Lecuona fastest in both Friday practices at Cremona as Bulega takes second despite two crashes
Iker Lecuona topped FP1 and FP2 on Day 1 of the WorldSBK Italian Round at Cremona, while Ducati team-mate Nicolò Bulega ended the day second despite crashing twice.
- 1'28.108
- 1'28.362
- a quarter of a second
- 2
What Happened
Iker Lecuona leads the way at the end of Day 1 of the WorldSBK Italian Round at Cremona. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider felt comfortable on the Panigale V4 R right from the start. The Spaniard was fastest in both FP1 and FP2 and ended the day on top with a best lap of 1'28.108. He also proved competitive on race pace.
On the other side of the garage, Nicolò Bulega had a more complicated day, with two minor crashes, one in the morning session and one in the afternoon. The second crash kept him in the garage for a long time during FP2. Despite that, the Italian still closed the day second in the combined standings, a quarter of a second behind his team-mate.
1'28.108
Fastest in both FP1 and FP2 on Day 1 at Cremona
- 1'28.108
- 1'28.362
- a quarter of a second
“I'm really satisfied with the work we did today. The feeling has been good since FP1, and we were able to take another step forward in FP2. Am I the favourite for the race? First of all, the most important thing will be to qualify well. Despite the two crashes, Nicolò is still the rider who has shown great speed here.”
“It's been a complicated Friday, with the two crashes affecting our work. We think we've already understood what wasn't working, and this evening we'll work to fix it. The World Title? Right now I want to focus on FP3 tomorrow.”
- Lecuona fastest in both FP1 and FP2
- Lecuona's best lap: 1'28.108
- Bulega crashed once in the morning and once in the afternoon
- Bulega second overall, a quarter of a second back, at 1'28.362
Previously from Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.
Bulega arrives at the Cremona Circuit leading the WorldSBK standings, with three match points available to secure the 2026 world title in front of Italian fans. His team-mate Lecuona is also chasing a second win of the season at the same event.
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.'s official releases.
Why this matters
Friday's practice times set the tone for the WorldSBK Italian Round at Cremona: Lecuona has both the single-lap speed and the race pace, while Bulega must recover from a disrupted day in the garage. Bulega himself says his focus is on qualifying and FP3 rather than the World Title, so the opening day matters for how the weekend's championship picture develops.
Terms in This Story
- WorldSBK
- The Superbike World Championship, a motorcycle racing series run with production-based machines.
- FP1 / FP2
- Free practice sessions one and two, track sessions where riders work on bike set-up and gauge their pace before qualifying and the races.
- Combined standings
- A ranking that merges a rider's times from the day's practice sessions into a single order.
- Panigale V4 R
- The Ducati model that the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team races in WorldSBK.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.