Bayliss back among the front-runners at Most

Triumph’s Oli Bayliss banked a confidence-boosting sixth in WorldSSP at Most as Nicolo Bulega extended his WorldSBK streak and Aprilia broke through for a landmark World Sportbike victory

WorldSBK

Nicolo Bulega proved once again why he remains the dominant force in WorldSBK, securing his 17th consecutive race win and 13th victory of the 2026 season. The Aruba.It Racing Ducati rider staged a thrilling battle with team-mate Iker Lecuona, who led for portions of the race, but Bulega’s superior pace in the final laps proved decisive as he crossed the line 1.3 seconds clear.

The race was shortened to 21 laps following a heavy crash for Danilo Petrucci of the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, which triggered a red flag and subsequent rapid restart procedure that reduced the distance by one lap.

Yari Montella of the Barni Spark Racing Team claimed the final podium position in third, though he finished a distant 11 seconds behind Bulega after a relatively lonely ride through the field.

Garrett Gerloff continued his outstanding form aboard the Kawasaki, securing fourth place ahead of Axel Bassani on the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team machine. Lorenzo Baldassarri on the Team GoEleven Ducati completed the top six, while Alex Lowes impressed with a seventh-place finish from 15th on the grid aboard the bimota.

Andrea Locatelli narrowly missed out on seventh, finishing eighth for the Pata Maxus Yamaha squad. An incident between Alberto Surra and Sam Lowes saw Surra penalised with a long lap delay and eventual ninth-place finish, while Stefano Manzi rounded out the top ten for the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team.

The ten-lap Superpole Race and Race Two will conclude the WorldSBK action on Sunday.

Remy Gardner had a difficult race despite placing eighth in morning practice. Starting 18th on the grid he made uop some place to finish 15th, but is missing some feeling with his GYTR Yamaha R1.

Remy Gardner
“The position isn’t where we want to be, but overall it wasn’t a bad Friday. We had a solid FP1 this morning and hoped to make another step in the afternoon, but our main focus was on race pace and setup work rather than chasing lap times. There’s still work to do to find more pace, but I’m confident that with a good Superpole we can put ourselves in a position to fight for strong results in the races.”

2026 CZECH WORLDSBK RACE 1

WorldSSP

Valentin Debise delivered a masterclass in racecraft at Most, storming through from a penalised sixth place on the grid to claim his fourth race win of 2026 aboard the ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing Yamaha. The French rider disposed of pole-sitter Can Öncü and subsequently controlled the race with clinical precision, eventually crossing the line with a 0.639-second advantage after 19 laps.

Öncü mounted a determined defence throughout the contest but ultimately had to yield to Debise, though he successfully held championship leader Albert Arenas at bay. The top three finishers were covered by just 0.877 seconds, showcasing the competitive nature of the middleweight class.

Jaume Masia executed an impressive comeback drive from 11th on the grid to claim fourth place, while veteran Lucas Mahias completed the top five on his GMT94-YAMAHA entry.

Bayliss produced a solid display to secure sixth position for Triumph Factory Racing, finishing 2.4 seconds ahead of seventh-placed Matteo Ferrari of WRP Racing Ducati. The Australian rider felt confident throughout the weekend but acknowledged some areas requiring attention before Sunday’s remaining race.Filippo Farioli, Philipp Öttl and Simon Jespersen completed the top ten as Arenas maintains a 36-point championship lead over Masia with 44 points in hand over Debise heading into Sunday’s finale.

Oli Bayliss
“Solid first race here at Most. Felt pretty confident all weekend and it was good to be back in the fight with the front group again. We’re still missing a little bit in a few areas, but the pace was there and we managed to bring it home sixth place today. The PTR Triumph Racing team and I will work on a couple of things overnight and hopefully come back even stronger tomorrow.”

2026 Czech WORLDSSP RACE 1