Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) had an up and down day at Donington Park in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The points leader was fastest across both FP1 and FP2, topping the latter session, but also crashing out during the same session at the Foggy Esses. Despite the crash, he topped the times ahead of title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) at a circuit traditionally considered to be the #1’s territory which will give him a big confidence boost ahead of Saturday’s Prosecco DOC UK Round action.

In Free Practice 1, Bulega finished in second place with a 1’26.545s as he missed out on top spot by just 0.001s with home hero Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) taking the session’s honours. In the opening session of the day, Championship leader Bulega was ahead of Razgatlioglu with the two-time Champion finishing in third, less than half-a-tenth away from Bulega.

As the afternoon rolled around, again under sunny skies with temperatures rising, Bulega was able to top the times with a 1’26.342s as Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) claimed second place. Razgatlioglu could only manage fourth in FP2 which put him fifth in the combined standings after not improving from his FP1 time of a 1’26.592s although it’s worth noting that ‘El Turco’ did post a 1’26.432s but it was cancelled for exceeding track limits.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Bulega on Friday. He had a crash during FP2 right after setting his best lap time, losing the front of his Panigale V4R at the Foggy Esses and went sliding through the gravel. After his bike was cleared with the help of marshals, the #11 was able to get it restarted and both rider and machine returned to the pits, before re-joining the session later on.

Explaining what caused the crash, Bulega stated: “I tried to make the corner a bit faster. I understand what the limit is, so this is the most important thing. When you crash, you have to understand why. It was a good session because my feeling was good. I tried to push from the first lap. I needed to find the limit immediately. We did some work in the second run, but the bike wasn’t perfect, so I’ll try to improve tomorrow. It impacted my session a little bit because I wasn’t able to follow my programme. We stopped our work a little bit inside the garage. Thanks to my mechanics because they repaired the bike really fast.”

Can Bulega continue his fine Donington form on Saturday? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now 50% off!