Nicolo Bulega won FIM Superbike World Championship Race One Saturday at Portimao, in Portugal. Bulega started from pole position and rode his Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4R to a 2.522-second margin of victory in the 20-lap race.
His teammate, Iker Lecuona was the runner-up, and Miguel Oliveira rode his ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team M1000RR to third.
Alex Lowes crossed the finish line fourth on his Bimota by Kawasaki KB998 Rimini and Sam Lowes got fifth on his ELF Marc VDS Ducati Panigale V4R.
American Garrett Gerloff went from 13th on the grid to 7th at the finish on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR.
Danilo Petrucci finished the race 10th on his ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team M1000RR.
Nicolo Bulega leads the championship with 87 points, 37 ahead of Axel Bassani who has 50 points. Iker Lecuona is third with 39 points.
wsbk race 1
wsbk world championship
More from a press release issued by WorldSBK:
BULEGA’S RUN CONTINUES: The #11 leads teammate Lecuona in Race 1 at Portimao, Oliveira takes first WorldSBK rostrum. Home hero Miguel Oliveira gave the packed grandstands something to cheer as he claimed P3 at Portimao.
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) extended his MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship winning streak to eight races as he claimed Race 1 victory at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve ahead of teammate Iker Lecuona. The podium in the opening race for the Pirelli Portuguese Round was completed by home hero Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who took P3 and secured his first WorldSBK podium.
BULEGA BEATS LECUONA, OLIVEIRA CELEBRATES: A jubilant top three at Portimao
It looked like Oliveira got a good start when lights went out but found himself unable to make progress as Bulega held P1 from pole position, with Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) leapfrogging Lecuona. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) was a fast starter as he moved up to P4 on the opening lap, including pulling off a stunning move at Turn 9 on Oliveira; the #88 responded at Turn 1 on Lap 2. At the end of Lap 5, Montella crashed at Turn 14 which promoted Lecuona to P2 and Oliveira to a provisional first WorldSBK rostrum. While Lecuona’s pace was similar to Bulega’s, the #11 was able to manage the gap to his teammate as he made it eight consecutive wins and to join only Jonathan Rea (Honda HRC) and Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) in winning the first four races of a WorldSBK campaign. He also equalled Carlos Checa with his 24thcareer victory and he took Ducati’s 1200th podium. For Lecuona, it’s his third podium and it comes 531 days after his last, which was Estoril 2024. Oliveira becomes the 138th rider to take a WorldSBK rostrum, and he’s only the second Portuguese rider to stand on the box after Alex Vieira.
FIERCE FIGHT BEHIND ALEX LOWES: Vierge vs Gerloff ignites in the closing stages
Alex Lowes followed Oliveira through the first half of the race but dropped off the home hero as the race progressed, eventually settling for P4 ahead of twin brother Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team). The #14 is still nursing his wrist injury but put in a solid effort to finish the race in the top five. Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) had an up-and-down Race 1, starting from P6, dropping to P8, then fighting his way back into sixth with just a couple of laps to go when he got ahead of Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) at Turn 1. The American was forced to settle for P7 by just 0.357s.
IN THE TOP TEN: Bautista fights back from Turn 1 run-off
Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) had been in that battle but dropped back in the closing stages, having to defend from the recovering Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) to secure eighth place. On Lap 5, Bautista ran wide at Turn 1 which dropped him down the order but he used his late-race pace to climb the order into ninth, ahead of Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) who rounded out the top ten.
SCORING POINTS: Finishing in the top 15
Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) scored points as he finished in P11, just over half-a-second down on ‘Petrux’ in the top ten. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) was twelfth as he finished ahead of Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) and rookie Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) who completed the points-paying positions.
JUST MISSING OUT: Montella recovers to P16
Montella recovered to P16 at the end of the 20-lap race after his early spill, finishing 2.7 seconds away from Surra ahead. Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was 17th ahead of Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC), who beat Honda teammate Jonathan Rea. The six-time World Champion surged up the order from P18 to P12 in the first lap, but dropped out of the points as the race progressed. Bahattin Sofuoglu (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and Mattia Rato (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) were classified, with only Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) not classified. The #46 was running in the points-paying positions but he crashed at Turn 14 approaching the half-distance point, ending his hopes of scoring points.
The top six from WorldSBK Race 1, full results here:
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.522s
3. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 4.815s
4. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +9.152s
5. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +12.147s
6. Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +18.016s
Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega, Ducati – 1’39.962s
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