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Perfect day for Nicholas Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in Jerez, since the Italian first broke the lap record in Superpole, before leading the first race from start to finish: thanks to this victory, the title of World Superbike Championship will be played on Sunday, the final day of the season on the 4,423 km Spanish circuit.


Highlights of Race 1

Starting from pole position, Bulega lost his head at the start, but one decisive overtaking at turn 5 allowed him to regain the advantage over Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). From then on, the Italian has controlled the race from start to finish, crossing the finish line with almost four seconds ahead.

After being overtaken at turn 5 on the first lap, Razgatlioglu made a mistake on the next turn : excessive braking forced him to widen and lose ground. Third at the end of the first lap, he quickly outdated Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) in the second round, then settled into a confident rhythm to finish second without taking any risks.

The fight for third place was intense. Iannone resisted until 15rd round, courageously defending his position against alex lowes (Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team), Xavi Verge (Honda HRC) et Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). It's finally Baptist who had the last word.

Starting seventh, the reigning champion found himself ninth after the first lap before methodically climbing back up. Halfway through the race, he passed Vierge and Lowes at Turn 1, and despite their replies, he regained the advantage to sign a sixth consecutive podium.

An incident at the second turn, in the fast turn 4, saw Jonathan Rhea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) fall while he was in the top 10. The six-time world champion will start sixth in the Superpole race on Sunday.


Key points of the championship

  • Toprak Razgatlioglu conserve 34 points ahead on Open up : the Turk only needs three points on Sunday to pick up his third world title.

  • Bautista's podium allows him to dig a gap of 13 points on Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in the fight for the third place in the general classification.

  • Among manufacturers, Ducati now has only an eight-point lead over BMW before the last two races.


Drivers' statements

P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

“Our goal was to win this race, and we did it. It will be very difficult tomorrow, but racing is racing, and we will give it our all until the end. We have made good progress since yesterday and my Superpole lap this morning was incredible. I have found a good feeling in the race and I feel good on the bike. My goal is to try to win both races tomorrow—nothing is impossible.”

P2 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)

“The start went well, but at Turn 5, Bulega touched me slightly. That's normal, it's part of the race. After that, I lost a bit of time. I wanted to brake hard at Turn 6 because I saw Iannone next to me, but I made a mistake and went wide. Then I focused on getting back into second place and gave everything to try to win, but it was impossible: Bulega had a very strong pace. We worked well today and we will analyze the data to improve the bike tomorrow. I still have some engine braking and traction issues, but I hope we can correct them. I will try to win before thinking about the title.”

P3 – Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

“I really enjoyed this race. There were some great battles! I almost crashed several times, especially at Turn 2 where I was almost on the ground! Luckily, I was able to save the bike with my elbow and straighten it up a bit. It’s not easy when you’re as small as me! (laughs) I’m very happy because the team made a big change to the bike this morning and I felt much better than yesterday. I was able to push harder and enjoy overtaking. I’m really satisfied.”

Superbike Jerez Nicolo Bulega

All articles on Pilots: Álvaro Bautista, Nicolo Bulega, Toprak Razgatlioglu

All articles on Teams: BMW WSBK, Ducati WorldSBK