#UKWorldSBK Saturday Reflections

Posted July 12, 2026

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Iker Lecuona claimed the first WorldSBK victory of his career after defeating Aruba.it Racing – Ducati teammate Nicolò Bulega in a captivating Race 1 battle at Donington Park. The Spaniard led every lap of the 23-lap contest to bring Bulega’s remarkable run of 25 consecutive race victories to an end, while Yari Montella completed an all-Ducati podium.

Earlier in the day, Bulega continued his exceptional qualifying form by securing a record ninth consecutive WorldSBK pole position. The championship leader edged Lecuona by just 0.052 seconds to maintain his perfect qualifying record in 2026, while Montella completed an all-Ducati front row. Sam Lowes was the leading British qualifier in fourth, with wildcard Jonathan Rea rounding out the top ten.

When the lights went out for Race 1, Lecuona launched perfectly from second on the grid to seize the lead into Redgate. From that moment onwards, the Spaniard controlled proceedings, but never managed to break clear of his teammate.

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati riders spent the entire race separated by less than half a second. Bulega repeatedly held the advantage through Donington’s flowing opening sectors before Lecuona clawed the time back in the slower final section of the lap. The championship leader launched attacks at both the Old Hairpin and Melbourne Loop, but each time Lecuona responded to retain the lead and eventually crossed the line just 0.165 seconds ahead to secure a memorable maiden WorldSBK victory.

Behind the leading duo, Montella recovered superbly after a difficult opening lap. The Italian dropped behind both the Lowes brothers after losing momentum at the Old Hairpin, but calmly fought his way back into third position before establishing a comfortable margin over the chasing pack.

Sam Lowes narrowly missed out on the podium in fourth, while Tommy Bridewell equalled his best WorldSBK finish of the season in fifth. Alex Lowes eventually finished seventh after running as high as fourth during the opening stages before Lorenzo Baldassarri found a way through in the closing laps.

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

Lecuona admitted afterwards that leading every lap without a reference ahead of him presented a completely new challenge, but one he thoroughly enjoyed.

“As you can imagine, I’m really, really happy. From the first lap to the last, I was leading the race, and I had a really good battle with Nicolo. I think on the third or fourth lap, he tried to overtake me at Turn 11, but he ran wide, and I stayed in front. At the start of the race, it felt a bit strange because it was my first time leading for so many laps in a race. I didn’t have any reference in front of me, so it was quite tricky at first. But I’m happy because my pace was fast and consistent. I’m really happy with Ducati, and this gives me extra confidence. I don’t crash when I ride on the limit, and I can save a lot of moments with this bike. I think I’ve only had two crashes this season, both while trying something new, so overall I’m really happy. Let’s see tomorrow if we can fight for another victory.”

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

Despite seeing his extraordinary winning streak come to an end, Bulega was gracious in defeat and acknowledged that his teammate had simply been stronger on the day.

“Second isn’t a bad result, and congratulations to Iker because he deserved this victory. Congratulations to him and his team because they simply did a better job than us today. Second is a good result for us, and I tried as hard as I could, but today I was at 90%, and Iker was at 100%. The first part of the circuit suits my riding style because I can ride more or less how I want to ride. In the last sector, with the two hairpins, I was missing a lot of acceleration on the exits. In first and second gear, Iker was gaining maybe two-tenths every corner. Then I had to recover that time under braking. I was always too far back to make a clean overtake. I just missed those few tenths, and I hope to find them for tomorrow.”

Barni Spark Racing Team’s Yari Montella. Credit: Zach MacKay

Montella was equally pleased after recovering from his difficult opening lap to secure another podium finish and continue his impressive season.

“It was a good Saturday, and we enjoyed it. This morning we were fast, and I think this weekend we have been faster than ever because our pace in Race 1 was also good. I felt quite strong and quite fast whenever I had a clear track. It’s a shame that on the first lap I had to battle with the home riders, the Lowes twins, because I lost a bit of time. But I stayed calm and said to myself, ‘We need to build our race lap by lap and try to come back to the podium.’ That’s exactly what happened, so it was a positive race; we had good pace, and now we also have some useful data for tomorrow’s races.”

The Superpole Race is at 11:10 LT, and Race Two is at 15:30 here in Donington Park.