Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) claimed a first win at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” in style at the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship by six seconds ahead of teammate Iker Lecuona, despite the #7 putting up an early challenge. It extended Bulega’s winning run to 23 races, including 19 this year, while the podium was completed by Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) at the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round.

BULEGA WINS AGAIN

Lecuona got the best start when lights out when he jumped ahead of polesitter Bulega at Turn 1, before defending through Turns 2 and 3. At Turn 8, ‘Bulegas’ responded at Turn 8 to retake the lead. From there, Bulega gradually opened up the gap over his teammate by a couple of tenths a lap as he claimed his first win at Misano in WorldSBK. It extended his winning run to 23 races, and his podium streak to 32 consecutive races. It also gave him his 75^th podium, tying him with Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards; Melandri and Bulega are now tied as the Italian rider with the most podiums. Lecuona made it 16 consecutive second places, extending his all-time record. Montella claimed a first Misano podium in WorldSBK as he came home in third place, taking advantage of a Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) crash at Turn 5 on Lap 5 to build a gap to the riders behind; ‘Balda’ retired from the race.

BIMOTA’S HOME BATTLE

Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and teammate Axel Bassani started three positions apart, in fourth and seventh, but it didn’t take long for them to be line astern in the race – and battling it out. ‘El Bocia’ tried a couple of times to get ahead of #22 before Bassani got ahead, and pulled out a gap, at Turn 10 on Lap 7. That meant the Italian finished in P4 with Alex Lowes in P5, a strong result for Bimota – and Bassani’s best result since he stood on the podium in Australia – at the manufacturer’s home round; their factory is just a stone’s throw away in Rimini.

LOCATELLI VS OLIVEIRA

Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) continued his run of impressive results as he finished in sixth place, ahead of compatriot Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in seventh. ‘Loka’ was involved in a fierce fight with Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who initially got ahead of him for ninth at the high-speed Curvone, before Locatelli was able to take P7 ahead of the #88. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) battled his way into ninth place ahead of Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who equalled his best WorldSBK result.

SCORING POINTS IN RACE 1

Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) finished 11^th after he served a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding in Warm Up. Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) finished two seconds away from ‘Taz’ in 12^th, while Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) fended off a late charge from Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) to take 13^th. The Texan had battled Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in the closing stages but, once Gerloff got ahead, the Dutchman seemingly had a technical issue and retired from the race. That promoted Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) into the points in 15^th. Bahattin Sofuoglu (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) missed out on points as he finished in 16^th place, directly ahead of teammate Mattia Rato.

RETIRING FROM THE OPENING DUEL

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) retired from the race after he crashed out at Turn 5 on Lap 6, losing the front of his Panigale V4R. Ryan Vickers (Honda HRC) crashed on Lap 3 at Turn 14 and rejoined the race, but brought his Honda machine into the pits to retire from the race after completing 10 laps. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was in the fight for the top ten, but he crashed at Turn 8 on Lap 19.

The top six from WorldSBK Race 1, full results here:

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +6.117s
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +13.823s
4. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +17.626s
5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +20.746s
6. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) +24.702s

Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) - 1'32.552, new lap record

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