Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) showcased a hard-fought battle to achieve second place at the Estoril Race 1 in The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. He finished behind Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) who returned to winning ways for the first time since the Portuguese Round by claiming the top step of the podium at the Circuito Estoril. Bulega crossed the chequered flag over nine seconds behind the #54, who has now extended his Championship lead by an extra five points over the Ducati rider, meaning that Razgatlioglu could be crowned 2024 World Champion on Sunday during the Estoril Round.

“TODAY WAS VERY DIFFICULT...”: Bulega reflects on tricky race

Bulega was having to fight with lots of riders on his way to P2, with Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) one of his biggest rivals during the 21-lap race. He was able to get ahead of the #65 and start chasing down the riders in front, including teammate Alvaro Bautista, before the #1 crashed and promoted Bulega into P2

Discussing Saturday at Estoril, Bulega said: “I think that today was very difficult; it was the first full dry session at Estoril on a WorldSBK bike. I started well but I needed the point of reference in dry conditions. On the opening laps, I had to understand a lot and then lap by lap, I got more confidence.”

REA VS BULEGA: Close action racing  

The Italian rider explained the battles he faced against Yamaha rider Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) where he avoided contact and ran out wide onto the circuit, falling to eighth position, but managed to recover as the race unfolded: “I started to fight with Jonny, who was very, very hard to fight with him today. If I overtook him, the next corner he was trying to re-pass. At Turn 2, he was a bit aggressive, and I tried to stay calm, try to recover and then coming back, I got to P3. Alvaro crashed so I got P2; Toprak was already away but I think P2 was the best result I could achieve today. It’s better that I don’t say what I think when I was behind, but it was fun to recover and to make some overtakes.”

P8 TO P2: Strong race recovery, believes ‘if Toprak wins the title, he deserves it’

Bulega’s late race pace improved and he was determined to chase down the #54 and battle for glory in Portugal: “I was very fast and I’m happy with my race because I did the best I could do today”. The Ducati rider responded to questions about his chances of winning the 2024 Championship, saying: “I will try to do my best as always. It's very difficult because Toprak has a lot of margin and he is very strong. If he wins the title, he deserves it but anyway I will try to do my best like I did all season.”

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