10:29
Sam Lowes improves with his latest lap, pushes Montella off the front row and Lecuona to third thanks to a 1m34.486s.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 French WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
LIVE
French WorldSBK LIVE: Updates from Superpole at Magny-Cours
Live coverage of the Superpole session at the 2026 French WorldSBK at Magny-Cours.
Live updates from the Superpole session at the 2026 French WorldSBK at the Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours. Superpole is due to start at 11:15 local time, with Race 1 coming up this afternoon at 15:30.
Key Moments
- Lecuona leads early on as Bridewell features in top-three
- Warm, dry conditions for Superpole but cooler than Friday
Nicolo Bulega comes into Saturday having been Friday's fastest rider, setting the best time in both practices yesterday. The Italian was unhappy with his feeling yesterday, despite his pace, but has a chance at history today as no rider has ever won Superpole at the opening nine rounds of a WorldSBK season (the record is Jonathan Rea with eight in 2021).
Sam Lowes was second to Bulega yesterday, while Iker Lecuona was third having introduced some elements of the setup he's used in his MotoGP fill-in rides at Gresini to his WorldSBK setup this weekend.
Six Ducatis features in the top-seven of FP2, with Xavi Vierge the only non-Ducati in there in fourth. The Spaniard's future is at the centre of some speculation which also involves Jack Miller and a potential move for Vierge to Barni Ducati, but all the former Moto2 rider can say for the moment is that he'll be in WorldSBK next year.
Outside the top-10, Jake Dixon made perhaps the biggest impression on Friday, finishing 11th in both sessions on a day that he said afterwards marked "a step" compared to where he was before the summer.
The field will be two riders light today as a result of Tarran Mackenzie's absence after being declared unfit on Thursday, and of Bahattin Sofuoglu's second crash of Friday at turn one in FP2, which left the Turkish rider concussed.
05 Sep 2026
10:32
Bulega takes France pole
Chequered flag is out for Superpole and it's pole position for Nicolo Bulega, a record-breaking ninth in succession from the first round of a season and his 10th in succession.
Sam Lowes and Iker Lecuona complete the top-three.
Montella, Surra, and Alex Lowes on row two;
Bridewell, Baldassarri, Vierge, and Dixon complete the top-10.
Bridewell gets a back-of-the-grid penalty for Race 1 for not following yellow flag procedures in practice, so Dixon will start ninth this afternoon.
10:29
Crash for Baldassarri, too, at turn eight in the second sector.
10:28
In the battle for third, Yari Montella has taken over from Sam Lowes and has dipped into the 1m34s himself.
Yellow flags are out at turn 15 for a crash for Tommy Bridewell who sits P6 at the moment.
10:27
Lecuona improves on the first lap of his second run, but Bulega beats him handily, a 1m34.318s puts him 0.278s clear of his team-mate!
10:26
Second runs starting now, and a key one in the battle between the two factory Ducati team-mates.
10:24
Everyone back in the pits now preparing their second run, bar Sam Lowes who is on his in-lap.
10:22
Bulega improves on his second lap, but stays second with a 1m34.898s.
Sam Lowes also an improver on lap two - he takes P2 with a 1m35.152s.
10:21
Alex Lowes back up into the top-three with his second lap on a 1m35.224s, 0.001s better than Bridewell.
10:20
But Lecuona beats the lot of them! A 1m34.676s for the Spaniard and that's a new lap record.
10:20
Garrett Gerloff with a decent early benchmark at a 1m35.5, but he's quickly beaten by both Lowes brothers, Sam ahead of Alex.
Then it's Tommy Bridewell who goes fastest on a 35.2.
But Bulega picks up from where he left off in FP3, straight into the 1m34s on a 34.900s.
10:15
Superpole start
Pit lane is open at Magny-Cours and we are underway for 15 minutes of Superpole.
10:09
Conditions
Warm-ish temperatures this morning for Superpole and dry, but nowhere near what we saw yesterday afternoon or what is forecast for Sunday.
Currently looking at 23C air temperature and 30C track temperature with just over five minutes before Superpole.
10:04
Lowes FP3 crash
There was only one crash this morning in FP3, Sam Lowes going down at turn 15. He got back out later on and finished seventh-fastest.
10:00
Another possible record for Bulega
Bulega has a shot at another record this morning in Superpole, with a ninth pole from nine races on the line.
Jonathan Rea is tied with Bulega for the longest streak of pole positions from the first round of a season, the six-time champion winning Superpole in the first eight rounds of 2021.
It's a record Bulega matched at Donington while simultaneously breaking the more general record for consecutive poles in WorldSBK with nine, having taken every pole position since the final round of last season at Jerez.
Pole position today would make it nine from nine for the season, a new outright record, and extend his overall pole streak to 10.
09:53
Bulega fast but lacking feeling
Nicolo Bulega was the only rider to lap in the 1m34s bracket this morning in FP3. He was also the fastest rider yesterday, but said after FP2 that he wanted to improve his feeling today.
Full story here.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 French WorldSBK, leaving pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
09:46
Lecuona's MotoGP setup
Iker Lecuona was third-fastest in both practices yesterday and again in FP3 this morning.
The Spaniard said yesterday that he has introduced some elements of the setup he used in MotoGP at Gresini in his fill-in appearances there that have made his Panigale "quite different" this weekend to what he had at Donington.
Full story here.
Iker Lecuona, 2026 French WorldSBK, leaving pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
09:38
FP3 Result
2026 french worldsbk - fp3 result
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 French WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
09:36
Welcome to live coverage of today's WorldSBK action from Magny-Cours, where Superpole is due to get underway in around 40 minutes at 11:15 local time.