15:03
Bautista P5
Bautista makes his way through on Alex Lowes at turn one at the beginning of lap 20. P5 now for the Spaniard and Lowes pushed back to sixth.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
2026 Hungarian WorldSBK Race 1 Reaction: Bulega takes historic win
Live updates from Race 1 at the 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK at Balaton Park, the 10th race of 2026.
Live coverage of the Superpole sessions at the 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK from Balaton Park, which is due to start at 11:15 local time. Race 1 will be coming up later at 15:30.
Key Moments
- Bulega not "riding very well" despite win streak
- Sam Lowes 'agrees' with jump start penalty
- Oliveira turns his weekend around
- Bulega wins 14th straight race
Iker Lecuona topped both practices on Friday, but it was Nicolo Bulega fastest this morning in both FP3 and Superpole. Lecuona, on the other hand, qualified an underwhelming fifth this morning and has work to do if he is to take a maiden WorldSBK win this afternoon.
Bulega, on the other hand, is in prime position to take his 14th conseuctive win in the class, which would be a new record.
The Ducatis have been especially dominant this weekend, locking out the top-seven in FP2 yesterday with five satellite bikes behind the factory machines. Sam Lowes was the fastest of those yesterday but this morning Lorenzo Baldassarri and Yari Montella were ahead of him in both FP3 and Superpole.
In fact, Lowes could manage only seventh in Superpole as he seemed to be impeded. Lecuona and Remy Gardner have both been given three-place grid penalties for impeding during Superpole.
Miguel Oliveira was also able to get into the top-six in FP3 this morning and he was the fastest non-Ducati in Superpole, qualifying fourth. He has an updated fairing this weekend which he says will be better suited to circuits with longer corners. Danilo Petrucci didn't run the update on Friday but has been using it so far on Saturday.
There is still no Jake Dixon this weekend as he continues to recover from injury, the British rider being replaced this weekend by Yuki Kunii who is making his World Superbike debut and has finished last in every session.
02 May 2026
19:38
"No reason" for Lecuona penalty
Iker Lecuona says he was penalised for "no reason" today after he picked up a three-place grid penalty for impeding Sam Lowes in Superpole.
Lecuona started eighth as a result of the penalty but cut his way through to second, although he could do little about Bulega at the front.
Full story here.
Iker Lecuona, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK, grid. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
19:16
Bulega "not riding very well" despite win record
Nicolo Bulega took his 14th straight win this afternoon but feels he isn't riding well this weekend.
The Italian added that it's "a dream" to achieve the consecutive win record in WorldSBK with Ducati.
Full story here.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK, podium. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
19:14
Sam Lowes 'agrees' with jump start penalty
Sam Lowes says he agrees with the double long lap penalty he got today for jumping the start of Race 1.
The Marc VDS Ducati rider finished ninth after starting sixth and dropping to the back end of the top-10 off the start. He explained afterwards that the bike moved on the line despite him having the clutch pulled in.
Full story here.
Sam Lowes, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK, grid. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
17:21
Oliveira from ninth to the podium
Miguel Oliveira looked to be in for another tough weekend after he finished ninth in FP2 yesterday at Balaton, but the Portuguese made changes overnight that worked immediately today, allowing him to qualify on the second row despite a disrupted Superpole and then finish on the podium in third.
Full story here.
Miguel Oliveira, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK, podium. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
15:47
Standings
2026 hungarian worldsbk - championship standings after race 1
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK, Race 1 'victory lane'. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
15:13
Race 1 Results
2026 hungarian worldsbk - race 1 result
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
15:06
Bulega wins in Balaton
Nicolo Bulega takes victory in Race 1 at Balaton Park, a record 14th in succession for him.
Lecuona goes 8th to 2nd to make it seven P2s in a row for him, and Oliveira back on the podium for BMW in third.
Montella fourth, then Bautista and Alex Lowes in the top-six.
Locatelli, Surra, Sam Lowes, and Vierge round out the top-10, Mackenzie dropping back to 12th in the end.
Bassani went off on the final lap and finished 17th, that hands a point to Manzi.
15:01
Lap 18/21
Into the final three laps now and Bulega still 3s clear at the front.
Bautista closing in on Alex Lowes for P5, and Sam Lowes is up to 11th and closing on Mackenzie for P10.
Oliveira has Montella under control for third, also, very good ride for the Portuguese.
14:57
Lap 16/21
Bulega now maintaining that gap around three seconds.
Further back, Sam Lowes is up to 12th and has a top-10 in his sights after his LLPs earlier, but only six to go to make the time up and make the passes.
14:54
Lap 14/21
Bulega's lead continues to close, 3.2s between him and Lecuona now.
Oliveira still third but Montella is putting him under pressure.
Surra now back to eighth as Locatelli comes through.
14:53
Lap 13/21
At the front, as Surra has been falling backwards, Bulega has been maintaining a gap of around 3.6 seconds over Lecuona for the last few laps. It's just dipped below 3.5s, but you feel the Italian has this under control.
14:50
Bautista up to sixth now as Surra drops another spot. Still a good race for Surra, good experience for him to spend half a race among some of the fastest riders in the championship, but he's going to end up eighth because Locatelli is closing in now.
2s back then from Locatelli to Vierge.
14:48
Surra back to sixth now as Lowes makes his way through to fifth. Good race from the Bimota rider from ninth on the grid. Bautista next up for Surra to try to defend from with 11 to go.
14:47
Surra back to fifth now as Oliveira gets up to third before Montella gets into fourth. Surra under pressure now from Alex Lowes. Bautista not much further back then, and Locatelli in Surra's race, too, probably.
14:44
Battle for 3rd
Montella passes Surra for third at turn nine but runs wide, Surra responds at turn 11 and that opens the door for Oliveira - Surra now third from Oliveira and Montella. Alex Lowes and Bautista not too far behind this battle now.
14:42
Lecuona P2
Lecuona up to second at the beginning of lap seven. He has 4.5s ahead of him to Bulega, so even with 15 laps to go it's a tough ask for him to get to Bulega, who is riding typically flawlessly at the moment.
14:39
Lap 5/21
Almost a 4s lead now for Bulega after 5 laps.
Lecuons now up to third place past Montella and now just has Surra between himself and a seventh straight second place.
14:37
Lap 4/21
Montella wide on that lap at turn five that has put him right into the clutches of Oliveira and Lecuona.
Surra still running second but 2.5s now behind Bulega.
14:36
Baldassarri has been taken to the medical centre for a check-up.
14:35
Lowes penalty
Sam Lowes jumped the start and has been given a double long lap penalty. He'd got up to ninth from 11th on the first lap, partly helped by Baldassarri's crash, but that's more or less his hopes of a good result over.
14:34
Baldassarri out
Baldassarri has crashed out at turn eight, the fastest corner on the circuit. Thankfully he's been able to walk away.
Meanwhile, Lecuona now up to fifth having passed Locatelli.
14:33
Lap 1/21
Bulega leads the opening lap from Surra and Montella.
Lecuona up to sixth on that first lap, Sam Lowees back to 11th at the start.
14:31
Race 1 start
Lights out at Balaton and Race 1 is underway.
Holeshot for Bulega, then a great start for Surra in second, Montella in third and then Oliveira.
14:29
Warm-up lap
Riders are off on their warm-up lap ahead of this 21-lap Race 1.