Nicolo Bulega rival gives hopeless outlook for his own WorldSBK title chances

Iker Lecuona has admitted there is little chance of him winning the WorldSBK title as Nicolo Bulega closes in on the 2026 crown.

Lecuona has beaten Bulega only once this year as the Italian has completely dominated WorldSBK in 2026.

Arriving in Italy for the third-last round of the year, MotoGP-bound Bulega has won 26 of the 27 races run so far this year, putting him only one off the one-season record of Alvaro Bautista set in 2023.

Lecuona, then, is resigned to his fate, with him needing to out-score his factory Ducati team-mate by 23 points over this weekend’s three races just to have the title battle remain mathematically alive at Estoril in a couple of weeks.

As a result, the Spaniard accepts that the title is gone, and probably mathematically so by the end of this weekend.

“Bulega will win the title here,” Iker Lecuona said ahead of the Italian Round, speaking to WorldSBK.com.

“He just needs to not crash, and I think we have a step forward.”

The extent of Bulega’s domination of 2026 has seen him find his way to MotoGP for 2027 with the VR46 Ducati team, which itself opens the door for Lecuona to reach the peak of WorldSBK.

“I’ve said many times, Bulega deserves to go to MotoGP,” said Lecuona.

“I’m happy for him. Even now in testing, he’s very fast on the MotoGP bike, so he can do really well.

“I think I’m the favourite for [WorldSBK] 2027. I can’t say no because my gap to third place in the championship is bigger than Nicolo to myself. 

“We showed our speed and I can manage the bike. We’re still missing a few tenths, which we’re trying to find during the last three rounds, for next year.”

Looking at the weekend in isolation, Lecuona is optimistic about his chances, although he feels there are two riders other than himself and Bulega who will be competitive.

“I’m good, I have good expectations,” he said. “It’s a track I like a lot. Last year, I felt comfortable here. 

“We did a test here, which was tricky with the weather, but we got some good information for us and a new base. 

“Montella was very fast in testing. Sam [Lowes] was fast.”