Two crashes, trouble in the Aruba pits: Nicolo Bulega has a strange Friday

For Nicolo Bulega, the start of practice for the Superbike World Championship in Cremona was an unusual affair. The Italian crashed both in the morning’s FP1 and in the afternoon’s FP2, thereby losing a lot of track time. After the second crash, the usually calm Ducati rider raised his voice in the Aruba pit. By the time of the subsequent media session, he had calmed down again.

“A strange Friday for me. But perhaps we’ve worked out what caused it. I’m not worried; these things can happen,” said Bulega during a meeting with SPEEDWEEK.com in Italy.

Strange crash: Bulega wasn’t at the limit

It was the sheer number of crashes that particularly puzzled him: “I was pushing, but not at 100 per cent. That’s odd for me. I don’t usually crash very often. Crashing twice in one Friday is unusual.”

When asked what he’d shouted to his team in the pits after the second crash, Bulega replied: “I don’t remember exactly. I said that something felt a bit strange. Maybe the tyre wasn’t as good from the first lap as it was this morning.” He didn’t cite a specific cause. First, the team would have to analyse the data and understand what had happened.

Huge pressure at the home race

In Cremona, Bulega would like to celebrate the World Championship title in front of his home crowd, ideally with a win. Yet, of all people, it was his team-mate Iker Lecuona who set the pace on Friday, clocking the fastest time in both practice sessions.

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“Of course, it would be nicer to win the title and win the race as well,” Bulega admitted. “But Iker is stronger than us at the moment. If I have to finish second to secure the title, that wouldn’t be too bad either.” He therefore has no intention of giving up the fight for victory in the race: “Let’s see how FP3 and qualifying go. I’ll definitely do everything I can to win.”

According to Bulega, the two crashes had no physical consequences. “I’m fine,” assured the Italian, who travelled to Cremona feeling slightly under the weather. Bulega had injured his left shoulder in a crash on the 850cc MotoGP bike at Mugello. As a precaution, he sat out the MotoGP test day at Spielberg following last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.