14:44
Crash for Chantra at turn three. Marshals are telling him to go back behind the barriers before rejoining. That'll be session over for him with a minute on the clock.
Iker Lecuona, 2026 French WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
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
- Crash for Lecuona in the opening five minutes
- FP2 starts in warm, dry conditions
- Bulega tops FP1 ahead of Sam Lowes & Lecuona
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. FP1 started with difficulty for Bulega, who had a technical problem in the early minutes, but the impact was minimised by a red flag, after which he was able to get back out on track and he ended the session fastest overall.
Speaking yesterday, Bulega 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, and was third-fastest this morning behind Bulega and Sam Lowes.
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, but he started a little way off the pace of the top-three down in sixth.
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. Magny-Cours proved to be Bimota's strongest track in 2025, with Lowes on the podium in all three races, but he was only 10th-fastest in FP1 this morning, behind Kawasaki's Garrett Gerloff.
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, and it worked well for Dixon in particular who was inside the top-six early on in FP1, although he finished down in 11th.
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. Petrucci was the better of the BMWs in FP1, finishing eighth, while Oliveira was 16th.
04 Sep 2026
19:33
Bulega bemoans lack of feeling
Despite topping both practices today, Nicolo Bulega says he feels there is margin for him to improve on Saturday.
The championship leader says it was a good start to the weekend from a position perspective, but that his feeling on the bike was "not the best".
Full story here.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 French WorldSBK, leaving pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
19:10
Lecuona tries MotoGP setup elements
Iker Lecuona says he tried setup elements he used during his fill-in MotoGP appearances on his Panigale V4 R today in practice at Magny-Cours, which made the bike "quite different" to what he had at Donington before the summer break.
Full story here.
Iker Lecuona, 2026 French WorldSBK, leaving pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
18:09
Dixon "a step better" in France
Jake Dixon says he was "a step better" than at any point before the summer break in practice today, although he admits there is still work for him and Honda to do to.
Full story here.
Jake Dixon, 2026 UK WorldSBK, grid. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
18:06
"The budget is the problem" for Go Eleven
Go Eleven Ducati is evaluating several options for its 2027 rider line-up, including the potential of running two bikes, but finding the budget for that is proving difficult, says team boss Denis Sacchetti.
Full story here.
Lorenzo Baldassarri, 2026 UK WorldSBK, leaving pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
16:30
Locatelli's new crew chief
Andrea Locatelli has a new crew chief this weekend, Emanuele Martinelli, who is replacing Giulio Nava.
Niccolo Canepa spoke earlier today, explaining that it is hoped Martinelli might be able to bring some confidence back to Locatelli, who has been underwhelming in terms of performance this year after battling for third in the championship during 2025.
Full story here.
Andrea Locatelli, 2026 French WorldSBK, entering pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
14:53
FP2 results
2026 French WorldSBK - FP2 Results
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 French WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
14:47
Bulega tops FP2
Bulega ends FP2 fastest ahead of Montella and Sam Lowes.
Baldassarri takes fourth ahead of Lecuona and Vierge.
Oliveira, Gerloff, Surra, and Alex Lowes round out the top-10.
14:42
Quite a few riders improving late on here in FP2, Dixon briefly up to sixth before being pushed to seventh as Montella goes second-fastest.
Still just Bulega in the 1m35s this afternoon.
14:40
Another improvement from Baldassarri to go P7.
Current top-10 is:
- Bulega
- S. Lowes
- Lecuona
- Surra
- A. Lowes
- Montella
- Baldassarri
- Bassani
- Bautista
- Bridewell
14:37
Into the final 10 minutes now as Baldassarri sets a new personal best for the session to go eighth.
14:31
Locatelli looks like he's preparing to go out again having got back to the pits after his technical problem earlier on.
14:30
Lecuona up to third now but still making some mistakes in braking, clearly not completely comfortable yet and his best time so far is 0.4s off the benchmark of Bulega.
14:26
First flying lap for Lecuona puts him 15th on a 1m37.079s. A few mistakes that lap in the place he crashed earlier, entering the Imola Chicane. Ran on at turn 13 as well, so some clear margin for him to find.
14:23
Lecuona has got himself back out on track now after his crash. 22 minutes remaining of FP2 for him to dial himself in.
14:20
Improvement for Sam Lowes, but stays second behind Bulega, who is still the only rider in the 1m35s.
A lot of riders back in the pits now with 25 minutes remaining.
14:12
In terms of lap times, it's Bulega who's got off to the best start in the first 10 minutes this afternoon and is the only rider in the 1m35s at the moment. The top-10 behind him are:
- Sam Lowes
- Surra
- Alex Lowes
- Bassani
- Montella
- Dixon
- Baldassarri
- Oliveira
- Gerloff
14:11
Now Andrea Locatelli has run into trouble, technical problem for him. Currently P12 but it looks like a fair way back to the pits from where he's stopped.
14:10
Medical centre for Sofuoglu after that turn one crash.
14:07
Crash for Bahattin Sofuoglu. He's gone down at turn one, and the bike has gone for a fair tumble through the gravel there. He's had to be helped away, doesn't look in great shape.
14:05
Imola Chicane, on the way in, Lecuona has ran in a little wide there and he's lost the front as he tried to pick the bike up. He's back on it and is riding back, spewing gravel everywhere. Quite a bit of damage on that as well that will take some time to fix.
14:04
Mistake for Oliveira at turn 13 at the top of the hill, just ran in deep.
14:00
FP2 start
Pit lane is open at Magny-Cours and we are underway for FP2.
13:57
Weather
Since Magny-Cours has moved to its current September date from October the rain that had become traditional for the French Round has largely disappeared. That remains true for this upcoming FP2 session, which looks set to take place under cloudless skies.
Hot conditions as well at 32C air temperature and 44C track temperature.
13:42
Track conditions T15
There was a red flag for track conditions at turn 15 - the right-hander before the final chicane - in Supersport FP1 this morning, after the Superbike session.
There was a fluid spillage from one of the bikes, to which cement dust has been applied. It's still there now in a line just wide of the racing trajectory. You can see it in the clip below from Sportbike Superpole, and it's going to be something the WorldSBK riders have to deal with, by the looks of it, in FP2, coming up in just under 20 minutes now.