WorldSBK: A perfect Saturday for Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) saw the Italian smash the lap record during the Superpole Session before leading every lap in Race 1 at Jerez.
The Ducati star’s performance means that the title will be decided on the final day of the season around the 4.423km long Spanish circuit.
Race 1 Highlights
Starting from pole position Bulega lost the lead off the line. A trademark move at Turn 5 saw him attack Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and take the lead. From that point onwards the Italian was able to control the race and lead every lap until the flag where he held a near four second lead.
Having been overtaken at Turn 5 on the opening tour, Razgatlioglu made a mistake at the following corner. Under the heavy braking the BMW ran wide and he was immediately attacked and dropped down the order. Third at the end of the opening lap he was past Andrea Iannone on Lap 2 and then settled into his rhythm to finish in a safe second.
The battle for third was intense. Until Lap 15 Iannone held the field at bay with a battling, defensive ride by the Team Pata Go Eleven rider. First Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) then Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) attacked but it was Bautista who won the battle.
From seventh on the grid the Ducati rider was ninth on the opening lap before easing his way through the group. At half distance he overtook both Vierge and Lowes into Turn 1 and while they answered back Bautista had the pace to come back and finish on the podium for the sixth consecutive race.
A Lap 2 crash, at the fast turn 4, saw Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) tumble out of the top ten but the six times champion will start tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole Race from sixth on the grid.
Championship Highlights
- Razgatlioglu holds a 34 point advantage from Bulega which means the Turkish rider needs three points tomorrow to claim his third WorldSBK title.
- Bautista’s podium gives him a 13 point lead over Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in the fight for third in the standings.
- With two races remaining the points gap between Ducati and BMW stands at eight points in the Manufacturers’ Standings.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“Our goal was to win this race and we did it. It will be very difficult tomorrow but racing is racing. We’ll try until the end. We made a good step from yesterday to today and this morning’s Superpole lap was incredible. I felt strong again in Race 1 and I feel good with the bike. My target is to try to win both races tomorrow and then we’ll see what that means for the championship. Nothing is impossible.”
P2 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“We started quite well but in Turn 5 Bulega touched me a little. It’s normal and it’s racing but after that I lost a bit of time. I tried to brake hard into Turn 6 because I saw Iannone was with me. I made a mistake and I went wide. After that I focused on recovering P2 and I pushed really hard to try and win but it was impossible because Bulega’s pace was very strong. We did a good job today and now we’ll check the data to see how we can improve for tomorrow. I have some issues with engine braking and traction control but I hope we can fix that. I’ll try to win tomorrow before thinking about the title.”
P3 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I really enjoyed this race. I had some great battles. I was close to crashing a couple of times, especially at Turn 2 where I was almost on the floor! Luckily, I managed to save it with my elbow and pick the bike up a bit. It’s not easy when you’re as small as me to do that! I’m really happy because my team made an important change to the bike this morning and I felt much better than yesterday. I could push more and enjoy the overtakes, so I’m really happy.”
Race 1 Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +3.766s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +9.569s
4. Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) +11.221s
5. Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) +12.272s
6. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +12.755s
Fastest Lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), 1’38.737s
Tissot Superpole Highlights
On his first lap of the 15 minute Superpole session Bulega immediately broke the lap record. His second stint was even faster with the pole time, 1’36.629, almost one second faster than last year’s pole position.
Razgatlioglu ended the session over half a second slower than Bulega but netted second on the grid. The Turkish rider ends the season with a perfect record of 12 front row starts.
Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) qualified on the front row of the grid. The Englishman’s season ended in the session as he withdrew from the rest of the Spanish Round due to injury. Alex Lowes benefitted from his brother’s withdrawal to be elevated to the front row of the grid.
Superpole Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’36.629s
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.524s
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.972s*
*Declared unfit following Superpole
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