Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Aragon WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Aragon WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose

2026 Misano WorldSBK LIVE: Friday practice reaction after as Bulega sweeps Friday

Live coverage of the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Misano WorldSBK round.

Live updates from the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Misano WorldSBK round. FP2 is due to start this afternoon at 15:00 local time..

Key Moments

  • Bulega fastest as Ducati locks out top-four
  • Bulega tops FP1, leads all-Ducati top-six

Nicolo Bulega enters the Emilia-Romagna Round with a comfortable points lead, 108 points over Iker Lecuona. The Italian is unbeaten this season, but has never won at Misano in WorldSBK, although he was fastest in FP1 this morning.

Lecuona is back in WorldSBK action this weekend after standing in last weekend for Alex Marquez in MotoGP, finishing seventh. The Spaniard said yesterday that he is approaching this weekend more calmly after that MotoGP fill-in ride, and was only 0.059 seconds behind Bulega this morning in FP1 as Ducati locked out the top-six.

The leading non-Ducati rider in FP1 was Yamaha's Xavi Vierge, whose only top-10 finish in the past two rounds came in the Superpole Race at Aragon when he was 10th, which of course earned him no championship points.

Miguel Oliveira is also back this weekend after missing the last two-and-a-half rounds through the injuries he picked up in the Superpole Race at Balaton just over a month ago. The Portuguese admits he's not yet at 100 per cent in terms of his physical condition, and was only 17th this morning in the opening practice.

Alongside Oliveira this weekend will be Michael van der Mark, the Dutchman maintaining his spot in the factory BMW team but switching from Oliveira's side of the garage to Danilo Petrucci's as the Italian continues to recover from the injuries he picked up in Race 1 at Most. Van der Mark was 15th in FP1.

Jake Dixon is absent once again this weekend after making his debut for HRC at Aragon. He raced Race 1 but missed both Sunday races. Ryan Vickers returns this weekend to substitute his compatriot, the Honda BSB rider making his second appearance of the season after wildcarding in Australia.

12 Jun 2026
19:25
Lecuona 'didn't make a mistake' in FP2 crash

Iker Lecuona says he made no error when he crashed in FP2 at turn eight.

The Spanish rider explained that it was a crash that came about because of a tyre experiment that had worked in Aragon.

He added that his day was complicated at Misano because of his time on the MotoGP bike last weekend.

Full story here.

Iker Lecuona, 2026 Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK, pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Iker Lecuona, 2026 Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK, pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
18:57
Petrucci aiming for Donington return

Danilo Petrucci says he is looking to return to racing at Donington next month having missed the last round at Aragon through injuries sustained in Race 1 at Most.

Petrucci also explained what happened in the crash, which happened as he was trying to pass Axel Bassani between turns 12 and 13 at Most.

Full story here.

Danilo Petrucci, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK, pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Danilo Petrucci, 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK, pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
18:40
Not as simple as it looked for Bulega

A wrong setup direction in FP1 meant that Nicolo Bulega's Friday at Misano was far from as simple as it looked, the Italian topping both sessions at the Emilia-Romagna Round today.

Full story here.

Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
16:42
Kawasaki considering WorldSBK expansion

Kawasaki announced the signing of Garret Gerloff today, and a second rider could be announced in the future as well.

Manuel Puccetti said today that his team is in talks with Kawasaki over a potential second entry for 2027.

Full story here.

Garrett Gerloff, 2026 Aragon WorldSBK, grid. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Garrett Gerloff, 2026 Aragon WorldSBK, grid. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
16:08
Dall'Igna: WorldSBK "a right path to follow"

Ducati Corse General Manager Gigi Dall'Igna has indicated that more riders could be on the way to MotoGP via WorldSBK in the future.

Dall'Igna's two factory WorldSBK riders are both linked, to some degree, to MotoGP at the moment, Lecuona having stood out when he stood in for Alex Marquez last weekend, while Bulega is expected to make the move full-time to MotoGP next year.

Full story here.

Nicolo Bulega, 2025 MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Nicolo Bulega, 2025 MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
14:54
FP2 Result

2026 Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK - FP2 Result

Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
14:46
Bulega tops FP2

Chequered flag is out in Misano and it's Bulega who ends fastest ahead of Lecuona and Montella.

Sam Lowes the final rider in the 1m32s in fourth.

Bassani completes the top-five ahead of Surra, Alex Lowes, Baldassarri, Mackenzie, and Vierge who rounds out the top-10.

14:44

Sam Lowes improves again to go P4 and is the fourth rider into the 1m32s with a 1m32.905s for the Marc VDS rider.

14:44

Another improvement from Montella, 1m32.811s.

Improvement for Alex Lowes as well but he's actually lost a position in the last minute or so because Sam Lowes has gone sixth-fastest, so the Bimota rider is back to P7.

14:42

Lecuona cuts his deficit to the top with a 1m32.401s, caught Bassani at the end of that lap so maybe some time left in it.

14:42

Montella finally a third rider in the 1m32s, just gets in there with a 1m32.975s to go third.

14:40

Surra the latest to improve, goes from 15th to fifth with his latest lap.

Still only Bulega and Lecuona in the 1m32s.

14:40

Few improvements in the last couple of minutes. First Mackenzie went up to eighth, then he was pushed to ninth as Vierge took over that eighth spot. 

Six minutes to go of FP2 now, and Lecuona has been able to get back out on track as well so not too much time lost for him from his crash.

14:34
Lecuona crash

There's been a crash for Lecuona at turn eight. Just folded the front in the middle of the corner, looks like he was just a little wide of the apex. He's got back on and is riding back to the pits.

14:31

Lecuona improves and finds a couple of tenths. 1m32.523s leaves him 0.288s behind Bulega now.

14:28

Bassani improves to go P3, but still just outside the 1m32s: 1m33.003s for the Italian.

14:27

Improvement from Oliveira but only to P11, 1m33.6s.

14:21
Top 10 order

A lot of riders back in the pits now with 25 minutes remaining on the clock.

Top 10 as it stands:

  1. Bulega
  2. Lecuona
  3. Montella
  4. Bassani
  5. A. Lowes
  6. S. Lowes
  7. Baldassarri
  8. Bautista
  9. Mackenzie
  10. Bridewell
14:15

Montella up to third now, riding well, down to a 1m33.0. And 0.8s off the pace of Bulega. Ridiculous from the #11 at the moment.

14:13

1m32.235s now from Bulega. Really relentless opening run this from the Italian.

Lecuona now 0.501s off the pace of his team-mate in second place.

14:11

1m33.265s now from Bulega, 0.471s clear of Lecuona now. Only the top-six within a second of the championship leader at he moment.

14:10

Bulega down to a 1m32.333s, that's 0.4s quicker than this morning and only 0.6s off last year's Superpole lap record. About 0.6s off what Bulega did in the test a few weeks ago as well.

14:08

Factory Ducatis continue to improve, Lecuona briefly going fastest but Bulega immediately retakes the top spot by 0.172s. Bulega down to a 32.627s now.

14:07

Bulega early to the top and into the 1m32s. 0.2s ahead of Lecuona, then it's Bassani in third. Remember Bassani was on the front row last year - a fact Bulega himself certainly won't have forgotten after what happened in the Superpole Race.

14:01
FP2 start

Pit lane is open at Misano and we are underway for FP2. Looks like Rato the first rider to get out on track.