Bulega Equals WSBK win streak record

Italian superstar equals Razgatlioglu’s 13 win streak WSBK record as the aussies struggle in Assen

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) once again showed his true class and pace to win his third WorldSBK race at Assen, and take his ninth straight race win of the 2026 season. In short or long races, this year’s red hot championship favourite is proving that he and the new Ducati are almost imperious in their domination.

Iker Lecuona (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) pushed on once again but had to accept another second place finish.

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati) kept his consistent Assen podium run going to end up third in the final Assen contest.

Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) once again took a fourth place finish, but this time he had his own team-mate Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) for relatively close company – just under one second behind.

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven Ducati) had to come from behind to take sixth place, making it an all Ducati top six. Top Yamaha rider in Race Two was Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha).

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) was finally eighth, Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) ninth and Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) tenth.

A super-tough Race Two for bimota saw Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) for from fourth place to 11th at the flag, and his team-mate Axel Bassani 13th.

Earlier in the day Bulega also eased to a relatively comfortable win in the ten lap Superpole Sprint.

An eventual victory margin of 1.742 seconds, from his own team mate Iker Lecuona, was clear enough under grey skies and with some splashes of rain evident on the TV camera lenses.

Third was Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati) on another V4-R.

Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) got the better of a real fight with the bimota of Alex Lowes, taking fourth place overall.

The top Yamaha rider this time around was Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in sixth place, with Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) seventh and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) only just held back in eighth place after a true fight out of the final chicane.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) completed the top ten.

In the championship points, Bulega now has 186, Lecuona 117, Sam Lowes 82, with Alex Lowes and Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) tied on 69.

Remy Gardner – P14
“This wasn’t the weekend we were aiming for, but today we pushed hard and tried a few changes. The Superpole Race was decent, and it’s a shame to have missed out on the top nine at the final corner. In Race 2, our early pace was quite strong, but I struggled more in the latter stages and lost a couple of positions. Now we focus on what’s ahead — the potential is there, and we’re determined to show it.”

ASSEN WORLDSBK RACE 2

2026 WORLDSBK POINTS STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 3

WorldSSP RACE TWO – Oettl Takes His First WorldSSP Victory Under A Red Flag

It has taken some time for Philipp Öttl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team Ducati) to win his first WorldSSP race but he did it in some style, despite Race Two being stopped on lap 12, after a red flag was thrown due to a crash at T5.

Öttl was almost 0.5 seconds ahead when the red flag came out, which in a race with five official changes of the lead was an age, in what was a really entertaining and close fight from the first lap to the premature end.

Second place was earned by early leader Albert Arenas (AS Racing Yamaha), with another occasional race leader, Can Öncü (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing), in third place.

A highly combative Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph Factory Racing) worked his way to fourth, with single lap leader Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) fifth.

Continuing championship leader Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura)

was sixth, and two seconds down on the winner.

Valentin Debise (ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) placed seventh, just holding off the forward progress shown by top Kawasaki man, Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team).

One time Race Two podium contender Mattia Casadei (D34G WorldSSP Racing Team) was ninth and Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) completed a frenetic top ten.

Oli Bayliss (Triumph Factory Racing) fell early in the race.

In the championship rankings, after six individual races, Masia has 106 points, Arenas 105, Öttl 79, Debise 72, Mahias 54 and Öncü 52.

Oli Bayliss – DNF
“A difficult weekend here at Assen. We were chasing some feeling issues on Friday, then a back-of-the-grid penalty on Saturday made things even tougher. We managed to get the feeling with the bike in a much better place, but unfortunately a small crash brought our Sunday race to an early end. Looking forward now to one of my favourite rounds at Balaton Park in two weeks time. Ready to reset and go again.”

WorldSPB Race 2 – Fleerackers Wins Close Second Race

Ferre Fleerackers (Track and Trades Wixx Suzuki) held off a challenge from the top Aprilia in the field, ridden by Matteo Vannucci (Revo-2 RS660 Factory) to win the second Assen WorldSPB race by just 0.097 seconds.

It was Fleerackers first win in this new class of racing, and the second for Suzuki after his team-mate won on Saturday.

Race One winner Jeffrey Buis (Track and Trades Wixx Suzuki) was third, followed by the first Kawasaki of David Salvador in fourth place, Kas Beekmans on another Suzuki fifth and another Kawasaki, the top MTM Kawasaki bike, belonging to Xavi Artigas.

Top Triumph rider was Bruno Ieraci, who finished seventh.

In the championship, Salvador leads Buis by five points, with Fleerackers third and Artigas fourth.

Carter Thompson started the race from second on the grid courtesy of his race 1 lap time, but finished 9th after being on the receiving end of some hard passes throughout the race.

Carter Thompson
“In the mix with the front group today, which is a positive. Still a few things to improve before we’re fighting for the podium, but we’re getting closer. Looking forward to the next one.”

WorldWCR Race Two – Neila Wins After Late Inside Pass

Race One’s top two riders Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) and Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) made a break from the rest once again, with an initial six rider fight developing behind.

The final push for the win would see Neila take her first race victory of the year, by just 0.170 seconds, from Herrera.

She cut the championship advantage of Herrera to 13 points with her bold inside pass at the Gert Timmer right hander, as she now sits in second place overall.

Lucie Boudesseul (GMT94 Yamaha) made a break from the second group to be five seconds back from the lead after six laps, but setting easily the fastest laps of the race at the midpoint. As the rains showed up a little heavier than before, she made her initial forward move, but she ended up almost ten seconds behind at the flag, albeit in happy podium position of third.

Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) ended up at the head of a chasing group, which grew in size towards the end.

Fifth was new rider in the class this year, Muklada Sarapuech (EEST NUT Racing) with Chloe Jones (Monster Energy Crescent) sixth, Yvonne Cerpa (MotosCerpa-Gradara Corse) seventh and the battling Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing) eight, despite her heavy Race One crash on Saturday.

Pakita Ruiz (PR46+1 Racing Team) and American rider Mallory Dobbs (YVS Sabadell Diva Racing) completed the top ten.

Tayla Relph – P8
“The weekend that could have been. I gave it everything I had today and honestly, I am proud of what we achieved. From waking up this morning not knowing if I could race, to recovering a P8 this afternoon in Race 2 and salvaging whatever points we could. I dug deep in that last lap and got myself back to the group battling for 4th place. Honestly from being a tumbled weed and getting hit by 3 bikes, to recover to a P8 finish less than 24 hours later.. I will take that. I was so fast this weekend right from Free Practice, and it’s just so frustrating that we didn’t get to showcase that when it all mattered. But still, we SHOWED we have genuine podium pace, and that’s why we can leave this weekend with our heads held high and proud. Thank you everyone for all of your messages over the course of the weekend.. we will keep working, and head to Italy tomorrow to hopefully get some more scans! Next up… Balaton.”