Nicholas Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team) arrived in Indonesia as the undefeated leader of the FIM Supersport World Championship. He still leaves in the lead, but without having won one of the two races on the program for the second round which was held on the Mandalika circuit.
The Ducati official started the weekend as usual, dominating the free practice sessions with his Panigale V2, this time on the island of Lombok, but with “different sensations” from Australia.
« We finished on top in both sessions but the feeling was very different to the one we had in Australia. It's clear that the asphalt conditions were difficult for everyone, especially in FP1 when we were the first to hit the track. Anyway, I'm satisfied because the feeling with the bike was not bad at all. Tomorrow we will definitely find a better circuit and try to improve further. »
La Qualifying superpole, then made us understand that suspense was going to be essential for the races, the gaps being tiny with Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) and Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). And indeed, the latter escaped from the start to win his first victory with more than three seconds ahead as raindrops fell at the start of the race. Federico Caricasulo et Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) completed the podium in front Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) while Nicholas Bulega finished only 5th, ahead Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha).
What had happened to the championship leader? Starting from pole position but feeling uncomfortable on slicks while drops of rain fell on the grid, he lost a lot of time during the first four laps before moving up from 8th position, until colliding with Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) at turn #16 and sending the Dutchman to the ground without gravity.
A difficult race that the Ducati official was keen to forget: “ I am very happy with this first pole position but in the race, I was not able to push as I wanted. I was having a lot of difficulty in certain sectors and this did not allow me to attack and recover positions after the first two difficult laps. There is no doubt that we need to work to improve for Race 2. »
On Sunday, always starting from Pole Position, Nicholas Bulega defended the first position for three laps. However, the pace was not incisive and the Italian driver found himself fourth on the sixth lap. He nevertheless gritted his teeth and, five laps from the finish, he overtook Can Öncü to get on the podium (P3) with Federico Caricasulo et Stefano manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha).
“I’m quite happy with this weekend. We got our first pole position and we're coming home with a podium. The results are positive because if I have to be honest, the feeling with the bike was not the one we had in Australia. We have six weeks to analyze the data and prepare for Assen. »
In the championship, the 23-year-old driver sees his lead reduced from 20 to 18 points over Stefano manzias Can Öncü jumped from 8th to 3th position.
WSBK Supersport Championship rankings at Phillip Island then Mandalika:
Classification credit: WorldSBK.com
