WorldSBK: The Pirelli Dutch Round sees the paddock head to the cathedral of TT Circuit Assen.
The fast, flowing venue is one that requires a confident rider and Nicolo Bulega is certainly confident. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider has won the opening six races of the year and he looks ready to continue that form at Assen.
Bulega set the pace in both sessions as he completed 39 laps aboard his Ducati Panigale V4R. The championship leader ended the day two tenths of a second faster than the rest of the field and he completed nine laps faster than anyone else managed throughout the day.
Ducati held the top three times on the combined practice sessions with Lorenzo Baldassarri showing strong potential aboard the Team Goeleven bike. The Italian, a podium finisher at the opening round of the year, ended the day second fastest. He completed 43 laps, the most of anyone today. Iker Lecuona, teammate of Bulega, was his closest challenger at the previous round. The Spaniard ended the day third fastest.
Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was fourth fastest but it wasn’t an easy day for the BMW Motorrad riders. Petrucci crashed at Turn 16 at the end of the morning session while Miguel Oliveira crashed at Turn 10. Oliveira was eleventh fastest at the end of the day.
Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) was the leading Yamaha rider. The Spaniard was four tenths of a second slower than Bulega but was fifth fastest. While Vierge offered Yamaha reasons for encouragement his teammate, Andrea Locatelli, was eleventh fastest. Locatelli, a race winner at Assen last year, was almost one second off the pace.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati):
“We started well this morning but I wasn’t completely happy with the feeling on the bike. We improved it a bit during the day but I’m still only at 90% so we need to find that last 10% for tomorrow. I’m missing some front feeling under braking. This makes it a bit difficult to get the bike into the corner in the way that I want to but it’s something we can manage. I’m happy because the pace is good and we have worked well with the tyres today. I didn’t need to change tyres this afternoon so it’s been a positive Friday.”
P2 – Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven):
“We can be very happy today. After Portimao, it’s good to confirm our speed again. Physically I also feel better compared to Portugal, which helped a lot. Our speed was good today but we need to confirm it tomorrow and keep improving. Everyone will be faster tomorrow so we need to improve too.”
P3 – Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati):
“I’m a bit frustrated. Compared to Australia, I’m still not happy with the feeling on the bike. This morning I didn’t feel comfortable and this afternoon we didn’t find a clear step forward. We improved in some areas but not in the ones where we are struggling. To finish the day P3 is okay and the pace is there for more but I still feel like something is missing. Let’s see if we can fix it tomorrow.”
Combined Results after FP2
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’33.687
2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +0.276
3. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.330
4. Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.405
5. Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +0.410
6. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.456
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