SBK Donington, Race 2: Bulega wins – Lecuona (2nd) stages a strong comeback

After World Championship leader Nicolo Bulega was beaten by his Aruba.it team-mate Iker Lecuona in Race 1 at Donington – ending his run of 25 consecutive victories – he restored the old pecking order in Sunday’s Superpole Race. Bulega took the win ahead of Barni-Ducati rider Yari Montella and Sam Lowes (Marc VDS). Lecuona crashed on the second lap whilst leading.

For Lecuona, the crash was doubly bitter. In the second main race that afternoon, he had to start from far down the grid. As a reminder: in the first SBK race on Saturday and the sprint race on Sunday, riders start according to their Superpole results. For the second main race on Sunday, the starting grid is rearranged. The top nine from the sprint race make up the first three rows of the grid. The remaining riders, who tackle the second race from 10th on the grid, are lined up according to their Superpole results. As a result, Lecuona was the biggest loser under this rule at Donington. The Spaniard, who had secured second place on the grid in qualifying, had to start Race 2 from 10th position.

The front row for Race 2 at Donington was made up of Nicolo Bulega, Yari Montella and Sam Lowes. Alex Lowes, Axel Bassani and Lorenzo Baldassarri started from the second row. The third row was occupied by Thomas Bridewell, Xavi Vierge and Garrett Gerloff. Alongside Iker Lecuona on the fourth row were Jonathan Rea and Miguel Oliveira.

Nicolo Bulega got off to the best start. Montella entered the first corner in second place. Alex Lowes managed to overtake his brother Sam. Lecuona made up one place and was ninth.

In the first of 23 laps, Lecuona gained further positions. By the end of the first lap, he was seventh. Jonathan Rea was eleventh.

On lap 2, Bridewell overtook Sam Lowes, but the Marc VDS rider fought back. Montella set the fastest lap of the race.

On lap 3, Bulega and Montella began to pull away gradually. The Ducati Panigale V4R is currently by far the best bike on the grid.

One lap later, Chantra and Sofuoglu crashed at Turn 11. By lap 4, Bulega already had a lead of just under a second. Lecuona was already fifth.

Lap 5: Montella managed to maintain a consistent gap to Bulega. Alex and Sam Lowes were battling it out for third place. Behind them, Lecuona was closing in fast.

By lap 6, Bulega had extended his lead over Montella to over a second. Montella, in turn, had opened up a gap of around two seconds over his pursuers. Then Lecuona overtook Bimota rider Alex Lowes. He was now in hot pursuit of the other Lowes brother.

Lap 7: Bulega’s lead was already 1.5 seconds. Lecuona was right on the tail of Alex Lowes and overtook him in the final corner.

The order on lap 8: Bulega, Montella, Lecuona, Sam Lowes and Alex Lowes. Bridewell was forced to retire due to a technical fault.

Lap 9: Bulega’s lead had grown to over two seconds. Montella still held a 1.5-second advantage over Lecuona. Locatelli and Oliveira were battling it out for 12th place. Rea was still in tenth. Behind him was Álvaro Bautista – the old rivals were together again.

Lap 11: Montella’s gap to Bulega remained steady at two seconds. Lecuona was 1.4 seconds behind in third place. Bautista managed to overtake Rea. The six-time champion now found himself up against Locatelli and Oliveira.

On the twelfth lap, the World Championship leader’s lead stood at 2.5 seconds. Lecuona had closed the gap on Montella to half a second. Sam Lowes was already 3.5 seconds behind the pair. Gerloff was running in seventh place.

Lap 13: Montella managed to extend his lead over Lecuona slightly once again. Meanwhile, Rea was overtaken by Locatelli and Oliveira. Alex Lowes managed to get past his brother Sam. The Bimota rider was now fourth.

With nine laps to go, Lecuona was right on the tail of Montella’s Barni Ducati. Bulega was 2.5 seconds ahead.

In the final corner of lap 16, the moment arrived: Lecuona overtook Montella. The Spaniard was now in hot pursuit of his team-mate. Axel Bassani was right on the tail of Sam Lowes. In the Melbourne hairpin, he snatched the lead from the Briton. Bassani was now in fifth place. Sam Lowes now had to contend with Garrett Gerloff.

With five laps to go, Sam Lowes had a problem with his Ducati – he raised his hand and let Gerloff past. At the front, Bulega had extended his lead to 3.5 seconds. Lecuona, meanwhile, had opened up a 1.6-second gap over Montella.

With three laps to go, Bulega already had a four-second lead. This time, Lecuona couldn’t keep up with his team-mate. His charge from 10th on the grid to second place had been impressive, but now his run had come to an end.

Meanwhile, Axel Bassani overtook his team-mate Alex Lowes. He was in fourth place, 8.5 seconds behind Montella.

Bulega went into the final lap with a 3.8-second lead over Lecuona. Montella was 2.2 seconds behind the Spaniard. Jonathan Rea continued to drop down the order. He was overtaken by Remy Gardner and was subsequently in 14th place.

Nicolo Bulega took the win, crossing the finish line 4.161 seconds ahead of Lecuona. Montella finished third. Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes took fourth and fifth places respectively. Kawasaki rider Gerloff put in a strong performance and finished Race 2 at Donington in sixth place.