Nicolo Bulega is rewriting the history books. Driving for Aruba.it Racing - Ducati, the Italian masterclass machine took Race 2 victory at the Circuito Estoril in dominant fashion, beating teammate Iker Lecuona by 4.888 seconds to claim his 29th win of the season. More importantly, those 25 points pushed his 2026 tally to 664, officially surpassing Jonathan Rea's legendary 2019 benchmark of 663 points with three races still remaining. Bulega also sits on 33 podiums for the year, just one shy of Rea's all-time season record of 34.
It wasn't a completely uncontested march, though Lecuona certainly tried his best to disrupt the script. Lecuona grabbed the lead off the line at the start, but Bulega struck back with an aggressive move at Turn 6 on Lap 1 to retake the front. A stunning lap of 1’34.696s allowed Bulegas to stretch his legs, leaving his teammate to secure his 31st WorldSBK rostrum and his 25th career P2 finish.
Behind them, the battle for third turned into an absolute war of attrition between rookie Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) and two-time WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team). Bautista climbed up from fifth to pressure the young Italian, and after lap-long daggers traded between Turn 6 and Turn 1, Bautista finally broke through on Lap 13 when Surra ran wide. But the rookie immediately bit back at Turn 6 before Bautista ultimately threw it away with a crash at Turn 1 on Lap 17. That disaster handed Surra a brilliant hat-trick of P3 finishes in Portugal, 11.185 seconds behind the winner.
Further down the order, Yari Montella put in a stellar charge from 11th on the grid to finish fourth (+18.153s). Coupled with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) finishing down in 15th, Montella secured the 2026 Independent Riders’ title—making it three consecutive years a Barni Ducati rider has claimed the crown. Montella also holds a 53-point advantage in the fight for bronze heading to Jerez. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) came home fifth (+21.430s) ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) in sixth (+22.894s).
Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) endured a chaotic rollercoaster of a race after starting from P4. A wide moment at Turn 6 dropped the #88 as low as 14th on the opening lap, but he fought back brilliantly—briefly passing Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) in a single move at Turn 1 on Lap 6. Another wide excursion on Lap 9 dropped him back down, but Oliveira salvaged an eighth-place finish behind Gerloff in seventh. Vierge rounded out the top ten for Honda HRC behind ninth-placed Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha).
Points were hard-fought right to the finish line, where Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) fended off Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) by just 0.033s on the final lap to take 12th. Behind them, Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) took 14th and Sam Lowes grabbed the final point in 15th. Meanwhile, Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) missed out in 16th, ahead of Mattia Rato (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and Twan Smits as the final classified finishers. Alex Lowes and Loris Baz (MGM Optical Express Racing) both suffered crashes, while Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) retired with a technical issue.
