Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Estoril WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Estoril WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose

Estoril WorldSBK LIVE: Reaction after Nicolo Bulega wins Race 2 in Portugal

Live updates from Race 2 at the 2026 Estoril WorldSBK at the Circuito do Estoril.

Live coverage of Race 2 at the 2026 Estoril WorldSBK. Race 2 is set to start this afternoon at 15:30 with Nicolo Bulega on pole after his Superpole Race win.

Key Moments

  • Bulega completes Estoril sweep with Race 2 domination
  • Bautista crashes out of third with five laps to go
  • Bautista in the podium fight with Surra, Bassani, Montella
  • Oliveira drops to 12th on lap one
  • Lecuona makes the holeshot in Race 2 but Bulega passes for the lead on lap one
  • Bulega wins Superpole Race after Lecuona error
  • Long lap penalty for Montella for turn one incident
  • Bulega leads after Lecuona runs wide at turn one
  • Lecuona leads at the start

Nicolo Bulega will start on pole position for the Superpole Race in Estoril after breaking the lap record in Superpole yesterday. The Italian was also victorious in Race 1 yesterday, meaning he could break Alvaro Bautista's record of 27 race wins in a single WorldSBK season today should he win one of the two races.

Iker Lecuona was second to Bulega in Race 1 but topped Warm Up this morning. Lecuona was leading the Superpole Race this morning but made a mistake at turn one which handed the victory to Bulega.

Alberto Surra completed the podium for the first time in a full-distance WorldSBK race in Race 1, and backed that up with his third podium in four races this morning.

Miguel Oliveira was the fourth yesterday and the leading non-Ducati rider, but admitted it would be a "big challenge" to get on the podium today, such is the performance of the Ducati riders ahead. Indeed, he was third for most of the 10 laps this morning, but he lost out to Surra on the final lap.

The battle for third in the championship is one to watch in this race. Yari Montella, Alex Lowes, and Sam Lowes all failed to finish in the top nine places this morning, the latter for pace alone while Montella and Alex Lowes both suffered as a result of contact at the first corner, for which Montella received a long lap penalty.

Yari Montella could also play a role today. He was only eighth in Race 1 after contact with Lorenzo Baldassarri, but felt afterwards that he was too cautious at the start of the race, trying to save his rear tyre. 

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11 Oct 2026
15:31
Race 2 start

It's lights out in Estoril for Race 2. Holeshot for Lecuona once again. Bulega slots into second ahead of Bautista who's started well from the middle of the season row.

15:28
Warm-up lap

Riders are off on their warm-up lap ahead of Race 2 in Estoril.

15:23

Just to divert back to Supersport quickly, there was a crash between Roberto Garcia and Jaume Masia at turn nine in the restart and both have been declared unfit.

Garcia has a right knee sprain and contusion, while Masia has a partial fracture of the second metatarsus in his left foot. Both could be doubts for the final round in Jerez next week.

15:14

Riders have arrived on the grid now. We're 15 minutes away from lights out for Race 2.

15:10
Sighting lap

Pit lane is open in Estoril and the riders are heading out on their sighting lap ahead of the 21-lap Race 2.

15:08
Conditions

It's become pretty cloudy at Estoril this afternoon. 20C air temperature and 32C track temperature, but there's definitely some low, threatening clouds hanging around. Some light drizzle in the Supersport race before the red flag, but the track remains dry for now.

15:02
Grid

Half-an-hour until the start of Race 2. Here's a look at your starting order.

1Nicolo BulegaITAAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R
2Iker LecuonaESPAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R
3Alberto SurraITAMotocorsa RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
4Miguel OliveiraPORROKiT BMW MotorradBMW M1000 RR
5Alvaro BautistaESPBarni Spark RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
6Axel BassaniITABimota by Kawasaki Racing TeamBimota KB998
7Xavi ViergeESPPata Maxus YamahaYamaha R1
8Jake DixonGBRHonda HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R
9Lorenzo BaldassarriITATeam Go ElevenDucati Panigale V4 R
10Alex LowesGBRBimota by Kawasaki Racing TeamBimota KB998
11Yari MontellaITABarni Spark RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
12Sam LowesGBRMarc VDS Racing TeamDucati Panigale V4 R
13Garrett GerloffUSAKawasaki WorldSBK TeamKawasaki ZX-10RR
14Danilo PetrucciITAROKiT BMW MotorradBMW M1000 RR
15Andrea LocatelliITAPata Maxus YamahaYamaha R1
16Remy GardnerAUSGYTR GRT YamahaYamaha R1
17Somkiat ChantraTHAHonda HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R
18Loris BazFRAMGM Optical Express RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
19Tommy BridewellGBRSuperbike Advocates RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
20Stefano ManziITAGYTR GRT YamahaYamaha R1
21Mattia RatoITAMotoxracing YamahaYamaha R1
22Twan SmitsNEDMotoxracing YamahaYamaha R1
14:44
Supersport race finish

Supersport Race 2 has just finished in Estoril. Victory for Jeremy Alcoba, his third of the season. Fillipo Farioli and Valentin Debise complete the podium.

Decent ride from Can Oncu to get back to fourth after dropping back on the restart.

14:31
Race 2

Welcome back to live coverage of today's WorldSBK action from Estoril, where Race 2 is due to start in around an hour at 15:30 local time.

World Supersport are just about to get going for a restarted Race 2, which was red flagged a few minutes ago after a crash for Bahattin Sofuoglu that covered the track with dirt at turn three.

12:22
Lecuona blames wind for turn one blunder

Iker Lecuona says the wind played a role in his mistake at turn one that cost him the lead early in the Superpole Race.

Full story here.

Iker Lecuona, 2026 Estoril WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Iker Lecuona, 2026 Estoril WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
11:34
Superpole Race Result

2026 estoril worldsbk - superpole race result

Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Estoril WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Estoril WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
11:27
Bulega wins Superpole Race

It's Superpole Race victory for Bulega who takes a record 28th win for the season.

Lecuona takes second and Surra on the podium for the third time in four races thanks to a pass on Oliveira on the final lap at turn three.

Oliveira fourth, then Bautista, Bassani, Vierge, Dixon, and Baldassarri takes the final point in ninth.

11:24
Lap 8/10

Two to go, Bulega still that 1.5s or so ahead of Lecuona.

Surra is closing on Oliveira - 0.5s between them now in the battle for third.

Alex Lowes has been charging, he's up to 11th, but he's probably going to run out of time to get into the top-nine.

11:22

Locatelli down at turn seven. He was only 14th anyway, and he looks to be okay. Chantra looks like he got distracted by that and ran in deep himself, although he didn't go down.

11:20

Montella wide at turn one, he loses position to Gardner briefly but is back into 15th now.

11:19
Lap 5/10

Bulega almost two seconds clear of Lecuona, who has a second over Oliveira, who is a second ahead of Surra. Still half the race to go, but looks like the podium positions are settled.

11:17

Montella takes his long lap, comes out just behind Alex Lowes in P16.

11:16
Montella LLP

Long lap penalty for Montella for irresponsible riding at the start. Not sure if that's for the contact with Lowes or for the way he swept to the left of the track across the path of Axel Bassani into turn one.

11:15
Bulega leads

Leucona goes long at turn one and he hands the lead to Bulega. Lecuona rejoins second, maybe unsafe, coming across the path of Oliveira.

11:12

Montella 13th after that turn one contact.

11:11
Superpole Race start

Lights are out in Estoril and we're underway for the Superpole Race.

Good start for Lecuona and he makes the holeshot comfortably.

Alex Lowes got squeezed between Oliveira ad Montella. Montella loses out a bit, Lowes is to the back, Oliveira up to third.

11:08
Warm-up lap

Riders are off on their warm-up lap ahead of the 10-lap Superpole Race.

11:07
Grid

Here's your starting order for the Superpole Race:

1Nicolo BulegaITAAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R
2Iker LecuonaESPAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R
3Alex LowesGBRBimota by Kawasaki Racing TeamBimota KB998
4Alberto SurraITAMotocorsa RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
5Miguel OliveiraPORROKiT BMW MotorradBMW M1000 RR
6Yari MontellaITABarni Spark RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
7Jake DixonGBRHonda HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R
8Axel BassaniITABimota by Kawasaki Racing TeamBimota KB998
9Lorenzo BaldassarriITATeam Go ElevenDucati Panigale V4 R
10Sam LowesGBRMarc VDS Racing TeamDucati Panigale V4 R
11Garrett GerloffUSAKawasaki WorldSBK TeamKawasaki ZX-10RR
12Alvaro BautistaESPBarni Spark RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
13Xavi ViergeESPPata Maxus YamahaYamaha R1
14Danilo PetrucciITAROKiT BMW MotorradBMW M1000 RR
15Andrea LocatelliITAPata Maxus YamahaYamaha R1
16Remy GardnerAUSGYTR GRT YamahaYamaha R1
17Somkiat ChantraTHAHonda HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R
18Loris BazFRAMGM Optical Express RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
19Tommy BridewellGBRSuperbike Advocates RacingDucati Panigale V4 R
20Stefano ManziITAGYTR GRT YamahaYamaha R1
21Mattia RatoITAMotoxracing YamahaYamaha R1
22Twan SmitsNEDMotoxracing YamahaYamaha R1
11:00
Conditions

10 minutes to go until lights out in Estoril. Cooler conditions than we've seen before during this weekend. Currently 19C air temperature and 23C track temperature. Quite cloudy as well.

10:54
Surra chasing more podiums

Alberto Surra completed the podium yesterday. The Italian admitted afterwards that trying to beat the factory Ducatis to race wins is still out of reach, but he's hopeful of taking more podiums before the season is finished.

Full story here.

Alberto Surra, 2026 Estoril WorldSBK, pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Alberto Surra, 2026 Estoril WorldSBK, pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose