15:15
Riders have arrived on the grid. Around 15 minutes now before we get underway for Race 1.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
2026 Portuguese WorldSBK Race 1 Reaction LIVE: Nicolo Bulega remains unbeaten
Live coverage Race 1 at the 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK, the second round of the 2026 season, at Portimao.
Live updates from Race 1 at the 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK at Portimao, the second round of the 2026 season. Race 1 is scheduled for 15:30 local time after Nicolo Bulega took pole position in Superpole.
Key moments
- Bulega takes fourth win of 2026
- Lecuona secures Ducati 1-2
- Oliveira secures first WorldSBK podium
Bulega's Portimao pole is his third in succession after he topped Superpole in Jerez last year and Australia five weeks ago.
He beat his teammate Iker Lecuona to it by just over 0.1 seconds, while Yari Montella completed the top-three in qualifying.
Bulega's pace on Friday was exceptionally consistent, and he seemed to take a step forward in his pace in FP3 this morning before taking pole. He is the clear favourite ahead of this one.
The podium could well be 100 per cent Ducati-occupied in Race 1, with Lecuona and Montella also looking strong, as well as Sam Lowes despite being only five weeks on from fracturing his wrist at Phillip Island.
If anyone can get in amongst the Ducatis in the battle for the podium it is likely to be Miguel Oliveira on the BMW, the Portuguese rider having qualified fourth, one place ahead of the aforementioned Lowes, who topped both sessions yesterday.
The Bimota riders started the weekend in strong form, but the best of them in qualifying was Alex Lowes in seventh. Axel Bassani starts a further row behind in 10th.
Jonathan Rea has made his return to WorldSBK racing this weekend as a Honda fill-in for Jake Dixon. It's not gone entirely to plan for the Northern Irishman so far after a crash in FP2 yesterday, and he qualified down in 18th. His teammate, Somkiat Chantra, will start one place further back in 19th.
Tommy Bridewell is also making his first World Superbike appearance of the season this weekend with the Superbike Advocates Ducati team. Bridewell will start 20th in Race 1.
28 Mar 2026
15:11
PIt lane open
Pit lane is open in Portimao and the riders are heading to the grid ahead of Race 1.
15:08
Conditions
The only visible difference between conditions now and conditions in Superpole is that the few clouds that were dotted about earlier on have disappeared.
21C air temperature is also fairly similar to this morning, but 40C track temperature is four degrees warmer than what we had for Superpole.
Just over 20 minutes now before we get underway for Race 1.
15:06
Lecuona his teammates closest rival?
It may be Bassani who is closest to Bulega in the championship standings, but its his teammate, Iker Lecuona, who was closest to taking pole position from him in Superpole this morning.
Lecuona was only 0.142s behind Bulega in qualifying, but this afternoon's race will be a good test to see how the Spaniard stacks up against his 23-time race winning teammate over race distance.
15:02
Bulega on pole
It's Nicolo Bulega on pole for this one. He's qualified fastest in each of the last three WorldSBK rounds. He's also unbeaten in a race since the Superpole Race at Estoril last year and has completed triples at the last two rounds.
He holds a 20-point lead over Axel Bassani ahead of this race at the top of the championship. Bassani starts from the front of the fourth row in 10th.
14:47
Race 1
Welcome back to live coverage of today's WorldSBK action from Portimao.
The World Supersport race has just concluded, and we're just over 40 minutes away from lights out from the first premier class race of the weekend.
12:17
Lecuona: "This is the first step"
Iker Lecuona vowed "this is the first step" after missing out on pole position at the death in Superpole to his teammate, Nicolo Bulega.
Bulega himself was happy enough with his progress from yesterday after taking pole, while Yari Montella was frustrated with his lap despite taking P3.
Full story here.
Nicolo Bulega, Iker Lecuona, 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK, parc ferme. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
11:38
Superpole Result
2026 POrtuguese worldsbk - Superpole result
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
11:32
Bulega pole
Chequered flag is out in Portimao and it's a stunning last lap from Bulega to steal pole from his teammate.
1m38.495s takes him over a tenth clear of Lecuona, who takes second on the grid.
Montella makes it a front row lockout for Ducati.
Oliveira, fourth, the Sam Lowes and Vierge.
Alex Lowes the leading Bimota in seventh, then Baldassarri, Petrucci, and Bassani complete the top-10.
11:30
Bulega back to second with his latest lap but 0.204s behind his teammate.
One more lap for him if he wants it.
11:29
Oliveira goes second, ahead of Bulega, with his second lap. Vierge up to fourth as well on the Yamaha.
11:27
Another record
Incredible lap just came in from Lecuona, which the TV director helpfully completely ignored, but a 1m38.637s is absolutely ballistic from the Spaniard.
Over 0.4s under the previous lap record!
11:23
Sam Lowes was the last rider to leave the pits for Superpole, five minutes into the session. He goes fifth with his first lap, 0.401s off the top and just behind Alex Lowes in fourth.
Vierge completing row two at the moment.
11:21
Bulega improves on his second lap but a 1m39.116s still leaves him second to his teammate.
11:20
Bulega second with his first lap, 0.100s behind Lecuona. Ducati 1-2-3 as well with Montella third and 0.175s behind the Spaniard.
11:19
Lap record
Pace is hot from the start here in Superpole, Lecuona straight under the lap record on a 1m39.077s.
11:15
Superpole start
Pit lane is open in Portimao and we are underway for 15 minutes of Superpole.
11:09
Conditions
20C air temperature and 36C track temperature at the moment, just over five minutes away from Superpole starting at Portimao.
Scattered clouds but mostly sunny, pretty much perfect conditions overall.
11:00
Oliveira's crash
Miguel Oliveira was black flagged this morning in FP3 after this crash.
He failed to enter the pits after remounting his bike, which you are required to do in WorldSBK, but not in MotoGP.
10:56
Bridewell moment
One of the major moments from Friday in Portimao was Tommy Bridewell's tank-slapper over the crest between turns eight and nine at the end of FP2.
Bridewell revealed the riding error he made that caused the moment after the session, and also joked that he was wishing it wouldn't be picked up by the TV cameras.
Full story here.
Tommy Bridewell, 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
10:52
Bulega chasing pole number 2
Nicolo Bulega took pole position five weeks ago in Australia and won all three races from that first position on the grid.
The Italian is chasing his second pole of the season, therefore, this weekend, as well as his third in a row after taking pole in Jerez last year.
Bulega qualified second last year in Portimao, behind Toprak Razgatlioglu who claimed that 1m39.081s lap record.
Given Lecuona's speed this morning, it looks like a lap below that Razgatlioglu record may be required for pole position today.
10:45
Lecuona fastest so far
Iker Lecuona was fastest this morning in FP3 with a lap time of a 1m39.186s, only just over 0.1s slower than the lap record set by Toprak Razgatlioglu in Superpole this time last year.
10:41
Welcome to live coverage of today's WorldSBK action from Portimao.
Superpole will be getting underway in just over 30 minutes at 11:15 local time.