The WorldSBK Superbike paddock has arrived in southern Spain for the final round of the season, at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto, where Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) topped the first two free practice sessions, each time ahead of Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team).
Having secured a hat trick at this circuit 12 months ago, the Italian seems ideally placed to conclude his WorldSBK campaign in the best possible way. He completed 38 laps and finished top of the combined standings, 0,252 seconds ahead of Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team).
The two men finished first and second in both sessions, while Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) is less than a tenth behind.
- alex lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) set the sixth fastest time, just under half a second behind Bulega's pace. The Briton completed 38 laps, 23 of them in the afternoon session.
- Lorenzo Baldassarri has been confirmed at Team Goeleven for next season and marked this announcement by finishing with the seventh fastest time.
- Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Jake dixon (Honda HRC) both crashed at turn 9. Dixon's incident caused a Red flag during Free Practice 2.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): "It wasn't bad today, but the track wasn't very clean and there wasn't much rubber on the asphalt. It was a bit dirty and it was difficult to find a good rhythm and a good setup with the bike."
After the red flag, I decided to spend a little more time in the pit box so I could finish the session with the tires still in good condition. I simply needed to complete 21 laps to prepare for the race and adapt the bike to that distance.
We still need to make progress for tomorrow.
P2 - Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team): "It's nice for me to come back to this circuit because I've had some good times here in the past.
From the first lap, I felt pretty good, but we encountered some problems today. They concerned the bike and the brakes, which had never happened to us before.
This disrupted our rhythm a bit and I wasn't able to show my true potential.
Overall, it was still a positive day. I didn't show my full potential today, but I was still pretty good. I'm looking forward to trying to fight a bit harder tomorrow.
P3 – Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): "I suffered a lot because I know this isn't my best track. I had a very bad feeling with the bike."
We tried something new in the afternoon, but we couldn't find a solution that made me feel good. During the last run, I felt a bit more competitive, or at least more consistent in my lap times.
This morning I was very inconsistent and we wore out the tire very quickly. The team started analyzing all the data from this morning and this afternoon because, it's true, it was warmer, but the feeling was quite similar and it was still bad for me.
We'll see if we can find something for tomorrow.
Superbike Jerez Bulega Sam Lowes
