Championship point leader Nicolo Bulega went quicker than the Race Lap Record during World Supersport Free Practice Two (FP2) Friday afternoon at Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli, in Rimini, San Marino.
Riding his Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V2, Bulega navigated the 2.6-mile (4.2 km) circuit in 1:37.267, which was quicker than Bulega’s own Race Lap Record of 1:37.671 from 2022.
Former MotoAmerica regular Valentin Debise, who rides for the GMT94 Racing Yamaha team, will miss this round due to “health issues,” according to a post on his social media.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Bulega fastest on Friday in Misano
Nicolo Bulega was the fastest rider on track on Friday as he posted a 1’37.267s in Free Practice 2. He was 0.707s quicker than Simone Corsi in second place.
P1 | Nicolo Bulega | Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team | 1’37.267s
“To be first on the first day is always good. It’s a nice way to start this weekend for my home round, so I’m very happy to be fast. We must continue to work because for sure the other guys will be faster tomorrow, so we must improve and try to be as fast as today and to enjoy this weekend. We managed to improve in a lot of races compared to last year, so tomorrow, the goal is to improve and try to win.”
Italian wildcard Simone Corsi was second in the combined classification having set a 1’37.974s in the afternoon session.
Federico Caricasulo took third spot in the combined results with a 1’37.139s, as he aims for solid result on home soil.
WorldSSP Friday Report
Friday in the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” for the 2023 Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round with Championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) taking top spot by more than half-a-second ahead of his nearest rivals. Despite Bulega’s impressive pace, headlines were taken by wildcard rider Simone Corsi (Altogo Racing Team) who took second place in the combined classification.
Bulega put in a series of fast laps towards the end of the 45-minute session and posted a best lap of 1’37.627s to claim top spot as he led an Italian quartet at the head of the WorldSSP field. He had a 0.707s gap to wildcard Corsi in second place who, after taking fourth in FP1, was able to improve his lap time further to claimed second in the standings. Only Bulega and Corsi lapped Misano on Friday in the 1’37s bracket while Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) claimed fourth place despite an early crash in FP2 at Turn 5; he re-joined the session later on to take third place.
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) was the only rider in the top ten, and one of only five in total, who did not improve their time in FP2. Despite setting a 1’38.485s in FP2, he took fourth in the combined classification with his time of 1’38.229s from FP1; in that session, he was able to top the times. Fifth place belonged to the most recent WorldSSP race winner, Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), as he continues his impressive run of form while Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) rounded out the top six.
WorldSSP action resumes on Saturday with the Tissot Superpole from 10:25 (Local Time), followed Race 1 at 15:15.
