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

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.