The remarkable Nicolo won
by 3.118 seconds from Lecuona,
with Sam Lowes third, Yari Mon-
tella (Barni Spark Racing Team)
fourth, Alex Lowes (bimota by
Kawasaki Racing Team) fifth
and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team
GoEleven Ducati) sixth.
In the Superpole race, an
early flurry of close riding and
determinations saw Bulega have
to fend off Lecuona, but after
running wide into the internal
hairpin, Lecuona let his quarry
escape and was even passed by
the shadowing Sam Lowes for
a time.
Ducati-version Lowes should
have finished third but crashed
out on the final lap, letting Mon-
tella take the podium, with Alberto
Surra (Motocorsa Racing Ducati)
fourth and Alex Lowes fifth.
Race two looked like it may
deliver more of a contest, and
even some action, and it did,
just not right up front.
Bulega was predictably gone
away on his own again, and with
Lecuona, his usual second-place
companion, the fight for the final
podium place was more intense.
In fact, inside the off-podium
mob, all hell and several bike
bodywork parts were breaking
loose.
Baldassarri, in the thick of
the fight for the top six places
and eventually fourth after Alex
Lowes crashed, did the vast
majority of the second long race
with no left winglet and a gaping
hole in the side of his Panigale.
Alex Lowes fell in fifth place.
Surra was in fourth place
early on but came under pres-
sure from eventual third-place
man Yari Montella and then
Baldassarri.
Surra would thus be fifth, and
the former double champion,
Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark
Racing Team), placed sixth.
With a nice setup on his
bike, Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki
Racing Team) was the top non-
Ducati rider home, seventh.
"I felt like from the beginning
of the weekend we had a bike
for one single lap time, which
we proved in Superpole qualify-
ing until a yellow flag canceled
my best lap time," Gerloff said. "I
felt great in general for one lap
but was struggling for a longer
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 9, 2026 P87
9 DANILO PETRUCCI
13TH/ 16TH/ 12TH
WORLDSBK
"I'm happy about race two," Danilo
Petrucci said. "As I told the guys, it's
a pity that we're working so hard,
really giving everything, and then just
finish in P12—that is not the position
where we want to be. But the crew
believes in me, I trust the crew, and
we're working extremely hard. I really
gave my best, especially in race two.
The pace wasn't bad, and in the end,
we were able to score points in both
long races. It's hard to say I'm enjoy-
ing it, but at least my pace was quite
consistent. That keeps me motivated
for Cremona."
MYOWNRACE
(Left) Yari
Montella (5) is
really coming
into his own
and took two
podiums in France.
(Below) Lorenzo
Baldassarri (34)
holds off Alberto
Surra (67) and
Garrett Gerloff in
race two.
