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

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.