DEFINING STORIES, ROUND 8: Bulega’s tyre gamble fails as WorldSBK celebrates its 1000th race
WorldSBK’s first visit to the new Balaton Park Circuit was also a milestone for the Championship, and there were big title race twists in Hungary…
The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visited Hungary for the first time since 1990, with the brand-new Balaton Park Circuit hosting the action. It was going to be a special weekend anyway with the Championship celebrating its 1000th race, but little did anyone know about the drama that was going to unfold ahead of the summer break.
RAZGATLIOGLU MAKES IT THREE FROM THREE: ‘El Turco’ on top in Hungary
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) headed into Balaton Park with all the momentum, having only been beaten once at Most, Misano and Donington. He soon added Hungary to that last with a rampant hat-trick, fending off his rivals to extend his winning run to nine races and his Championship lead to 26 points over Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati). Race 1 featured a massive seven-rider pile-up behind ‘El Turco’, with Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoEleven) given a double Long Lap Penalty for causing it, while the Tissot Superpole Race was all about being on the right tyre. Race 2 was a more ‘normal’ race – no rain, no red flags – with Razgatlioglu claiming victory there too.
BULEGA'S GAMBLE DOESN’T PAY OFF: P13 in the Superpole Race…
Overnight rain had left the Balaton Park Circuit wet, but it was quickly drying up by the time the Superpole Race got underway. However, looking at the track didn’t give a clear-cut answer about whether to go for slicks or intermediate tyres. The majority of the field decided to go for slicks bur front runners Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Bulega opted for intermediate front and rear tyres – the wrong call. While ‘Petrux’ made it work for a couple of laps, he eventually fell to P10. For Bulega, the #11 couldn’t find any benefit when the track was at its wettest, slipping down the order to finish 13th – his worst result in WorldSBK when taking the chequered flag. Of course, that had a knock-on effect for Race 2: rather than start fourth, he would start from tenth, although he battled his way back into P2 at the end of the race.
CELEBRATING A MILESTONE: WorldSBK reaches 1000 races
Not only did the Superpole Race feature an incredible display of skill in tricky conditions, but it was also the race that goes down as WorldSBK’s 1000th. To celebrate the occasions, several special contents were produced. A three-minute video narrated by Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) detailed WorldSBK’s journey (watch the video at the top of this article), while there was also a breakdown of some of the Championship’s best races – read Part 5 HERE, which takes you to the other articles in the series. And, of course, there’s a historic feature going through the different eras and a boxset of special reels featuring legends past and present discussing WorldSBK.
Watch the title fight play out across the final four rounds using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now half price!
