Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) admitted that it was a good weekend at the Czech Round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, where the #11 claimed two podiums. Throughout the weekend the Italian felt that he made a step with his bike in every session.

Bulega finished Friday in fifth, ending FP2 0.552s behind Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who was at the top of the timesheets. The Italian had a solid start to Saturday, finishing FP3 in fourth position before placing his Ducati on the second row of the grid in Superpole which would lead to a sixth-place finish in Race 1.

On Sunday, Bulega made another step forward for the Superpole Race, where he briefly stole the lead from Razgatlioglu before crossing the line in second position. The Italian experienced similar success in Race 2, claiming another second place – 3.239s adrift from victory.

Discussing the improvements made on Sunday, Bulega said: “I think we improved a lot from yesterday and a little bit from this morning. I feel better on the bike, it is easier to ride. Yesterday it was a bit too nervous and I was not comfortable on the bike so it was a bit difficult. I am happy because we improved session by session, so a good first weekend in Most.”

However, the Italian suffered late drama with his teammate Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) on the final lap of the Superpole Race. The #11 entered Turn 1 alongside his teammate, before riding through the gravel, staying on his machine to finish second, while Bautista would crash and was forced to enter the pitlane.

Speaking about the incident with his teammate, Bulega added: “I was on the limit and I pushed from the first lap to the last. When Alvaro was in my slipstream, I said ok I have to brake very hard to not let him past me. I braked on the limit and when I saw half of his bike on my inside, I thought that maybe we would not make the turn so I just cut the chicane because if I didn’t cut the chicane, I would crash. So, I cut the chicane and I looked behind me to see if someone was arriving and fortunately, I got second anyway so I am happy with the Superpole Race also.”

Bulega leaves Most in second position in the Championship after claiming a further 39 points this weekend. However, the #11 will have a 64-point gap in the Championship to close as all attention now turns to Portimao.                                                               

Bulega gave his thoughts on the next round in Portugal: “I don’t know, I really like Portimao, last year I won the World Supersport title, so I have a lot of great memories in Portimao. It is a track that I like but I think it will be difficult with a Superbike, but we already did a test in the winter and I was fast so I think I can be fast again.”

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