Assen 2026, Superpole: Bulega at the top also in the Netherlands

The golden moment of Nicolò Bulega continues unabated, who after the pole positions won in Australia and Portugal celebrated the third consecutive one in the Netherlands, also setting the new record of the Assen track. A perfect performance, except for the crash without consequences that occurred one minute before the end of the session, with Ducati once again at the top of the standings thanks to Sam Lowes and Iker Lecuona, respectively in second and third position ahead of Danilo Petrucci.

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Superpole Report

The best time set by Iker Lecuona in the third free practice session had indicated the Spaniard as one of the potential candidates for pole position, even more so after the fastest lap set in the first five minutes of qualifying. However, this satisfaction lasted only a few moments, due to the performance of his teammate Bulega, faster in the first stint by only 35 thousandths, all in a top-4 occupied by the Ducatis of Sam Lowes and Yari Montella. The decisive phase of the Superpole materialized in the final moments, with Lecuona returning to the top again. Despite the new track record set by the Spaniard, Bulega subsequently lowered the Iberian’s time by a full 4 tenths, setting the new record of the Dutch circuit in 1:32.144. Afterwards, other riders also improved their performances, with Sam Lowes moving into second position ahead of Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci rising to fourth place, but the Superpole ended a few seconds early due to Bulega’s unexpected crash at the entrance of turn 1. Below is the starting grid for Race 1, which will start today at 15:30 live on Sky Sport MotoGP and TV8.

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Assen 2026, Race 1: the starting grid