way in that time with a best finish in the championship of fifth overall in both 2024 and 2025.
However, a move to the factory BMW team this year saw everything unravel. Like many before him, he failed to get to grips with the M1000RR and that, coupled with some heavy crashes which left him nursing some nasty injuries, meant he could only manage a lowly 17th overall with just seven top ten finishes from the 36 races.
It also saw him lose his ride to Brad Binder with his next destination as yet unknown. It was a shame for his WSB career to come to an end in such an unhappy manner so let’s hope 2026 wasn’t his final racing season.
Impressive rookie
One rider who more than rose to the challenge in 2026 was Alberto Surra, the Italian youngster impressing greatly in his maiden WSB campaign and firmly silencing all those who were critical of the Motocorsa Ducati team when they signed him just under a year ago.
Many paddock insiders felt Ryan Vickers had done enough to warrant a second term on the bike, the Brit not only having his first year in WSB in 2025 but also having the added issue of having countless new tracks to learn. It was believed he had a two-year contract with the team but, instead, they opted to release him and put Surra on the bike for 2026.
On the one hand it made sense as an Italian on an Italian bike is always going to be an Italian team’s preferred option. But with Surra’s lack of Superbike experience, compared to the seven years for Vickersp, the other side of the coin was that it was a huge gamble.
Surra spent 2025 in the FIM Moto2 European Championship, finishing third overall, whilst the four rounds he contested in the World Supersport Championship saw him an almost ever-present in the top six. That, along with his knowledge of most of the circuits, was what won the day and although he made steady progress in the first third of 2026, round four saw him claim his first top six finish.
In the second half of the season, he was nothing short of superb. Aside from the British round when he was forced to withdraw, he scored points in all but one of the races he started, and he scored four podiums towards the end of the season to not only finish in an excellent eighth overall but more than justify why he was picked in the first place. Remaining with the team for 2027, the progress of the 22-year old will be eagerly watched.
Change in store for 2027
Arguably the biggest change next year is the tyres and after more than 20 years as the sole supplier, Pirelli are leaving World Superbikes to move to the MotoGP paddock with Michelin moving the other way. That could mean previous form goes out the window and riders with any Michelin experience will be in the better position.
There’s plenty of change on the rider front too and, indeed, several of the new riders in the series in 2027 will be coming from MotoGP and Michelin-shod machines. That could put Brad Binder (BMW), Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) and Jack Miller (Yamaha) as well as current BMW rider Miguel Oliveira in a favourable position.
Although their MotoGP results have tailed off in recent years, they’ve still been competing in the sport’s premier series so as long as their application in WSB matches their undoubted talent, there’ll obviously be serious threats.
Morbidelli has, arguably, the better chance as he’ll be on board the all-conquering Ducati, but he’ll find Lecuona, and perhaps even Montella, a tough nut to crack. Hopefully, the other manufacturers can close the gap to Ducati in the off season and with Bulega out of the way, hopefully the racing will be a lot closer too.