That is how you lay down a marker. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) kicked off the weekend at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto by putting more than a quarter of a second on the rest of the field, setting a blistering 1'38.155s in Free Practice 1.
With baking heat taking over the Andalucia circuit in the afternoon, the track simply refused to yield faster times after the lunch break. That meant Bulega's morning benchmark stood unchallenged, leaving Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) to slot into second place with a 1'38.407s, finishing more than two tenths off the top spot. Right behind him was the teammate of the 2026 Champion, Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), who locked down third overall with a 1'38.489s as he looks to close out the 2026 campaign on a high note.
Further down the order, Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) grabbed fourth courtesy of his 1'38.521s morning flyer, while Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) put his machine into fifth overall thanks to a 1'38.597s from FP1, despite going second fastest in the afternoon. Sixth place went to Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team), who led the Bimota charge with a 1'38.625s, sitting roughly half a second away from Bulega's pace. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) rounded out the top seven with a 1'39.681s, just ahead of Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) in eighth with a 1'38.850s.
The afternoon heat did prompt some improvements for the BMW camp, where Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) pushed hard in the second session to clock a 1'39.225s and claim ninth place. His garage neighbor, Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), potentially faced his final Friday in WorldSBK by setting a 1'39.504s for 14th. Meanwhile, Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) entered his final weekend wearing Yamaha blue by finishing as the top rider for the Japanese manufacturer, taking 10th with a 1'38.470s — wait, a 1'38.970s. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) claimed 12th after stepping up his pace in the afternoon with a 1'39.261s, remarkably matching Vierge's FP2 time down to the thousandth of a second.
Drama struck elsewhere as Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) brought out the red flags barely fifteen minutes into Free Practice 2. The #96 lost control at Turn 9, sending his machine cartwheeling through the gravel trap. Thankfully, he was okay after the fall, eventually settling for 15th with a best time of a 1'39.767s. Teammate Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) finished two places further back with a 1'39.656s. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) also suffered an abrupt end to his day, crashing at Turn 9 with just a few minutes remaining in FP2 to end up 11th on the combined timesheets.
