WorldSBK: Nicolo Bulega made history again today in Hungary by setting a new mark for early season dominance.
The Italian’s fourth hat-trick of the season means he is the first rider in WorldSBK history to open a season with twelve wins in a row. Having broken the record for consecutive victories yesterday the Italian continued to dominate the Superbike class with a vice-like grip.
Race 2 Highlights
Starting from pole position ahead of his Aruba.it Racing – Ducati teammate, Iker Lecuona, Bulega made a fast start and took the holeshot into Turn 1. The championship leader was kept under pressure for the first half of the race before extending his lead over Lecuona. The 21 lap race was dominated by the duo who notched up their ninth consecutive one-two.
Having started from fifth on the grid Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) claimed his second podium of the season. The Italian was at the front of the group during a chaotic opening tour and his reward was to spend all 21 laps in third position. It wasn’t easy for Montella as he started to struggle with rear tyre wear in the closing stages of the race. He was however able to hold off Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team Goeleven) at the chequered flag.
Baldassarri was involved in plenty of action on the opening lap with a clash with Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team). The fight for a top five finish was claimed by Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) who picked off Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) at half distance. Surra finished the race in seventh position to round off a great weekend with three eight finishes.
Championship Highlights
- Bulega is now 82 points clear of the field in the Riders Standings.
- Ducati’s perfect score of 248 points from four rounds means they now hold a 140 point over bimota who failed to score a point in Race 2 after a technical problem for Axel Bassani and a crash for Alex Lowes.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“This has been an amazing weekend. I’m even happier than after the last round because this is the most difficult track of the season for me. With my riding style it’s not easy to be fast here. I really wanted this win and to finish the hat-trick in Balaton. I was thinking before the weekend that if I could win here it would be very important for the championship and for the next rounds. It feels fantastic. To succeed like this with Ducati makes it even more special. For an Italian bike with an Italian rider it means a lot. I’m really happy and I want to continue like this because it makes me happy. When I see the whole team happy as well it makes it even better.”
P2 – Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I struggled a lot on Friday because I was sick. Physically it wasn’t easy this weekend. In the Superpole Race I needed the full distance to catch Nicolo because I was gaining on him towards the end. In the long race I felt I had the performance to stay with him and maybe try something but in the last laps I was struggling a lot physically. I couldn’t recover enough energy and I started to make some mistakes, I almost crashed a few times and ran wide in the chicane. At that point I told myself to be smart. Second place isn’t the result we aim for but for the championship and for the team it’s still a very good result.”
P3 – Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team)
“I’m really happy. To get another podium after Phillip Island, which is one of my favourite tracks, makes it even more special. It shows how well we’ve worked. After the crashes in Portimao we used Assen to rebuild my feeling with the bike. Here we started again from FP1 to do the same. Session by session we have improved so I’m very proud of the progress we made. I’m really proud of my team and the work we’ve done together in the garage.”
Race 2 Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.557s
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +11.970s
4. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +12.478s
5. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) +24.903s
6. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +26.510s
Championship Standings
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 248 points
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 166
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) 99
4. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 85
5. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 82
6. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) 82
Superpole Race Highlights
Bulega made it fifteen in a row with a race victory in the shortened Superpole Race. A red flag following a multiple rider crash at Turn 5 on Lap 1 saw Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) ruled out of action for the rest of the day after contact with Andrea Locatelli who was given a double long lap penalty. Oliveira was diagnosed with a concussion and a left shoulder injury, and was transported to Szekesfehervar hospital for further assessment.
When the race restarted it was quickly a battle between Bulega and Lecuona who opened a gap over the field. When the chequered flag was waved after eight laps of action it was front row starter Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team Goeleven) who finished on the podium
Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) was the ninth placed rider to claim the final point and a spot on the third row of the grid. By finishing outside the points Locatelli and Sam Lowes were relegated to the fourth row of the grid for Race 2.
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.894s
3. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +5.103s
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