Bulega fastest on Friday for his first visit at Phillip Island with Ducati

P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team)

• Bulega was fastest at the end of Friday with a best time of 1’34.027s. He was 0.040s quicker than Caricasulo.

“It’s been a very good Friday for us. I had a very good feeling with my bike, especially in FP2 where we improved a lot. It’s my first time here with Ducati but we immediately had a good feeling. I hope that tomorrow we can be faster. We have to be faster because everybody will improve a lot, but we can improve our bike and also my riding style. We need to improve a bit everywhere. I think that for the moment, the circuit fits the Ducati but also in Indonesia, I was fast on the first day and then we struggled a bit more on Saturday and Sunday. Here, I want to be fast every day, and we will work for this. We are here to try to improve our best result of the season, a second place. I have to be very fast and give to the team what they deserve.”

Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) was second on the combined standings with a fastest time of 1’34.067s, making it two Ducatis in the first two positions. 2022 WorldSSP Champion Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) concluded Friday in third place, 0.431s behind Bulega.

Having posted a 1’34.532s, Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was fourth in the combined classifications. Next up was Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) following by Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). For his first visit with Supersport at Phillip Island, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was seventh, 0.710s behind the fastest rider.

Home hero Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) concluded Friday in 10th place 0.796s behind Bulega, having been inside the top four in FP1, as a promising weekend awaits.

To note:

Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) was 18th in the combined classification after he had a crash at Turn 8, with the 2021 WorldSSP300 Champion taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. He was diagnosed with minor contusions and has been declared fit for the weekend.