Nicolo Bulega ended Friday at the Cremona Circuit second on the combined timesheets, but his day was completely overshadowed by two separate crashes across the practice sessions for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.
The #11 rider, representing Aruba.it Racing - Ducati, finished the day trailing only teammate Iker Lecuona. Bulega put in his longest run during Free Practice 1 with a 13-lap stint, managing times that mostly sat comfortably in the 1'28s bracket after starting on a 1'30.499s and ending on a 1'28.397s. Lecuona's longest stint arrived at the end of FP2 with 11 laps, similarly keeping the vast majority of his laps in the 1'28s window.
The feeling wasn’t the best. I wasn’t able to ride like I wanted. We know why, so I’m confident that I will be back at my performance level.
Unfortunately, the machinery bit back twice. Bulega's first fall happened towards the end of Free Practice 1 at Turn 10, though he avoided losing significant track time relative to his rivals. The second incident in FP2 at Turn 8 proved far more disruptive, occurring roughly 12 minutes into the session and bringing an abrupt end to his afternoon running at a time when track conditions closely mirror those expected for the weekend races.
Despite the wreckage, confidence remains high within the camp that Saturday will tell a completely different story. Reflecting on the chaos, Bulega stated: “The feeling wasn’t the best. I wasn’t able to ride like I wanted. We know why, so I’m confident that I will be back at my performance level.” He added: “We have to work with the team because, today, I had something I didn’t like on the bike. I think, for tomorrow, we know how to put the bike in a condition that I can push like I want. Normally, in FP3, during the last races, I used all the time to ride and didn’t stop. Tomorrow, I’ll do the same. At the moment, I’m just angry about Friday. Now, I’m just focused on having my good feeling back, and then I will think about the other things.”
The stakes for the EICMA Italian Round are massive. Having already secured the Teams Championship for Aruba.it – Ducati and delivered the Manufacturers’ title to Bologna, only the Riders’ championship remains up for grabs. Bulega could potentially seal the crown as early as Saturday after Race 1 by outscoring his teammate by 15 points. If that target proves just out of reach, Sunday offers further opportunities: he needs to outscore Lecuona by just three points following the Tissot Superpole Race, or secure a total of 40 points across the entire round after Race 2 to officially take the championship home.
