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Nicolò Bulega 's race weekend in Barcelona ended as it began, namely with a second place in the long heat. Same result but different emotions for the Emilian rider, who made use of the experience gained in Race 1.
"Today I was faster at the start of the race but I decided to wait, repeating to myself that I should not not be as aggressive as yesterday. I saw that Alvaro and Toprak, who have a lot more experience than me, were calm and waiting and I decided to copy them and do as they did, " Bulegas recounted at the end of the race. " When I then passed Alvaro, I realized I had more potential and tried to stay in front to make my lines, continuing to tell myself, 'I must not destroy the tires' on every lap and in every corner.
Having learned his lesson from yesterday's race, the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team rookie tried not to overdo it in order to have his say until the end of the race. A plan that succeeded almost perfectly, although it still did not allow him to beat his teammate.
"As soon as Alvaro counter-passed me, I told myself that I had to follow him to the end, to see if I could attack him on the last lap. My rear tire was better than yesterday, but my front tire was not, and on the second-to-last lap my front locked up at the Curvone I was in danger of falling off. I held on with my elbow, it was really close, and at that point I told myself that finishing second, behind Alvaro, was still okay. Also because he is always fast here and beating him here would have been maybe too much. I am happy because it was my first time here in Superbike and I took two podiums and a fourth place in a very close Superpole Race. I had never had such an aggressive race before, and to a certain extent I even enjoyed it. It was a good weekend," commented Nicolò, not caring too much about first place in the championship, "As I said yesterday, if the World Championship ended today it would be perfect but I don't think it's possible. "
A second place that smacks of growth for the Emilian rider, who was happy with the way he approached today's race.
"Today I am more satisfied than yesterday because I feel I made fewer mistakes. Yesterday I probably also made a mistake with the tire, fitting the 900 instead of the SCX, as Toprak did - he explained - In fact, today the tire was much better and I was able to be more consistent. Maybe yesterday would have caught me even if I had the SCX, but maybe I would have made it to win. I sinned a little bit of inexperience by relying completely on instinct and I went too far, while today I tried to save the tire more and still tried to stay in front. I felt better than yesterday, although I was always a little afraid in the last five laps, which was quite a trauma yesterday."
Filed the Catalunya Round with a smile, Bulega looks forward to the next trip to the Netherlands in a month's time at the Assen circuit.
"It's a track I like a lot, much more than this one, so I think I can be fast, also because it suits my riding style well," he remarked, "Obviously it will be a different story than when I was in Supersport, but last year I took pole and two wins. It's a track I love a lot and I'm looking forward to racing on the Panigale V4R, which I like just as much. I don't know if I'll be able to win, but podiums would be good for me as well."
Automatic Translation by DeepL
