If Nicolo Bulega does not lack motivation, he does not lack pressure either. When it is not the owner of his team Valentino Rossi who sees in him the “most gifted of the young Italians”, it is his team manager Pablo Nieto who envisages “an exceptional future” for him. Many believe that Nicolo has a very good chance of winning the future Moto3 World Champion title, and he confirmed his ambitions this weekend in Valencia.
Bulega was the fastest of these two days with a good time of 1'39.884, which is however nothing exceptional if we compare it to the lap record of 1'39.400 established by Efren Vasquez on Honda in 2014. The Nicolo's time was even slightly slower than that established last week by Bo Bendsneyder in 1'39.756. But comparing times achieved during different sessions is not necessarily very revealing.
The direct comparison this weekend was more interesting, and Bulega was ahead of Philipp Oettl by 0.1 and Albert Arenas and Lorenzo Dalla Porta by 0.3, the latter two being separated by only a single hundredth. Team RBA also took part in these tests with Juanfran Guevara and Gabriel Rodrigo, but without a transponder, just like the Argiñano & Ginés Racing Team which was running Maria Herrera's KTM.
Second day results:
1- Nicolò Bulega – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM RC 250 GP – 1'39.884
2- Philipp Öttl – Südmetall Schedl GP Racing – KTM RC 250 GP – 1’40.023
3- Albert Arenas – Pull&Bear Aspar Mahindra – Mahindra MGP30 – 1’40.249
4- Lorenzo Dalla Porta – Pull&Bear Aspar Mahindra – Mahindra MGP30 – 1’40.264
5- Andrea Migno – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM RC 250 GP – 1’40.704
Reference times:
Test record: 1'39.068 by Jack Miller (KTM) in 2014
Lap record: 1'39.400 by Efren Vasquez (Honda) in 2014
Results of the first day:
1- Nicolò Bulega – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM RC 250 GP – 1'40.193
2- Philipp Öttl – Südmetall Schedl GP Racing – KTM RC 250 GP – 1’40.294
3- Andrea Migno – KTM RC 250 GP – 1’40.819
Reminder: Unofficial chronos of February 9 and 10:
Bo Bendsneyder (KTM), 1:39,756
Aron Canet (Honda), 1:39,807
Romano Fenati (Honda), 1:40,106
Jorge Martin (Honda), 1:40,181
Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) 1:40,224
Tony Arbolino (Honda) 1:40,270
Niccolò Antonelli (KTM), 1:40,280
Enea Bastianini (Honda) 1:40,626
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Honda), 1:40,485
Jules Danilo (Honda), 1:40,843
Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (Honda) 1:41,106
