Iker Lecuona “cannot be happy” as Nicolo Bulega cruises to French WorldSBK pole

Iker Lecuona “cannot be happy”, he says, after missing out on pole position at the 2026 French WorldSBK.

Lecuona started Superpole well and was a couple of tenths faster than team-mate Nicolo Bulega after the first runs of the 15-minute session.

But it was Bulega who made the key improvements on his second run, taking pole by 0.168 seconds ahead of Sam Lowes, while Lecuona was almost 0.3 seconds back.

For Bulega it was a record ninth consecutive pole position from the start of the season and 10th straight in total, but for Lecuona the result bore frustration as he saw an overall lack of progress since April when he first qualified on the front row this year.

“I cannot be happy,” Iker Lecuona told the WorldSBK world feed broadcast in his parc ferme interview after Superpole.

“It’s like always from [...] Portimao, always Nicolo [Bulega] has that three-tenths, or three- or four-tenths, more than me on the fastest lap. 

“It’s not that I don’t have the experience right now with the bike, it’s something that we don’t find on the bike to make that lap time. 

“I know he does it really well, that is the reality, and we cannot find those tenths, so I’m pissed off. Honestly, I’m not really happy. 

“I know it’s important to be in the first row for the race, but I cannot be happy. We need to work, we need to find those tenths because it’s our goal right now, so let’s see if we can find something for the race.”

For Bulega himself, the pole position came after struggling with his feeling on the bike on Friday.

“We improved a lot from yesterday, so I’m happy,” he said.

“Good lap time, but also Sam [Lowes] and Iker [Lecuona] are strong, so we have to stay very focused in the race.”