Sunday morning at the Cremona Circuit has kicked off with Iker Lecuona setting the pace in the warm-up session, laying down a lap of 1’37.790s (note: the text notes both a 1’27.790s and 1’37.790s depending on the mention) to lead the field by a hair over a tenth. That puts him just ahead of his Aruba.it Racing - Ducati teammate Nicolo Bulega, who is zeroing in on a potential championship win.
Here is the thing: the title could actually be decided right here today. Bulega has a shot at taking the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Champion crown as early as the Tissot Superpole Race if he tops the order and Lecuona finishes P6 or lower. If that does not pan out, he merely needs to secure a total of 15 points across Sunday’s final two races in the EICMA Italian Round. Saturday saw the #7 turn the tables and beat his teammate by nearly six seconds, and with that kind of pace, another fierce fight between the two Aruba.it Racing - Ducati riders is guaranteed.
Behind the leading Ducati pair, Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) emerged as the best of the rest in P3, sitting four tenths back from Lecuona. He was roughly three and a half tenths quicker than his brother Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team), who slotted into fourth with a gap of +0.779s. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) grabbed P5 with a late 1’28.583s lap, managing to be just a hundredth faster than the Honda machine of Jake Dixon (Honda HRC).
Speaking of Dixon, he put his Honda CBR 1000RR-R SP firmly in P6 with a lap +0.803s off the pace, and he is fully intent on going “full gas” in the upcoming Superpole Race. Further down the order, Tommy Bridewell (Superbikes Advocates) kicked off the final day in P7, looking completely undeterred after a technical issue cut his Race 1 short after seven laps. Gerloff wrapped up the morning session right there alongside in P7 after previously claiming one of his season's best results with P5 in the opening race at Cremona.
Rounding out the top ten, Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) made a very late appearance, leaving the pit lane with just six minutes remaining to salvage P9 from his truncated session. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) took the final spot in the top ten as he continues to rebuild his confidence following a pair of crashes on Saturday. He will need to find his footing fast to defend his position against the improving #14 in the championship.
The action at Cremona is ready to explode. The Tissot Superpole Race kicks off at 11:10 (Local Time UTC +2) as the championship reaches its boiling point.
