14:03
Montella crash
Early crash for Yari Montella, he's lost the front on the exit of turn on.
Iker Lecuona, 2026 Italian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
Cremona WorldSBK LIVE: Reaction from Friday practice after Bulega crashes twice
Live coverage of the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Cremona WorldSBK where Nicolo Bulega can win the title this weekend.
Live updates from Friday practice at the 2026 Cremona WorldSBK, the third-last round of 2026 and the second title chance for Nicolo Bulega, who crashed in FP1. FP2 is due to start at 15:00 local time.
Key Moment
- Lecuona tops FP2 as Bulega crashes again
- Bulega suffers second crash of the day in FP2
- Alex Lowes crashes after restart
- Huge Gardner crash brings out red flags
- Montella crashes at beginning of FP2
- Lecuona tops FP1, Ducati locks out top-six
- Late crash for Bulega at turn 10
- Montella crashes at the final corner
Nicolo Bulega arrives at Cremona with the championship lead in WorldSBK after securing yet another triple at Magny-Cours. The title permutations are relatively simple for Bulega this weekend: if he drops less than 23 points across the three races to Iker Lecuona, he'll be champion by the end of Sunday. It will be Bulega's second title chance after France, but there he needed to out-score Lecuona by over 30 points, meaning the ball is much more in the Italian's court this time around.
As for Lecuona, the Spaniard talked up his chances of being competitive this weekend, although he admitted the title is gone. What could help Lecuona's hopes of taking race wins this weekend is Bulega's general discomfort at Cremona. Yesterday, the Italian said he has to think too much when riding at Cremona, suggesting it's not a layout that naturally suits him, although he did win here last year in all three races. The two finished 1-2 in FP1 with Lecuona a tenth faster than Bulega, who crashed late on at turn 10.
Third in the championship coming into this weekend is Yari Montella, and the Magny-Cours round was very positive for him from a points perspective. He's now 46 points clear of Alex Lowes in fourth place, meaning he has a sizeable margin to manage in the final nine races of the season. His Barni Ducati team is based close to the Cremona track, so it's very much a home race for the team that won all three races here in 2024, and Montella started reasonably well in FP1, recovering from an early technical problem to finish fifth-fastest.
Even if it's a home race for the team, it is set to be a difficult one for Alvaro Bautista, who has struggled in general this year. He spoke yesterday of his continued hopes of being able to perform well enough in the final races of this year to have decent options available for 2027, but there are no firm options yet for the 41-year-old.
Those 2024 Barni wins were won by Danilo Petrucci, who struggled massively at Magny-Cours, as did his BMW team-mate Miguel Oliveira. Oliveira said yesterday that there was no definitive cause determined by BMW for its French struggles, but he was hopeful that their fortunes would be better in Italy. Oliveira was the best BMW in FP1 but only 13th, while Petrucci was 22nd.
There is again no Tarran Mackenzie this weekend in Italy as he continues to recover from the injuries he sustained at Donington before the summer break. He will be replaced by Loris Baz at the MGM Ducati team, who crashed this morning and finished 21st, behind Twan Smits who has replaced Bahattin Sofuoglu at Motoxracing Yamaha.
25 Sep 2026
14:00
FP2 start
Pit lane is open at Cremona and we are underway for FP2.
13:57
Conditions
Still fairly hazy in Cremona but the temperatures have come up since the morning. 24C air temperature, 28C track temperature as we're just under five minutes away from FP2.
13:52
Bimota livery
Bimota has a new livery this weekend, with both Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes having a new white belly pan on their KB998s. It's not a huge change in itself but it makes the bike look completely different - we quite like it!
Alex Lowes, 2026 Italian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
13:38
Sportbike Superpole finish
The Sportbike class has finished its Superpole session. Carter Thompson on pole from David Salvador and Fenton Seabright.
WorldSBK FP2 just over 20 minutes away now.
13:33
Bulega permutations
Nicolo Bulega, of course, can win the title this weekend. He can do it as soon as tomorrow, and you can familiarise yourself with what he needs in order to clinch at his home round here.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 French WorldSBK, podium. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
13:19
Welcome back to live coverage of today's WorldSBK practices from Cremona Circuit in Italy.
World Sportbike is currently on-track for its Superpole session, and WorldSBK FP2 is coming up in around 40 minutes.
10:15
FP1 Results
2026 cremona worldsbk - fp1 result
Iker Lecuona, 2026 Italian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
10:08
Lecuona tops FP1
Chequered flag is out on FP1 and it's Iker Lecuona who ends fastest ahead of Bulega and Baldassarri who improved late on.
Sam Lowes fourth ahead of Montella and Surra who complete an all-Ducati top-six.
Alex Lowes the leading non-Ducati in seventh and almost 0.7s off the pace of Lecuona. Gerloff, Bautista, and Bassani complete the top-10.
10:06
Bulega crash
Late crash for Bulega down at turn 10. He looks to be okay but a small blip there for the championship leader.
10:04
Bulega still second in the session but lapping consistently in the mid-1m28s. Solid pace from the championship leader.
10:01
Finally an improvement from Motella, 1m28.847s puts him up to fourth.
All-Ducati top-six now as well with Surra and Baldassarri ahead of Alex Lowes in seventh.
09:57
Crash for Twan Smits, replacement for Bahattin Sofuoglu at Motoxracing Yamaha.
Loris Baz has also gone down on the MGM Ducati. He's down in 21st at the moment.
09:56
Montella back out after his crash earlier on but still down in 13th. Tough start to the weekend for the rider currently third in the session.
09:52
A lot of used tyre running going on at the moment, with a few riders in the pits as well.
Not a lot of improvements coming in, including from Danilo Petrucci who had a technical problem at the start of the session and is down in 22nd and almost 4s off the pace at the moment.
09:42
Most riders in the pits as Bulega improves to 1m28.398. He and Lecuona now 0.4s clear of Sam Lowes in third.
09:36
Crash for Montella at the final corner. Down in 13th at the moment. He's back up and on the bike and straight into the pits.
09:35
Sam Lowes also into the 1m28s as he moves up to fifth.
09:33
Bulega improves, 1m28.419s puts him within half-a-tenth of Lecuona now. Surra also into the 1m28s in fourth.
09:29
Lecuona, Lowes & Bulega down into the 1m28s now.
1m28.641s for Lecuona, 1m28.900s for Bulega, 1m28.959s for Lowes.
09:26
Lap records, for reference, are all in the 1m27s.
Pole record - 1m27.866s
Race record - 1m27.980s
Fastest lap in Race 2 last year, so not the shorter Superpole Race, was 1m28.576s.
09:24
Lecuona with the early benchmark in FP1, 1m30.036s puts him 0.3s clear of Dixon after the first timed laps.
09:20
FP1 start
Pit lane is open at Cremona and we are underway for FP1.
09:19
Conditions
Pit lane only a minute or so away from opening and conditions are decent this morning. Not too warm with 19C air temperature and 20C track temperature, and it looks fairly hazy, but it's a dry start to Friday.
09:09
World Sportbike FP1 has just wrapped up at Cremona. WorldSBK is up next and only 10 minutes away.