Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) was made to work incredible hard for his latest MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship victory as he fended off several rivals to claim victory in the Tissot Superpole Race, with teammate Iker Lecuona in second at MotorLand Aragon. The podium was completed by Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), who was also involved in the scrap at Aragon Round. ‘Bulegas’ opted to use the harder SC0 tyre while his rivals were on the SCX, creating a mix of strategies that culminated in an epic battle.

INCREDIBLE BATTLE FOR THE WIN

Lecuona took the lead at Turn 1 when Bulega ran wide, before Surra came through at Turn 5 to demote the #11 into P3, and then soon put Lecuona under pressure over the opening lap for the lead of the race. On Lap 2, the #67 attempted to pass Lecuona at Turn 5 but ran in wide, allowing the Spaniard to cut back. A lap later and Sam Lowes had come through on Surra to demote him into P3, while Bulega ran in P4. On Lap 3, Sam Lowes and Lecuona almost came to blows through Turn 11, with the #14 briefly taking the lead but letting Lecuona through. At Turns 16, the pair were side-by-side again, with Lecuona taking the lead after Sam Lowes ran wide. Bulega returned to the rostrum places on Lap 4 at Turn 16 on Surra, while the #14 and the #7 battled at Turn 1, with the Independent Ducati rider coming through on Lap 5. At the start of Lap 6, the fight ignited, as Bulega went from third to first at Turn 1, before Lecuona responded at Turn 7 to re-claim the lead, although Bulega came through at Turn 12 and Lecuona responded at Turn 14, before Bulega got ahead again at the start of Lap 8. Lecuona got back ahead at Turn 15, before defending into Turn 16 and 17. However, the #11 took P1 back from his teammate at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 9. At the end of the penultimate lap, Lecuona tried to make the move, but Bulega was able to defend, and that, coupled with a new lap record from 'Bulegas' on the final lap, enabled him to pull out a gap over the final lap to claim a 21^st victory in a row, with Lecuona now on 16 WorldSBK podiums. The rostrum was completed by Sam Lowes.

SURRA CLOSE TO THE PODIUM

Surra finished in P4, 2.640s down on Bulega and just 1.4s down on the #14 as he narrowly missed out on a first WorldSBK podium on his 22^nd birthday. However, it is the #67’s best WorldSBK result. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) was one of the beneficiaries of the duel ahead of him, but he wasn’t quite able to get in the mix as he finished in fifth, 0.528s clear of teammate Axel Bassani.

BAUTISTA’S HEROIC EFFORT

Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) backed up his Race 1 fifth-place finish with a P7 in the Superpole Race, making it four consecutive top-ten finishes in a row. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) put in a heroic effort to claim P8 in the 10-lap race less than two weeks on from surgery on his ankle fractures. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) finished in ninth, benefitting from a late crash from Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) to secure a third row start in Race 2.

RETIRING FROM THE SUPERPOLE RACE

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) were fighting over P11 when they came together on Lap 2 at Turn 7; the incident is set to be investigated by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards. Locatelli went to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash.

The top nine from the WorldSBK Superpole Race, full results here:

1. Nicolo Bulega (it Racing - Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (it Racing - Ducati) +0.594s
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +1.240s
4. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) +2.640s
5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +3.219s
6. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +3.747s
7. Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) +4.219s
8. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) +4.621s
9. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +4.895s
   Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), 1'47.709s – New lap record

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