#DutchWorldSBK Friday Debriefs

Posted April 18, 2026

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Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Nicolò Bulega. Credit: WorldSBK

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Nicolò Bulega topped the times on Friday as expected, his pace putting him ahead of the rest of the field by almost 0.3 seconds. Ahead of the weekend, after the latest Concession Checkpoint, the FIM determined that Ducati and bimota exceeded the MSMA performance threshold. As a result, both manufacturers have faced a 0,5 kg/h Fuel Flow penalty for Assen. When we asked about it, Bulega said, “Yeah, honestly, I feel it.  Okay, the gear is different because you feel the bike is not pushing until the end of the last RPM. But the biggest problem is that we have to change the gearbox and also the the swing arm for the, for the gearbox is different. So you have to work much more with the setting of the bike for that. We have the biggest problem is that we have to adjust the setting for that. […] We have to work more and in a different way. It changes when shifting and also some corners, maybe sometimes I feel the gear is or too long or too short. We have to take a compromise because you’re not losing anything at the bottom.  It’s just, it’s all that last 500. Yeah, but if you make the corners lower. Then also the straight is lower.  So we have to make a compromise and try to be fast in the corner because 1st corners and then straight.”

Team GoEleven’s Lorenzo Baldassarri. Credit: WorldSBK

Team GoEleven’s Lorenzo Baldassarri finished second overall in the timings and spoke of his own assessment of the season, saying, “It’s the best Friday of the season. After Portimão, the most important thing was to confirm again the speed, but the most important, also, after the speed was my physical conditions, that in Portimão, I was struggling, especially with the right hand for arm pump.  I think we solved and understood the problem, for sure, it’s not day and night. You can solve in a week. But we understand where we have to work, and for sure, the team we improve the problem, is great, because also, here in Assen, I remember from the past that, if you have arm pump is very difficult. And then, also, we were fast, so we can put intensity in our laps, consistency, and also, for the race, I think this is the most important thing.  Okay, we made the fastest lap time with the softer tyre. that we can use only in SuperPole Race. But there is so big difference, and also, we had good rhythm with the race, tyre, with the other one. For sure, tomorrow, everybody will be faster, so we have to improve again, understand, especially in the T1, where to improve.  In sector one, and then, let’s see what happens.”

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Iker Lecuona. Credit: Aruba.it Racing – Ducati

Iker Lecuona finished the sessions third overall. After speaking about how comfortable he is with the team and how the respect is the same after the season’s results so far, we asked if he felt any pressure from himself to keep up after his success in Portimão: “No, at the end, I’m frustrated because I don’t find a way to feel better on the bike, you know?  But it’s not that I feel any pressure, because the target still is the same. If I finish P3, if I finish before, it’s fine, the target is to finish, all the races, take the spirit, take the points, and learn for the next year.”

When asked about his Friday, he said, “ I’m very constant. I’m the 2nd rider with a good pace. We are there. That is good, you know, I don’t say I’m not happy for the position, but when talking about, I say always from the beginning, if I talk about the feeling, yeah, I miss something.”

WorldSBK’s Superpole is at 11:15 LT, and Race 1 is at 15:30 here in Assen.

Full Combined Friday Practice Times Order