The summer break is officially over. The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock descended on the Circuit de Nevers Magny‑Cours on Friday for the opening day of the Acerbis French Round, and it was business as usual for championship leader Nicolo Bulega — who topped both sessions to end the day fastest overall, even though it was far from a trouble‑free return to action.
Free Practice: Bulega Fastest but Problems Strike Aruba.it
Nicolo Bulega picked up exactly where he left off before the summer shutdown. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider, who has won 23 out of 24 races this season, immediately reasserted his authority around the 2.5‑mile French circuit, ending the combined free practice times at the summit by three tenths. Yet his day was nearly derailed early on: a technical issue in the opening minutes of FP1 saw the Italian pull into the pits, losing valuable track time while the crew fixed an electronic gremlin.
“The feeling was not the best today and I want to improve in some areas because I feel that I can go faster. It’s a bit difficult now with the feeling on the bike — it is probably too physical a bike to ride on this track. I would like to be more precise and ride a bit more naturally. In FP1, it was just a small electronic problem and then they fixed it after a few minutes. Now everything’s fine. I hope to find a better setup for tomorrow morning and try to push like I always do in FP3, and try to prepare for the race.” — Nicolo Bulega
Matters got worse for the Ducati camp in the afternoon session. Bulega’s teammate Iker Lecuona crashed at Turn 12 shortly after the start of FP2, sliding off at high speed. The Spaniard walked away unhurt but lost significant track time recovering from the incident, though he still managed to end the day third fastest overall.
Sam Lowes Shines, Vierge Leads Yamaha Charge
Pushing Bulega hardest all day was Sam Lowes aboard the ELF Marc VDS Racing Ducati. The former WorldSSP champion posted his best lap late in the morning session and held second overall, just 0.284s behind the championship leader — a hugely encouraging start to the weekend.
Fourth place overall went to Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha), who delivered a strong lap late in FP1 to lead the Yamaha contingent. The Spaniard was the only non‑Ducati rider inside the top seven, ending the day ahead of Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven). Track temperatures soared to 45°C in the afternoon, making lap times harder to improve as most teams switched focus to long runs and race simulations rather than all‑out qualifying laps.
Consistent Pace from Alex Lowes; Incidents Hit Several Riders
Alex Lowes (Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) enjoyed a productive day, completing an impressive 41 laps as he concentrated entirely on race pace and long‑run consistency. The British rider, who claimed a memorable hat‑trick of podium finishes at Magny‑Cours last year, ended the day tenth fastest — quietly optimistic he can challenge the front runners once the lights go out on Sunday.
The day was also littered with incidents. Bahattin Sofuoglu (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) crashed twice at Turn 2, sustaining a concussion that has sadly ruled him out of the remainder of the weekend. Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) also went down at Turn 3, while Andrea Locatelli saw his running restricted by technical issues affecting his Pata Maxus Yamaha.
Combined Free Practice Top Six
| 1 | Nicolo Bulega | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati | — |
| 2 | Sam Lowes | ELF Marc VDS Racing Team | +0.284s |
| 3 | Iker Lecuona | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati | +0.433s |
| 4 | Xavi Vierge | Pata Maxus Yamaha | +0.479s |
| 5 | Yari Montella | Barni Spark Racing Team | +0.485s |
| 6 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | Team GoEleven | +0.589s |
WorldSSP: Debise Stuns for Home Pole After Crash Drama
In WorldSSP qualifying, Valentin Debise produced one of the most remarkable performances of the season to claim his maiden WorldSSP pole position — at his home round, no less. The EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros Factory rider crashed at Turn 15 early in the session, looked set to miss out on a front‑row start, but recovered spectacularly. On his final flying lap, he stormed to the top of the timesheets to secure pole by a clear margin — and deliver ZXMOTO its first ever WorldSSP pole position in the process.
“I’m very pleased with this pole position. It was completely unexpected because I had a crash in the morning and then again in the afternoon. At the end I needed to calm down and take it easy. I didn’t push like crazy on my first exit because I was trying to understand the bike but then I fell. The bike had much more potential than what I was using so I told the team not to change anything and let me go again with the same bike and a new tyre. The bike was amazing and gave me all the potential I needed to get this pole. I’m also very happy for Federico with his second position.” — Valentin Debise
Debise was joined on the front row by his teammate Federico Caricasulo, just 0.059s behind, while home favourite Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) had to settle for third after leading the timesheets for most of the session. Championship leader Albert Arenas could only manage tenth, while his closest title rivals struggled further back — Can Oncu starting 13th and Jaume Masia down in 18th. Debise has seized a massive opportunity to slash the championship lead come race day.
WorldSSP Superpole Top Six
| 1 | Valentin Debise | EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros | — |
| 2 | Federico Caricasulo | EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros | +0.059s |
| 3 | Lucas Mahias | GMT94 Yamaha | +0.217s |
| 4 | Roberto Garcia | GMT94 Yamaha | +0.118s |
| 5 | Jeremy Alcoba | Kawasaki WorldSSP Team | +0.128s |
| 6 | Jorge Navarro | PTR Triumph Factory Racing | +0.027s |
World Sportbike: Salvador Makes It Four Poles in a Row
David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) continued his absolute domination of the Tissot Superpole sessions in the World Sportbike class, claiming his fourth consecutive pole position by a convincing margin. The 23‑year‑old Spaniard set a best lap of 1’45.549s to finish nearly a quarter‑second clear of the field, with Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) securing second and Xavi Artigas completing an all‑Kawasaki front row with a last‑gasp lap.
“It’s been an amazing day! I tried different setups during the morning session and in the afternoon, for the Superpole session, it was a little bit difficult because the track temperature was very high. I tried to adapt to this and in the end we did a great job with my teammate during the Superpole. It’s super nice after the summer break to take another pole position. We’ll continue into the weekend with the same performance.” — David Salvador
Championship contender Antonio Torres lines up fourth alongside Fenton Seabright, who had topped Free Practice 1 earlier in the day. Australian rookie Carter Thompson recovered from a Turn 8 crash to qualify sixth, maintaining his impressive run of form.
World Sportbike Superpole Top Six
| 1 | David Salvador | Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI | — |
| 2 | Loris Veneman | MTM Kawasaki | +0.240s |
| 3 | Xavi Artigas | MTM Kawasaki | +0.472s |
| 4 | Antonio Torres | Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI | +0.486s |
| 5 | Fenton Seabright | PHR Performance Triumph | +0.494s |
| 6 | Carter Thompson | Team BrCorse | +0.686s |
Looking Ahead to the Weekend
If day one is anything to go by, Nicolo Bulega remains the man to beat — but Sam Lowes has shown he has the pace to run with the Italian, and with track temperatures likely to remain high throughout the weekend, the title leader may yet have to work harder than expected to maintain his unbeaten run. Meanwhile, Valentin Debise has delivered the performance of the day in WorldSSP, and David Salvador continues to rewrite the record books in World Sportbike. All to play for — and the summer break seems to have done nothing to slow the championship down.
