Bulega Burns Through the Record Books
O
h, to be in Portugal in the
autumn. Nearly 85-degree air
temperatures, the usual Atlantic
breeze calming things down a bit,
and a crumbling but still delight-
fully old-school racetrack located
near a nation's capital city. Por-
tugal's "other" WorldSBK venue,
Estoril, has a lot to like.
In Superpole qualifying, a new
track best for Nicolo Bulega
(Aruba.It Ducati) was also a first-
ever Ducati Superpole qualify-
ing win at the venue. Pole man
Bulega was one position ahead of
his teammate, Iker Lecuona, on
the first grid.
Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawa-
saki Racing Team) piled in with a
third place ahead of the increas-
ingly confident Alberto Surra
(Motocorsa Racing Ducati).
Happily for the local crowd,
Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Mo-
torrad WorldSBK Team) was inside
the top five after some torrid re-
cent results for all inside the BMW
awnings. He would go one better
in race one and finish fourth, but
ahead there were three predictable
rivals hogging the podium steps.
Bulega won, and comfortably
in the end, as he found a nice bike
setup and Lecuona didn't quite so.
Lecuona was almost 5.8 seconds
ahead of third-placed Surra.
Oliveira was 1.7 seconds back
and kicking himself as he made
a mistake by swapping to a rain
map for a short time and lost
six-tenths of a second in one lap.
This new extra gap left Surra con-
fident that he had enough in hand
to guarantee his second career
podium finish—he did, but only
just. Fifth was Alex Lowes.
In the Superpole race, a pre-race
frisson went through the paddock
when it turned out that Yamaha
had invited Bernie Ecclestone to
do a pit walk, adding to the gravi-
tas of proceedings before a wheel
had been turned in anger.
There was a degree of bad tem-
per inside the bimota garage when
Alex Lowes got squeezed from
both sides into turn one off the
start and ran wide, ruining his race.
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing
Team) was given a long-lap penalty
as he was adjudged to have been
the guilty party on the outside, and
that also ruined his race.
Up front, history and nothing
less, was being made as Bulega's
second win in as many days saw
WIND
IN THE
P50
Try as they might, no
one could stop Nicolo
Bulega (11) in Portugal.
The whole WorldSBK
pack is really looking
forward to him moving
to MotoGP in 2027.
PHOTOS: GOLD& GOOSE
