14:43
Some late changes in the top-10, Surra up to fifth and Mackenzie ninth.
Lowes and Bassani the only non-Ducati riders in the top-10 now, and Bridewell only one place outside the top-10 in 11th.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Dutch WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
2026 Hungarian WorldSBK Friday Practice LIVE: Lecuona leads after first practice
Live updates from the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK at Balaton Park.
Live coverage of the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK from Balaton Park. FP2 is due to start at 15:00 local time.
Nicolo Bulega enters this weekend leading the riders' standings by 69 points over his factory Ducati teammate, Iker Lecuona. Bulega has won all nine races this year and Lecuona has finished second in the last six, but the Spaniard is hopeful of taking the fight to Bulega this weekend on a track he feels suits his riding style more than the championship leader's.
It was Lecuona who led the way this morning in FP1 and by over 0.2 seconds from Bulega, who was second here in both dry races last year, although he finished 11th in the Superpole Race when he chose intermediate tyres in slightly damp and patchy conditions.
A victory in tomorrow's Race 1 will take Bulega clear of Toprak Razgatlioglu on the all-time list for consecutive wins in World Superbike; currently they're both tied on 13. Bulega said yesterday that he is not concerned by the prospect of breaking the record in the context of his greater objective: to win the title.
Sam Lowes was third in all three races at Assen two weeks ago and arrives in Balaton third in the standings. He was on the podium twice in Hungary last year, and qualified on the front row, so it could once again be the Marc VDS rider who is best-placed to take the race to the two factory Ducatis, or at least the second of them.
Lowes started the weekend as she ended at Assen, third behind the two factory Ducatis. Behind him was Lorenzo Baldassarri who made it an all-Ducati top-four.
Alex Lowes was generally the closest non-Ducati rider to the leaders in the Netherlands last time out, although he complained of grip issues in Race 2 that saw him finish 11th. He resumed that position this morning in fifth place, albeit almost a second behind Lecuona.
BMW won all three races at Balaton last year in the hands of the aforementioned Razgatlioglu, results that are a source of encouragement to Miguel Oliveira this weekend, he says, although his objective is to be in the top-five, not challenging for wins.
There is still no Jake Dixon this weekend. The British rider is now replaced by Yuki Kunii, who rode Moto2 last year after winning the ASB1000 title in ARRC in 2024, and this year has returned to Asia and the All-Japan Road Racing series to race the JSB1000 class in which he finished third at round one.
01 May 2026
19:34
Lecuona "not the favourite" in Hungary
Iker Lecuona insists he is "not the favourite" to win in Hungary this weekend.
The Spaniard is confident of his chances but implies his team-mate, Bulega, is the real favourite.
Full story here.
Iker Lecuona, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
19:15
Oliveira details BMW fairing effect
Miguel Oliveira has revealed some details about the purpose of BMW's new fairing being used this weekend.
The Portuguese rider says Balaton is not the kind of circuit where its effects will be most noticeable and he expects BMW to continue evaluating it in the coming rounds.
Full story here.
Miguel Oliveira, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
18:05
Bulega confident of win chances despite Lecuona speed
Nicolo Bulega says he thinks he can fight for the win in Hungary this weekend despite being beaten in both practices today by Iker Lecuona.
The Italian was more consistent in FP2, although Bulega does have one area he wants to improve on.
Full story here.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK, pit lane. Credit: Gold and Goose.
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16:11
BMW fairing update
BMW had a new fairing during practice today at Balaton, although only Miguel Oliveira used it.
The update consists of two strakes at the back of the fairing on either side, possibly for cooling or management of the air around the rear tyre.
Full story here.
Miguel Oliveira, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
14:52
FP2 Result
2026 hungarian worldsbk - fp2 result
Iker Lecuona, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
14:47
Lecuona fastest in FP2
Chequered flag is out in FP2 at Balaton and it's Lecuona who ends fastest thanks to his final lap. Bulega second and Sam Lowes third.
Baldassarri, Surra, Montella, Bautista make it a Ducati top-seven lockout.
Alex Lowes, Oliveira, and Bassani also in the top-10 in eighth, ninth, and 10th respectively.
14:40
Race running as usual the priority of this FP2 session for more or less everyone, so a fairly slow ending to this session. Just heading into the final five minutes now and the top-10 is the same as it was in our earlier update.
Mackenzie has just popped up to 11th, though, and Vierge's PB has just put him 14th.
14:34
Petrucci update
Petrucci back in the BMW garage saying he had a problem when he shifted from second to third gear at turn three when he crashed. Seemed to suggest the gear didn't engage correctly, but difficult to say exactly from the TV mic in the garage.
14:30
Petrucci crash
Petrucci has gone down at turn three. Looks like a fairly big one but he's waking away from it.
14:27
Top 10
Into the final 20 minutes now in FP2, here's your top-10:
- Bulega
- Lecuona
- Baldassarri
- Montella
- S. Lowes
- Bautista
- A. Lowes
- Surra
- Bassani
- Locatelli
So that's 7 Ducatis in the top-10 as well as a top-six lockout.
14:20
All-Ducati top-five now with Bulega leading Lecuona, Baldassarri, Lowes, and Bautista.
Only the factory bikes in the 1m38s, though.
Alex Lowes, as usual, the top non-Ducati. P6 for him and 0.6s off Bulega's best.
14:17
Bulega to the top now on a 1m38.963s, that's his first 1m38s of the weekend.
14:14
Bulega has improved to a 1m39.100s, so just over a tenth behind Lecuona now.
14:10
First 1m38s
Lecuona down into the 1m38s for the first time this weekend - a 1m38.996 puts him 0.3s clear of Bulega now, and 0.5s clear of Lowes.
14:09
Lecuona down to a 1m39.382s, but he's down to second place as Bulega puts in a 1m39.323s. Sam Lowes down to third now but still a Ducati 1-2-3.
14:05
Bassani with a decent start to the session, fastest and down to a 1m40.271s, but he's quickly bettered by two Ducatis: Lecuona top and into the 1m39s, and Sam Lowes second on a 1m40.0s.
14:00
FP2 Start
Pit lane is open in Balaton and we are underway for 45 minutes of FP2.
13:56
Condiitons
Just five minutes or so out from FP2 starting in Hungary now and conditions are looking about as good as you could hope for.
Not perfectly clear skies but far from cloudy. 19C air temperature and a fairly toasty 38C track temperature.
13:40
WCR Superpole
No World Sportbike this weekend so the last session before FP2 today is Superpole for WorldWCR.
That's just wrapped up now, and it's 2025 champion Maria Herrera on pole from Paola Ramos and Roberta Ponziani.
Assen Race 2 winner Beatriz Neila will start from the middle of the second row in 5th.
WorldSBK FP2 now around 20 minutes away.
13:32
Lecuona fastest
Iker Lecuona was fastest this morning in FP1, topping the session by over 0.2 seconds from Nicolo Bulega.
The Spaniard said yesterday that this weekend could be his chance to beat his team-mate - early days, of course, but it's been a good start for Lecuona.
Nicolo Bulega leads Iker Lecuona, Sam Lowes, 2026 Dutch WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
13:10
FP2
Welcome to live coverage of today's FP2 session at the Hungarian WorldSBK, which is due to start in around 50 minutes at 15:00 local time.
11:12
FP1 results
2026 hungarian worldsbk - fp1 results
Iker Lecuona, 2026 Dutch WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
11:11
Ducati brings swingarm update
Ducati has an updated swingarm this weekend in Hungary after it found issues with some of the units from customer teams at Assen and had to recall them.
Full story here.
Lorenzo Baldassarri, 2026 Dutch WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose