Now, that is how you shake up a weekend. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) put together a stunning run at the Cremona Circuit in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship to snatch pole position for the EICMA Italian Round, leaving teammate Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) just 0.044s behind him. It is Lecuona's first pole in four years—dating back to Barcelona 2022—and only the second of his WorldSBK career. Even wilder? It marks the first time in WorldSBK that the #11 machine has been outqualified by a teammate, snapping Bulega's pole streak right at the finish line.
That said, the opening run was proper chaos from the jump. The session got interrupted almost immediately by a yellow flag at Turn 10 following a crash for Jake Dixon (Honda HRC), though Lecuona had already cleared the spot to drop a new lap record with a 1’27.639s. Bulega initially slotted into provisional P2 with a 1’27.912s, but track limits deleted the lap and handed the spot over to Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), with Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) stepping up to third. Meanwhile, rookie Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing), who had been fastest in FP3, was flying on red sectors until Mattia Rato (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) binned his bike at Turn 13, bringing out more yellows.
When the second stint kicked off, Surra absolutely meant business. The rookie seized the lap record back with a 1’27.437s to grab provisional pole, but the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati heavyweights were simply too strong. Bulega answered back with a 1’27.297s, before Lecuona bettered even that with his 1’27.253s flyer to seal P1. Surra still brought home a brilliant third place, equalling his career-best Superpole result at the end of a standout session.
Further down the order, Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) managed to lock down fourth with a 1’27.627s, despite suffering a late crash at Turn 13. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) slotted into fifth with a gap of 0.470s off Lecuona's pole time, putting him right alongside his Championship rival on the second row. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) rounded out the top six by posting a 1’27.791s, capping off a blistering qualifying where every single one of the top six riders dipped underneath last year's pole benchmark.
Rounding out the top ten, Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) took seventh after finishing 0.642s adrift of the pace, while Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) repeated his Friday form to take eighth with a 1’27.963s. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) carded a 1’28.001s for ninth—looking particularly sharp early in the second stint when he briefly ran as high as fourth—and Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) completed the top ten just over nine tenths back from the top spot. Race 1 action kicks off at 15:30 Local Time (UTC+2).
