Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1546847
WIND IN THE P50 seventh, I think. Then Baldassarri and I came together in T7, and we both ended up going down. I got flicked pretty hard. I am happy to be leaving here healthy and head- ing to the next race." On Sunday afternoon, with the title on the line, the final race was tense but offered little action— except for falls. The podium order was Lecuona, Bulega and Montella, with Surra fourth and Alex Lowes fifth. The excitement really came at the end, when the lid of the pres- sure cooker released the expected local glory into the air, and Bulega put on his new gold leathers. WorldSSP Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) has had a few amazing rides in WorldSSP, but nobody really thought he would win not just one but both races at Cre- mona, a circuit just about 37 miles from his squad's home base. No Kawasaki rider or machine com- bination had won both races on a weekend since the advent of the two-race-per-round format in 2020. And precious few races in general. Albert Arenas (AS Racing Yamaha) finished second in each Cremona race, but that was still not enough to make him the new World Champion, even with the championship's second-place rider finishing fourth and then fifth at Cremona. Race one was red-flagged, then restarted after over 13 laps, following gravel being strewn on the track. Third in race one was Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing Team Ya- maha), and in race two, Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph Factory Racing), temporarily race-leading, took third. Farioli then finished fourth in race two, another showing that excited his team and the local crowds. With four race wins and a theo- retical 100 points up for grabs, Arenas has 351 points, Debise 265, and Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura, who replaces Alcoba at Kawasaki in 2027) 229. WorldSPB WorldSPB, a new class in its entirety for 2026, will decide its champion only at the final round. It will be one of only two Kawasa- ki riders, with Cremona race-one winner Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawa- saki) and championship leader David Salvador (ProDina Kawasa- ki XCI), who is now just 12 points ahead. Artigas, Harrison Dessoy (PHR Performance Triumph) and Salvador filled the podium in race one. Runaway Aussie race winner Carter Thompson (Team BrCorse Yamaha) was over five seconds up after a full 12 laps on Artigas and third-place Suzuki rider Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing Suzuki). The top six riders in race one finished within 0.502 of a second of each other, while in the second race, behind the amazing Thomp- son and his latest-spec R7 Ya- maha, second through sixth were covered by just over five-tenths of a second. The final round in Jerez will be a belter, no mistake, with two Spanish riders going for ultimate glory. Gordon Ritchie WorldSBK Race One (Top 10) 1. Iker Lecuona (Duc) 34:01.930 2. Nicolo Bulega (Duc) +5.591 3. Sam Lowes (Duc) +7.247 4. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Duc) +8.763 5. Garrett Gerloff (Kaw) +20.250 6. Alex Lowes (bim) +20.567 7. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) +26.939 8. Axel Bassani (bim) +27.351 9. Jake Dixon (Hon) +27.569 10. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) +27.677 Superpole Race (Top 10) 1. Iker Lecuona (Duc) 14:42.411 2. Nicolo Bulega (Duc) +2.005 3. Alberto Surra (Duc) +5.214 4. Yari Montella (Duc) +5.550 5. Sam Lowes (Duc) +6.540 6. Alex Lowes (bim) +7.772 7. Thomas Bridewell (Duc) +9.386 8. Miguel Oliveira (BMW) +11.197 9. Jake Dixon (Hon) +13.294 10. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) +14.144 WorldSBK Race Two (Top 10) 1. Iker Lecuona (Duc) 34:02.443 2. Nicolo Bulega (Duc) +8.590 3. Yari Montella (Duc) +12.724 4. Alberto Surra (Duc) +13.914 5. Alex Lowes (bim) +17.159 6. Jake Dixon (Hon) +20.917 7. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Duc) +21.405 8. Garrett Gerloff (Kaw) +24.398 9. Axel Bassani (bim) +27.293 10. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) +31.636 Carter Thompson won race two in WorldSPB.