WorldSBK: Nicolo Bulega continued his perfect start to the season by claiming pole position in the morning and then winning the opening race of the weekend at Motorland Aragon.
The Ducati star led his Aruba.it Racing – Ducati teammate, Iker Lecuona, home for a thirteenth consecutive one-two finish for the Italian squad.
Race 1 Highlights
Bulega and Lecuona led the field for the duration of the 18 laps. The margin between the Ducati duo ebbed and flowed and at the conclusion it was just 1.2s.
Starting from the front row of the grid Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) made a slow start and dropped behind Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team). The brothers battled for a lap before Sam came through on the brakes at Turn 1 and then he opened a margin to the fourth place man. Alex Lowes would spend the duration of the race managing the gap to the battle behind.
Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) qualified a career best eighth but made a fast start to jump into fifth position at the start. The former British champion spent the race one position ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team Goeleven) but the margin was always closing in the second half of proceedings. A gap that stretched out to 1.5s at one third distance was reduced to next to nothing in the closing laps as Baldassarri piled on the pressure. Bridewell refused to yield and held on for the first top five finish of his WorldSBK career.
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) finished in seventh position ahead of a race long duel between Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team). Little more than half a second separated them at the end of the race with Gerloff applying constant pressure to Bassani throughout the race.
Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) was an early retirement after a technical issue. The double WorldSBK champion was racing through the pain barrier having fractured his ankle at the previous round. He was joined on the sidelines by Hannes Sommer (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) who both crashed at Turn 14.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“Today was another great race so I’m really happy. We tried a few different details on the bike today and we made a step forward during qualifying. My plan during the opening laps was to build a gap and then I wanted to save the rear tyre a little more for the final laps. When I saw the gap increasing I thought it was the right moment to stay calm and manage the tyre. I felt very good throughout the race and I was able to ride smoothly with my natural riding style and I was really happy with the bike and with how everything was working.”
P2 – Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“At the beginning Nicolo was very fast, as we expected, but I almost crashed a few times on the new tyre. When the tyres started to wear I felt a bit better and I was able to recover almost one second to Nicolo. I was overriding the bike and using all my energy. It was difficult because the track was very tricky in those hot conditions but I’m quite satisfied. To have another second place is a good result and we are quite close to Nicolo. We still need a little bit more in the race but I’m really happy with the performance.”
P3 – Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team)
“I knew coming here that I could be strong. We had a good test in Misano and I’m happy with my lap in qualifying but I made a small mistake in the last sector because otherwise I think it could have been a little bit better. The first seven or eight laps of the race were good and I had a strong pace but the two guys in front were just a little bit stronger. In those conditions, I was really at the limit with the front. I’m happy that I managed the race well and that gives me some confidence going into tomorrow. I think we can make a small step with the bike and improve for tomorrow.”
Race 1 Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.274s
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +8.078s
4. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +16.177s
5. Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) +18.619s
6. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +18.684s
Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), 1’48.681s
Superpole Highlights
Bulega’s smashed the lap record by almost half a second to claim the pole position with a time of 1’46.836. It was the Ducati star’s fifteen career pole position as he continued his perfect start to the campaign with his sixth Superpole success ahead of his teammate Lecuona.
Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) claimed his first front row Superpole performance by setting the third fastest time. Unfortunately the Italian had to serve a back of the grid penalty for Race 1 but he’ll start tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole Race from the front row of the grid.
The bimota duo of Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani qualified inside the top ten. Lowes, fifth fastest, was able to follow Lecuona on his fastest lap while Bassani qualified tenth fastest. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) set the seventh fastest time as he continues to deputise for the injured Miguel Oliveira.
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’46.836
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.476s
3. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) +0.513s*
*Started Race 1 from the back of the grid
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