Nicolo Bulega put “everything on the table” to beat Toprak Razgatlioglu at Czech WorldSBK

Victory for Nicolo Bulega in Race 2 at the Czech WorldSBK required him to put “everything on the table” to even maintain the pace of Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Bulega led the opening laps in Race 2, but Razgatlioglu passed at around half-distance, and maintained a gap of around 0.6 seconds until the final couple of laps when his grip level dropped.

Bulega then out-dragged the reigning World Superbike Champion to the line, Razgatlioglu saying after that his bike cut out twice out of the final corner.

“Incredible, because Toprak [Razgatlioglu] had something more all the race, his pace was stronger than mine, but I was just pushing 200 per cent every lap, trying to follow him,” Bulega told WorldSBK.com of his Race 2 win.

“[At half-distance], he gave me one second, or less, but I never gave up, I tried to recover him again.

“I knew that in the last two or three laps I could have something more. Last lap, I put everything on the table; it was incredible because I was really on the limit, more than this was impossible for me.

“Last lap all sideways, spinning, traction control, everything very strange but very nice.”

Bulega added that, while he had made a step with the bike from the Superpole Race on Sunday morning to Race 2, he was still not totally comfortable to run Razgatlioglu’s pace.

“Toprak was very strong, maybe stronger than me today because in some parts of the circuit I was fighting a little bit with my bike, I was not able to ride like I want,” he said.

“But, honestly, we made a step from the Superpole Race to Race 2, my bike was a bit better, but still not enough to stay comfortably with Toprak.

“Anyway, the most important is the final result.

“Most is not the best track for my riding style and also is not the best track for our bike; we prefer long and fast corners, and this track is very small and slow. So, I’m happy to win here, it’s very special.”

Having won at Most, that makes two rounds in a row – after Cremona – that Bulega has been victorious at a circuit he feels does not suit his style.

“It’s very good because winning a race is always special but winning here in Most that is not our favourite track is really nice,” Bulega said.

“We know that it’s one of the favourite tracks for Toprak, so to beat him here is special because it means we made a step from last year, like we made a step in Cremona and also the last races.

“This is very important for the championship, but the championship is very long and we have still many races to the final race– okay, one less is better than one more, but I don’t think about the championship now.”