10:11
Run-on there for Alex Lowes at the Chateau d'Eau corner at the top of the hill after the second chicane.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 UK WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
LIVE
French WorldSBK LIVE: Updates from Friday practice at Magny-Cours
Live coverage of the 2026 French WorldSBK Friday practice sessions from the Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours.
Live updates from the FP1 and FP2 sessions at the 2026 French WorldSBK at Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours. FP1 is due to start at 10:20 local time, with FP2 coming up this afternoon at 15:00.
Key Moments
- Bulega tops FP1 ahead of Sam Lowes & Lecuona
- FP1 to start at 10:20 local time/09:20 BST
Nicolo Bulega comes to Magny-Cours as the WorldSBK championship leader. He arrives with 133 points of advantage over Iker Lecuona, meaning he has a mathematical chance, albeit an unlikely one, to clinch the title this weekend. He won here twice in 2024, but was beaten in all three races last year by Toprak Razgatlioglu. Speaking yesterday, he said that his goal is to win the title at the next round in Italy, and that a decision on his future has been made and will be announced soon.
Iker Lecuona has already secured his future, being announced as a factory Ducati rider for 2027 in the summer break, shortly after winning his first WorldSBK race at Donington. He is the only rider with a mathematical possibility of beating Bulega in the championship, although surely his primary target for the remainder of the season is to try to add to his victory tally.
Yari Montella is third in the standings after eight rounds, and has finished the last seven races in third place. Before the summer, at Donington, he reiterated his target for the second part of the season to have a race at the front with the two factory Ducatis; we will see this weekend if that will be possible in France.
Alex Lowes has largely been the 'best of the rest' behind the most competitive Ducatis this year, especially whenever Miguel Oliveira has been injured or missing some physical condition. Lowes and his team-mate Axel Bassani both tested for one day in the summer at Navarra, and Magny-Cours proved to be Bimota's strongest track in 2025, with Lowes on the podium in all three races.
Honda was the manufacturer that tested the most in the summer, with two days at Magny-Cours in scorching conditions, and two more days at Estoril. The Magny-Cours test was a chance for both Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra to get up to speed with the French track, with both riders having not raced here before.
BMW were also present at both of those HRC tests. Miguel Oliveira's future has been confirmed this weekend already, he will remain with the team in 2027. For Danilo Petrucci, the news is the opposite - he will depart, as confirmed by him yesterday.
04 Sep 2026
10:22
FP1 Results
2026 french worldsbk - fp1 results
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 French WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
10:15
Bulega tops FP1
Nicolo Bulega tops FP1 at Magny-Cours. Sam Lowes and Iker Lecuona complete the top-three ahead of Vierge, Surra, Montella, Baldassarri, Petrucci, Gerloff, and Alex Lowes in the top-10.
10:08
Bulega improves again to a 1m35.556s, 0.284s is his gap now over Lowes with six minutes remaining.
10:06
Bulega to the top now on a 1m35.691s, 0.149s ahead of Sam Lowes.
Just those two and Lecuona in the 1m35s.
10:00
Into the final 15 minutes now, still Sam Lowes fastest, but Lecuona has just joined him in the 1m35s and less than 0.2s off the pace now.
09:50
Bulega down to a 1m36.104s to take back that P2 from Montella. Still only Sam Lowes in the 1m35s.
09:49
There was a technical problem for Montella earlier on, but he's just moved up to P2 and into the low-1m36s.
09:47
Sam Lowes the first rider to lap in the 1m35s and he's now 0.5s clear of Bulega at the top.
09:46
Good start in general for Honda with Chantra up in P9 at the moment as well.
09:46
Dixon continuing to lap well, P5 with his latest lap and only 0.3s off the top.
09:45
P2 for Bulega on lap three and down to 1m36.373s, just over a tenth behind Lowes.
09:44
P7 for Bulega on his second lap, 0.954s off the pace. Sam Lowes was behind him and improved to go fastest by 0.264s over Lecuona.
09:42
Bulega's bike is fixed, but his first lap puts him only P21, almost 3s off the pace. Should see that improve over the next few minutes assuming everything is working correctly on that #11 Ducati.
09:38
Session restart
Pit lane is back open in Magny-Cours and FP1 is resumed.
09:36
Session to restart in just over a minute.
09:34
Decent start from Dixon on the Honda in the first few minutes before the red flag - P3 and 0.5s off the pace of Sam Lowes at the top.
Obviously, there was a test for HRC at Magny-Cours a few weeks ago, as there was for Lowes and the Marc VDS team, so we'll see if that strong start fades away as others get up to speed through the weekend.
09:29
Red flag
Red flag is out at Magny-Cours, "track conditions" in the first two turns the stated cause. 37 minutes remaining.
09:26
Away from the early complications for Oliveira and Bulega, Sam Lowes has gone fastest early on, ahead of Alex Lowes by just under 0.3 seconds.
09:23
Technical problem for Bulega, it looks like. He's cruising back to the pits on his first flying lap.
09:22
Oliveira into the pits at the end of his out-lap.
09:20
FP1 start
Pit lane is open at Magny-Cours and we are underway for FP1 in France.
09:15
Oliveira's "unreached potential"
One of the announcements made yesterday was for the contract of Miguel Oliveira with BMW.
The Portuguese will remain with the Bavarian brand next year and said after the announcement that he feels there is "unreached potential" to be tapped into.
Full story here.
Miguel Oliveira speaks to the media at 2026 UK WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
09:11
Bulega "decided" on 2027
Two 2027 announcements were made yesterday but none of them were Nicolo Bulega's.
The Italian has a chance to wrap up the 2026 WorldSBK title this weekend, and said yesterday that his future is decided and that an announcement will be made soon.
Full story here.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 UK WorldSBK, grid. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
09:00
Welcome to live coverage of today's WorldSBK practices from Magny-Cours, where FP1 is due to start in around 20 minutes at 10:20 local time.