Stunning hat-trick in Portugal by winning all WorldSBK races

· After Australia, Nicolò Bulega (Ducati) also achieved a stunning hat-trick in Portugal by winning all the races of the WorldSBK Pirelli Portuguese Round at the Autódromo do Algarve. After taking victory in the Superpole Race at the start of Sunday’s schedule, the Italian rider repeated his success in Race 2 in the afternoon, completing the 20 laps in 33’32”986 and improving the total race time by 7 seconds compared to 2025. As in Race 1, Bulega once again finished ahead of his teammate, Spanish rider Iker Lecuona, and Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (BMW). All three riders, like almost the entire grid, opted for a combination of soft SC1 front and soft SC0 rear tyres.

· For the WorldSBK Superpole Race, all riders chose DIABLO Superbike tyres in soft SC1 compound for the front and supersoft SCX for the rear. The latter, which until last year was used as development specification E0126, confirmed excellent performance both on a flying lap and over the 10-lap distance. Winner Bulega (Ducati) also set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1’39”107, more than three tenths quicker than the 1’39”441 set a year ago by Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, finishing ahead of Lecuona and Oliveira.

· After winning Race 1, Valentin Debise (ZXMOTO) also took victory in WorldSSP Race 2, finishing ahead of Spain’s Jaume Masia (Ducati) and Albert Arenas (Yamaha). All riders opted for soft SC1 front and soft SC0 rear tyres, except Ana Carrasco (Honda), who chose the medium SC1 rear. In Race 2 of the new Sportbike World Championship, Dutch rider Loris Veneman claimed victory in a sprint finish that saw the top five riders covered by just 0.182 seconds, ahead of Spaniards David Salvador and Antonio Torres, all three on Kawasaki. The second WorldWCR race was won, after a long all-Spanish battle, by Paola Ramos, who overtook Race 1 winner Maria Herrera on the final lap, with Herrera finishing second just 0.053 seconds behind and Beatriz Neila again third at 0.238 seconds

The new soft rear range delivers record-breaking performance
 
“ At Portimão, WorldSBK riders used the new rear tyre range, the supersoft SCX, which until last year was known as development specification E0126, and the soft SC0, previously identified as E0125. After performing extremely well in Saturday’s qualifying, the new SCX proved to be an excellent choice also for the Superpole Race, allowing Nicolò Bulega to set a new fastest race lap and maintain a high and consistent pace throughout all 10 laps. The other positive news of the day came from Race 2, where the SC0 rear confirmed itself as highly competitive over race distance, improving the overall race time compared to last year. It was an important weekend for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team, which had never before finished a WorldSBK round with its riders in the top two positions in all three races. It was also fantastic to see such a large crowd in the grandstands. Miguel Oliveira’s arrival in WorldSBK brought great enthusiasm, as shown by the more than 82,000 spectators attending over the weekend. This turnout was rewarded by Oliveira’s strong performances, consistently finishing on the podium. Finally, in terms of WorldSSP, I was impressed by ZXMOTO’s competitiveness, winning both races with Valentin Debise. For the Chinese manufacturer, debuting in Supersport with such results is extremely significant”.