At the Superbike World Championship in Australia, Nicolo Bulega experiences a very strong Saturday and two solid races on Sunday: What didn’t quite go to plan on the final day
The WSBK debut of Superbike rookie Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) at Phillip Island was a success. On Saturday, last season’s Supersport World Champion turned the spotlight on himself as he stormed to pole in Superpole with a new lap record and rode to victory in the first race in controlled fashion (for reaction after debut win). But on Sunday, Bulega was unable to confirm this form
The start to the final day at Phillip Island did not go according to plan for the Italian WSBK rookie. In the warm-up, Bulega’s Ducati became unsettled at the exit of the second corner.
He came too far to the outside and rode on the grass. Bulega tried to save the situation but crashed. Did the slip-up affect the Ducati rider’s confidence?
The start to the Superpole race (race report) was bumpy. Pole setter Bulega lost a few positions and dropped back to seventh by the middle of the race. He made up two positions on the last lap and finished fifth. He had to start the final race (race report) from the second row of the grid
Nicolo Bulega shows strong recovery after a bad start
The start of the second main race did not go according to plan either. At times, Bulega was outside the top 10 and had to start from the fourth row at the restart. In the course of the race, he made up many positions and finished in P5.
Compared to Ducati teammate Alvaro Bautista, Bulega managed his rear tire much better (pieces of rubber came loose from Bautista’s rear tire)
However, the start prevented a better result. “Unfortunately, I didn’t get any good starts,” regrets Bulega. “I have to keep practicing the correct release of the clutch. Compared to the Panigale V2, it obviously works very differently. I still don’t really understand how to get it perfect. “
However, the rookie is more than satisfied with his WSBK debut: “All in all, I’m happy. It was a successful weekend. We got a pole position, a race win in the first race and two fastest race laps. I also finished in the top 5 twice. It was a really good first weekend in the Superbike World Championship for me.”
“Towards the end of the second race, I was pretty fast on used tires. I got closer and closer to the top riders. Unfortunately, the race was very short. I couldn’t catch them in time,” said Bulega, who leaves Australia in second place in the world championship. Kawasaki rider Alex Lowes, who leads the championship, is just nine points behind him
