Cremona's New King Earns A Triple Crown
T
he Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.
it Racing – Ducati) that left
Cremona, the fourth round of
the FIM WorldSBK Champion-
ship, May 2-4, could not have
been more different from the
one who left Assen three weeks
earlier. The Cremona version
forced even the very best riders
in WorldSBK into his wake not
once but thrice.
He even won in Superpole
qualifying too, just to rub red salt
into his rivals' gaping psycho-
logical wounds.
Memories of his double Assen
technical failure, and the great
self-control to almost conceal
his dark mood in the post-race
interviews back then, were put
out to pasture after three busi-
ness-like (read boring) WorldSBK
wins on a flat field located in
rural Lombardy.
In general, it was boiling hot at
the Cremona Circuit until Sun-
day—hot enough to sear one aro-
ma into the olfactory memory;
the local fields had been sprayed
with pig manure very recently.
By explanation, this new race-
track lives in deep farming coun-
try. Other than its noisy concrete
and glass race venue, Mother
Nature and crop nurture rule
here. Poplar tree seeds, like fluffy
undersized dandelion heads,
were often whisked around in the
midair, like a memory of previous
Imola races at this time of year.
Being in Lombardy also reminded
the older heads in a stadium
circuit of many seriously fast,
evocative and long-gone WorldS
-
BK weekends at Monza.
Cremona is not and never
will be either Imola or Monza,
but it is a fun track with some
improvements in evidence from
last year, including a much-need-
ed slightly bigger paddock.
Still no space for the mil-
lions of WorldSSP300 minnows,
however.
WIND
IN THE
P40
Nicolo Bulega was
unstoppable at the
Italian WorldSBK,
winning all three
races.
PHOTOS: GOLD
& GOOSE
