Nicolo Bulega wasted no time stamping his authority on the final Sunday morning of the 2026 campaign, topping the warm up session at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto in Andalucia. Despite a blanket of heavy clouds hanging over the track, the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati machine hooked up a stellar 1’37.907s lap to claim P1 as the Italian rider looks to close out his time in the WorldSBK paddock in style.
Just four hundredths of a second behind him came Sam Lowes of the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team, echoing his strong Race 1 result with a solid P2. Right on their heels was Bulega's factory Ducati teammate Iker Lecuona, who found himself outpaced by a mere four hundredths as well. Lecuona will be hunting for his usual spot further up the order when his home round concludes.
Further down the order, Yari Montella steered his Barni Spark Racing Team entry to P4, setting his sights on climbing higher during the final two races of the day. Alex Lowes emerged as the highest-placed rider not aboard a Ducati Panigale V4R, guiding his bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team machine to P5, sitting three tenths off the pace of the leader and two tenths behind Lecuona.
Alvaro Bautista rolled out for what could be his final dance in the WorldSBK paddock, taking P6 for the Barni Spark Racing Team after gathering valuable data on the SCQ tyre. Lorenzo Baldassarri of Team GoEleven grabbed P7, finishing over half a second adrift of the top spot, while Axel Bassani put the second bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team machine inside the top eight by taking eighth place.
Miguel Oliveira bounced back from a premature end to Race 1 due to a mechanical issue, putting his ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team machine ninth in the order after the team seemingly solved their troubles. Garrett Gerloff rounded out the top ten for the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team, looking to rebound from a disappointing P14 finish in Race 1.
Action resumes shortly with the Tissot Superpole Race scheduled for 11:10 Local Time UTC +2, setting the stage for the absolute final showdown of 2026.
