Nicolo Bulega the only remaining world championship rival this year? The Ducati rider comments on the WSBK weekend at Most and talks about his World Championship chances
BMW rider Toprak Razgatlioglu has taken a big step towards the World Championship title at the Superbike World Championship in Most. With his third triple victory in a row, the Turkish rider moved further ahead in the championship (reaction from the WSBK high-flyer). World champion Alvaro Bautista lost a whopping 49 points to Razgatlioglu in Most and is now 104 points behind (what Bautista says about the two crashes on Sunday). Ducati team-mate Nicolo Bulega consolidated his second position in the World Championship. Is the Italian the only rider who can still stop Razgatlioglu?
Bulega is under no illusions. “No, I can’t challenge him at the moment,” he comments with regard to the situation in the riders’ standings and clarifies: “I’m not thinking about the championship. The season is still far too long. I’m not looking at the championship and am taking it race by race.”
“I try to be fast every weekend and gain experience. I start from scratch at every event and when I’m on the podium on Sunday, I’m very happy,” explained the Italian Ducati rider.
Ducati duel in turn 1: Bautista apologized to Bulega
In Most, Bulega clashed with teammate Bautista in the sprint. At the start of the final lap, the two factory Ducatis battled it out for victory. Bulega righted his Ducati and rode through the gravel. Bautista tried to take the corner, but hit the gravel with his front wheel and crashed.
Bulega describes the scene from his point of view: “I heard that Alvaro was behind me and knew that I had to brake at the absolute limit to prevent him from slipping through. I braked really hard, later than usual. When I saw his bike next to me, I knew we wouldn’t make the corner. “
WOW!!!@19Bautista CRASHES CzechWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/4gu8VsiXna
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) July 21, 2024
“I had to get the bike upright and ride straight on, otherwise I would have crashed. I looked behind to see if anyone was coming. Lowes was not close. Luckily I maintained second position,” explained Bulega, who received an apology from Bautista.
“Yes, he apologized to me. Alvaro is a good guy, he is intelligent. He has a lot of experience. That’s why he quickly realized it was a mistake. I have no problem with him,” said Bulega.
Why Bulega does not overestimate his lead in the second race
In the second main race, Bulega was once again first in pursuit of Razgatlioglu. Compared to Saturday’s race, he was able to ride much more consistently. His crew changed the set-up, which Bulega saw as progress. According to Bulega, the bike did not behave so nervously
He was unable to prevent Razgatlioglu’s tenth consecutive victory despite initially taking the lead. “When Toprak went past, I tried to follow him. But it was very difficult. I tried my best and pulled out a gap to the pursuers. The strategy worked. More would not have been possible,” said Bulega.
The rookie does not overestimate the lead laps at the beginning: “I don’t think I was fighting with Toprak in the first laps because he was only riding at 90 percent. I would call it a fight if he was also giving 100 percent. But I doubt that he’s giving 100 percent at the moment. That’s why it’s not a real fight.”
With 39 points, Bulega had another solid weekend in Most. However, he does not necessarily describe the demanding circuit not far from the German border as his favorite track: “It’s not really a good track for me. I don’t particularly like the track.” He has much better memories of Portimao. A year ago, he secured the Supersport World Championship title at the race weekend in Portugal.
