WorldSBK: History was made in Race 1 at the Balaton Park Circuit with Nicolo Bulega notching up his fourteenth consecutive victory in WorldSBK.
The Italian continued his perfect start to the season by leading home an Aruba.it Racing – Ducati one two finish with Iker Lecuona coming from the third row of the grid to finish in second position.
Race 1 Highlights
Starting from pole position Bulega led from start to finish to seal his tenth win of the season. The Ducati rider was over one second clear of the field after the opening lap and over four seconds clear of Lecuona when the Spaniard moved into second position. From Lap 8 onwards Bulega managed his pace and held a comfortable margin at the chequered flag having led all 21 laps and set the fastest lap.
Lecuona, starting from eighth position, moved forwards by two spots on Lap 1, another on the second tour and Miguel Oliveira, Yari Montella and Alberto Surra on consecutive laps to be into second position on Lap 7.
Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) spent the opening third of the race fighting with Independent Ducati’s before moving into the podium positions and setting a consistent pace. He ended the race with a margin of over one second to the chasing pack lead by the Barni Spark Racing Team duo of Montella and Alvaro Bautista.
Alex Lowes continued his consistent start to the season with his seventh top six finish for bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team having put up a spirited defence from Bautista. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) led home Surra (Motocorsa Racing) for seventh position.
Championship highlights
Bulega extended his title lead to 74 points from Lecuona while a jump start penalty cost Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) points en route to a ninth place finish. Lowes, third in the standings, is now four points ahead of Oliveira.
With ten wins from ten Ducati are 106 points ahead of bimota in the Manufacturer Standings.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It wasn’t a bad day but I’m not riding very naturally at this circuit. In some areas I have to think a lot about what I’m doing. That’s a bit difficult but in the end we’ve won another race which is incredible. We worked hard with the team after yesterday, I didn’t have the best feeling yesterday, and today it was much better. To achieve this record of consecutive wins is something special. I’m proud and I hope we can continue like this. It feels like a dream to be riding for Ducati, with such a competitive bike, and to achieve these results with this team and this brand.”
P2 – Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“Today was tricky. This morning we lost our direction because we tried different things on the bike and even after the changes from FP3 and Superpole I didn’t feel comfortable. I felt better yesterday so I’m a bit frustrated with P5 in Superpole. During the race, I lost some time in the opening laps, but I had the pace to fight with Nicolo today which is positive. My overtakes were good and the rhythm was strong from start to finish. We are now focused on tomorrow. Starting from P5 the target is to get onto the front row in the Superpole Race and then fight again for the top positions.”
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P3 – Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“We made a good step for the Superpole session but we didn’t put a full lap together because of the yellow flags. Starting from the second row is still a good position. I had a strong start to the race but I lost time in the early laps. In the end, it was a tough race, but I managed to secure third and build a gap to the riders behind. I focused on my own pace and controlling the situation. We also collected some important data for tomorrow. If I can fight for the podium again in both races I’ll leave Balaton very satisfied.”
Race 1 Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.538s
3. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +12.584s
4. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +14.077s
5. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) +15.032s
6. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +15.781s
Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), 1’38.783s – new lap record
Superpole Highlights
Bulega continued his run of Superpole successes. The Italian made it four from four in the 15 minute session this season. Having followed on Bulega’s tail during the early minutes Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team Goeleven) was rewarded with the maiden front row start of his WorldSBK career ahead of Yari Montella. The Barni Spark Racing Team rider qualified on the front row for the third time this season.
Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) leads off the second row of the grid. Iker Lecuona had qualified in fifth position but was later given a three place grid penalty for slow riding and forced to start Race 1 from eighth position.
It was an incident-packed session with crashes for Danilo Petrucci and Stefano Manzi leading to yellow flags in the closing minutes. This meant some riders were unable to improve their lap times.
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’38.094s
2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +0.608s
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.625s
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