10:20
Late improvement from Vierge moves him up to ninth and bumps Bautista out of the top-10.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Spanish WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
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Jerez WorldSBK LIVE: Updates from Friday practice in Spain
Live coverage of the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Spanish WorldSBK at Jerez.
Live updates from the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 Spanish WorldSBK at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto. FP2 is due to start at 15:00 local time.
Key Moments
- Bautista crashes at turn nine late on in FP2
- Red flag for Jake Dixon crash
- Bulega leads FP2 early on but Lecuona much closer than FP1
- Bulega tops uneventful FP1 from Sam Lowes, Lecuona
- Bulega leads FP1 early as Ducati holds top three positions
All three titles are wrapped up heading into the final round at Jerez this weekend - even Yari Montella has secured the independent riders' crown thanks to Sam Lowes' poor Estoril Round and the Italian's own decent Race 2 in Portugal last week, finishing fourth.
Montella still has third in the championship to mathematically secure, but with a 53-point lead over Alex Lowes coming into the weekend the Barni Ducati rider is well-placed to walk away from 2026 with a championship bronze medal. The Italian started the weekend well, finishing fourth in FP1, although Sam Lowes was second this morning.
Nicolo Bulega arrives to Jerez fresh off a return to the dominance that had become typical of his 2026 season in Estoril, where Iker Lecuona had no answers for his team-mate's speed. Bulega also did the treble at Jerez last year and took pole by over half-a-second ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu. It will be Bulega's last round in WorldSBK, so no doubt he will be motivated to finish his time in the series and with the Aruba.it Ducati team in the strongest way possible, and he started the weekend out that way by finishing over 0.2 seconds clear of the field in FP1.
While it's Montella chasing third in the championship this weekend, it's Alberto Surra who has emerged as the strongest of the satellite Ducati riders in recent races, with four podiums in the last five races, including three from three in Estoril last week. It was certainly a messy weekend from Montella for the most part, so it will be interesting to see this weekend how the two Italians stack up against each other in Jerez, and whether anyone else can feature in that battle for the final podium position as Miguel Oliveira did a week ago, at least in Race 1. Surra was decent in FP1, finishing fifth, while Oliveira was only 10th. Alex Lowes was the leading non-Ducati rider in sixth.
16 Oct 2026
10:27
FP1 Result
2026 spanish worldsbk - fp1 result
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Spanish WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
10:21
Bulega tops FP1
The chequered flag is out on a fairly uneventful FP1 at Jerez. Bulega fastest from Sam Lowes and Lecuona.
Montella fourth, then Surra with a late improvement for fifth, Alex Lowes, Baldassarri, Bassani, Vierge, and Oliveira complete the top-10.
10:06
Top 10
15 minutes to go, here's your top-10:
- Bulega
- S. Lowes
- Lecuona
- Montella
- A. Lowes
- Surra
- Baldassarri
- Bassani
- Oliveira
- Bautista
10:03
Bautista up into the top-10 now. Bridewell and Baz the only Ducati riders not in the top-10 as we approach the final 15 minutes.
09:56
Almost everyone back in the pits now. Bulega is not, and he's lapping consistently in the low-to-mid-1m38s, faster than the best time of anyone else.
09:51
Montella improves again - P2 now for the Italian.
Quite a few riders already back in the pits, including Sam Lowes and Iker Lecuona in third and fourth.
09:49
Six Ducatis in the top-seven now as Montella moves up to seventh.
09:48
All-Ducati top-three now as Lecuona's moved up to third. Alex Lowes the only non-Ducati in the top-six in P4.
09:44
Bulega to the top now on a 1m38.155s, half-a-second ahead of Sam Lowes who has jumped up to second.
09:41
Alex Lowes with the early benchmark at a 1m38.625s in FP1, about two seconds off Bulega's pole time from last year.
09:35
FP1 start
Pit lane is open in Jerez and we're underway for FP1 at the final round of 2026.
09:32
Conditions
24C air temperature and 24C track temperature at the moment in Jerez, so pretty warm for mid-October. Clear skies and completely dry so fairly perfect conditions.
09:19
Lecuona pessimistic
Bulega also has a strong record at Jerez, winning races in 2024 and all three last year. On the other hand, Iker Lecuona doesn't like the Andalusian layout so much.
“I know it’ll be a hard weekend for me, because I always struggle a lot at Jerez and I’ve had a lot of injuries here," Lecuona told WorldSBK.com yesterday.
"It’s similar to Australia. My first big crash was here at turn 12. I hurt my arm, the collarbone, the vertebra.
"I crashed there again in my first test in WorldSBK. I broke my hand. Not my fault, and I crashed and broke my foot at turn 6.
"I don’t want to say beating Bulega is impossible because nothing is impossible, but it will be even harder than Estoril. He loves it and goes very fast. I don’t like it so much."
09:11
Bulega's final round
The final round of the 2026 season also means the final round for Nicolo Bulega. The Italian had his world champion's photoshoot yesterday afternoon and spoke of the emotion of the upcoming weekend.
“It’s very emotional as it’s my last weekend here with WorldSBK and with my team," Bulega told WorldSBK.com.
"I remember a lot of things over these years.
"The last round of the season is always special, but this year it will be even more special.
"I had my first WorldSSP test here back in November 2021; after several years, we now close the circle here in WorldSBK. It’s been an amazing five years.
"It’s very emotional because I think about all the good things over the last five years with this team. Luckily, it’s been more nice moments than bad moments.
"There were very good years here in WorldSBK with this team. It will be the last race, but I will always stay in contact with this team, and I’ll be their biggest fan next year."
It's also Bulega's birthday today, the Italian is turning 27.
09:03
Welcome to live coverage of today's WorldSBK action from Jerez, where FP1 will be getting underway in just over half-an-hour at 10:35 local time.