2026 Hungarian WorldSBK, Superpole Race Results: Bulega wins after red flag

Results from the Superpole Race at the 2026 Hungarian WorldSBK from Balaton Park, race 11 of the 2026 season.

Nicolo Bulega won the Superpole Race at Balaton Park, beating Iker Lecuona by 0.894 seconds in a shortened eight-lap race.

The first start was almost disaster for Bulega, the Italian being forced wide at turn one by a wayward Yari Montella before running wide himself at turn five on the opening lap.

Ahead of him, Miguel Oliveira and Andrea Locatelli also ran in deep. Locatelli tried to cut back underneath Oliveira, but made contact with Sam Lowes on his inside as he did so. Locatelli fell and collected Oliveira, who was then treated on the track which caused a red flag.

Oliveira was transported to hospital after the incident having been diagnosed with concussion and a left shoulder injury. Locatelli got a double long lap penalty for the restarted race and finished 13th.

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The first start had presented a perfect opportunity for Iker Lecuona, who was second behind Lorenzo Baldassarri when on the first lap when the red flag came out, while Nicolo Bulega was down in the back end of the top-10.

Bulega made a better first lap on the restart, though, and Lecuona took until turn four to get up to second. The gap was soon out to over a second and although Lecuona got it back down to under a second by the finish he was never close enough to attack his teammate. He did, though, get himself a front row start for Race 2.

Baldassarri made a tough pass on Yari Montella at turn two on the first lap to take control of third place. It pushed Montella back down the order and he was unable to get back into the podium fight, but for Baldassarri it was a pass that set him up to get back on the podium for the first time since round one, and he ended almost three seconds clear of Alvaro Bautista in fourth at the finish.

Behind Bautista, Montella and Alberto Surra completed an all-Ducati top-six, then Alex Lowes, Garrett Gerloff, and Tarran Mackenzie took the final positions in the top-nine. Xavi Vierge completed the top-10.

Full World Superbike results from the Superpole Race at Balaton Park are below.

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2026 World Superbike Championship | Hungarian Round | Balaton Park | Superpole Race | Result

PosRiderNat.WorldSBK TeamSuperbikeTiming1Nicolo BulegaITAAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 RWIN2Iker LecuonaESPAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R0.8943Lorenzo BaldassarriITATeam Go ElevenDucati Panigale V4 R5.1034Alvaro BautistaESPBarni Spark RacingDucati Panigale V4 R7.9555Yari MontellaITABarni Spark RacingDucati Panigale V4 R8.6746Alberto SurraITAMotocorsa RacingDucati Panigale V4 R9.3237Alex LowesGBRBimota by Kawasaki Racing TeamBimota KB99810.2638Garrett GerloffUSAKawasaki WorldSBK TeamKawasaki ZX-10RR11.2489Tarran MackenzieGBRMGM Optical Express RacingDucati Panigale V4 R13.63110Xavi ViergeESPPata Maxus YamahaYamaha R115.18611Remy GardnerAUSGYTR GRT YamahaYamaha R115.51312Tommy BridewellGBRSuperbike Advocates RacingDucati Panigale V4 R15.74213Andrea LocatelliITAPata Maxus YamahaYamaha R115.90614Stefano ManziITAGYTR GRT YamahaYamaha R117.33315Axel BassaniITABimota by Kawasaki Racing TeamBimota KB99817.73816Danilo PetrucciITAROKiT BMW MotorradBMW M1000 RR18.73617Mattia RatoITAMotoxracing YamahaYamaha R122.22518Bahattin SofuogluTURMotoxracing YamahaYamaha R122.24119Somkiat ChantraTHAHonda HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R25.37320Sam LowesGBRMarc VDS Racing TeamDucati Panigale V4 R26.33321Yuki KuniiJPNHonda HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R29.476DNFMiguel OliveiraPORROKiT BMW MotorradBMW M1000 RRDNF