Bulega after Cremona defeat: “Second place was the right decision”

This was only the second time Nicolo Bulega had been beaten in the current Superbike season. Following Iker Lecuona’s victory on Saturday at Donington Park, it was once again his team-mate who beat him: in the first race at Cremona, Bulega finished second, 5.6 seconds behind the Spaniard. For the championship leader, this was nevertheless an important result after a difficult Friday.

“Iker was very, very strong. To be honest, I would have had to take too many risks to keep up with him,” explained Bulega. “That’s why it was very important and sensible today to finish the race. Second place is good too. There are lots of my fans here, and I’d love to clinch the championship here.”

A fresh start after a disastrous Friday

There was a specific reason for Bulega’s caution. On Friday, he had crashed in both free practice sessions and consequently lost track time. Whilst he could understand the first crash, the second remained a mystery to him. “After yesterday, I’d lost my feel for the bike. I know why I crashed in the morning. I don’t know why I crashed in the afternoon,” he said during a meeting with SPEEDWEEK.com. “If you don’t know what happened after a crash, it’s better to reset everything and ease back in step by step at 90 per cent. Maybe I can ride at 95 per cent tomorrow.”

In this way, Bulega gradually got back to his usual pace over the course of Saturday. “This morning I started at 80 per cent; in qualifying it was 90 per cent. The race was then very long, the track temperature was higher and the grip wasn’t particularly good. That’s why I decided that second place is a good result.”

Gigi Dall’Igna in the Aruba pit

When asked whether Ducati Corse boss Luigi Dall’Igna had advised him to stay calm, Bulega replied: “No. I just didn’t want to do anything stupid.” In the early stages, he had been riding right behind Lecuona. “When Montella crashed in front of me on the first or second lap – I can’t remember exactly when – I lost a bit of time. After that, I actually felt good in the opening laps. Iker was quick, but not incredibly much faster at first.”

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When tyre wear set in, that changed: “The moment I started to feel the tyres wearing down a bit, he was significantly faster. That’s when I decided that second place was good enough.” Physically, too, Friday’s crashes appear to have had no major consequences. “After yesterday’s crash, I had a bit of pain in my shoulder, but only a slight one,” reported Bulega.

On Sunday, he could win the World Championship title in front of his home crowd. When asked what else was needed to achieve this, Bulega first checked the points tally himself: “How many points do I need to score tomorrow? 20? Then I’ll try to score 20 points.”

He has long since sensed that this weekend is different from a usual race weekend. Ducati Corse boss Dall’Igna and numerous senior managers from the brand are on site in Cremona. “When I wake up in my motorhome in the morning, it feels different,” said Bulega. “We’re in Italy. Lots of my fans are here and many friends have come from Misano to support me. I hope we can have a big party.”