The FIM Supersport World Championship reached the halfway stage of 2023 at Donington Park and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) capitalised on his rivals’ mixed weekends to extend his standings lead to 55 points. Bulega convincingly won Race 1 and Race 2 during the Prosecco DOC UK Round to take his tally of wins to eight for the season as he strengthened his grip on the World Championship.

Bulega claimed pole position with a record-breaking lap as he set a 1’29.323s to obliterate the previous eight-year-old lap record, with two of his flying laps underneath Kenan Sofuoglu’s record of 1’29.925s. The top three in Tissot Superpole went faster than the five-time Champion’s time but it was the Italian ace who secured a stunning pole position; Ducati’s first at the British circuit since Vittoriano Guareschi took pole in 2001.

The Italian resisted early pressure in Race 1 to win by 1.2 seconds although title rival Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) did reduce the gap from three seconds on Lap 15 to just over a second at the end of the 19-lap battle. Sunday’s Race 2 started off in a similar way before Bulega’s title rivals faltered to hand him victory and the Italian extended his Championship lead to more than a round’s worth of points.

Manzi crashed at Turn 11 on Lap 5 which dropped him down the order, with the Yamaha rider re-joining in tenth. On Lap 7, he passed three riders including Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) and Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) at Turn 1, with French rider Mahias forced onto the grass. The FIM Stewards gave Manzi a Long Lap Penalty for this incident which he took on Lap 10 before the Italian battled his way back up to fifth. Bulega’s other title rival, Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), crashed out of Race 2 on Lap 15 at Turn 12 as he scored no points, while he could only manage eighth in Race 1. The German’s results mean he has dropped to fourth in the standings, level with Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) as they trail Bulega by 91 points.

Bulega, who has a 55-point lead over his nearest rival, said: “It was a perfect weekend, more than this is impossible. Two fastest laps, pole position, a lap record and two victories. It’s incredible. I enjoyed every lap at this beautiful track. Now, we’re already thinking about Imola, the next round and my home round. It will be very nice. It’s incredible to have this advantage, 50 more points in my pocket after this weekend and with good speed. This is the most important. I enjoyed it every time I went on track with my bike. I just want to continue this way and be fast in every race until the end of the year.”

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