Miguel Oliveira abandons in Jerez in race won by Bulega

O portuguese Miguel Oliveira (BMW) today abandoned the first race of the last round of the World Superbikes in Jerez de la Frontera, in which Italian Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) won the 50th victory in the category.

Oliveira, who left the 13th position, entered the pits during the ninth return and did not return to the track at a time when he occupied 12th place.

The Portuguese pilot had finished the first lap in 14th, recovering a position in the third pass by the goal and rising to 12th in the seventh, when the Spanish Xavi Vierge (Yamaha) began to lose positions before leaving with technical problems.

Without scoring, Oliveira kept the 11th place of the championship, with 136 points, but saw increase to 14 the difference for the Spanish Alvaro Bautista (Ducati), 10th, which finished the race in fourth.

In the front, Bulega performed his 20 laps in 33,09,762 minutes, beating the British Sam Lowes (Ducati), second for 1,657 seconds, and the Spanish Iker Lecuona (Ducati), third for 2,853.

The Italian, already world champion, added the 30th triumph in the 34 races of this season and became the fastest driver to achieve 50 wins in the Superbikes World Cup, requiring 106 appearances. The previous record belonged to Australian Troy Bayliss, who hit that mark on the 150th race.

Bulega also won the 34th podium of the season, matching the record set by British Jonathan Rea in 2019, when the two Sunday races are missing.

Sam Lowes tried to discuss the lead in the match and during the first round, but Bulega resisted and began to build an advantage that allowed him to command all passages through the goal.

Lecuona retained third place, despite the pressure of Italian Yari Montella (Ducati), who came to surpass it in the seventh lap, before the Spanish responded in the next curve.

Montella would end in fifth, the 6,615 seconds of the winner, after being surpassed by the teammate Bautista on the 18th lap. The Spanish recovered from ninth on the grid to fourth, at 5.328 seconds from Bulega.

The Italian Alberto Surra (Ducati) finished in sixth, 12,074 seconds, resisting the approach of compatriot Lorenzo Baldassarri (Ducati), seventh, to 12,192.

The other BMW driver, the Italian Danilo Petrucci, was also out of touch in position 17.

Bulega went on to add 689 points, against 534 from Lecuona, while Montella secured third place in the championship, with 301, plus 56 than the British Sam and Alex Lowes, when 37 points remain in dispute.

On the same journey, the Spanish María Herrera (Yamaha) secured the second consecutive title in the Women's World Speed Motorcycle Championship (WCR), becoming the first two-time champion of the competition, created in 2024.

Herrera, who this season traded the Klint team for Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha, reached Jerez with 44 points of advantage and confirmed the renewal of the title, after a time marked by the dispute with fellow countrymen Beatriz Neila and Paola Ramos.

The Superbikes season ends on Sunday, with the Superpole race and the second main race of the Spanish round.