Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had a rollercoaster weekend at the Pirelli Portuguese Round, from battling with an illness and bike issues on Friday to battling for victory on Sunday. The Italian had an intense duel with Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in Race 2, with the #11 missing out on the glory by 0.035s as Razgatlioglu’s win streak continues.

It was a slow start to the weekend for the Italian, completing one lap in FP1, Bulega ended Friday fourth in the combined standings after a strong lap in FP2. The #11 was feeling under the weather throughout the day, but on Saturday would finish Superpole in fourth, earning a spot on the second row for Race 1 which he would convert to a seventh-place finish as teammate Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took second. Then on Sunday Bulega battled hard in the Superpole Race, taking the final spot inside the top five – ahead of Bautista.

Discussing his weekend as a whole, Bulega said: “It was a difficult weekend because I missed FP1 with a technical problem, also I started the weekend very sick, I was at 60%, I was very bad all the weekend so thanks to all the doctors that followed me all the weekend, to my team and to myself. It was one of the most difficult weekends of my life but in the end in Race 2 we got a good podium, almost victory so it was very nice.”

It was a sensational battle in Race 2, one that went down to the wire and saw Bulega claim second. The #11 had shown an incredible pace throughout, catching Razgatlioglu with four laps remaining and beginning to battle after Bautista crashed out. Consistently running inside the 1’41 bracket, he tried to line up a move at the final corner on the run to the line, settling for P2.

Speaking about his strategy in the closing laps, Bulega said: “I knew that Toprak was very fast but in the last laps I was not too much slower, so with two/three laps to go I saw the possibility of winning, so I tried to not lose too many meters from him and I knew that he was very difficult to overtake because he brakes very hard and the BMW is fast. I tried in the only put where I was faster, the last corner but it was too late but anyway I am happy.”

Now all attention turns to the next round of the 2024 WorldSBK Championship at the Motul French Round, where it is set to be fireworks as Razgatlioglu enters the weekend with the chance to win 16 consecutive races. However, rookie Bulega has great memories from the circuit and is ready to battle as we head to another technical circuit.

Looking towards the next round of the season, Bulega said: “Ready like always, it will be difficult because Magny-Cours is a technical track but I like it, last year In Supersport I won both races. But like always this year will be different, but I will try and do my best.”

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