“Rookie mistake” led to Axel Bassani, Nicolo Bulega Misano WorldSBK crash

The crash between Nicolo Bulega and Axel Bassani in the Misano WorldSBK Superpole Race was caused by the latter’s “rookie error”, according to Nicolo Bulega.

The two crashed at the first corner of the Superpole Race when Bassani, who started from the inside of the front row in third place, made contact with Bulega, who was on the outside entering turn one having started from pole position.

Bassani was judged to have caused the crash and was handed a double long lap penalty for Race 2. The Bimota rider said afterwards that he accepted the penalty and apologised publicly to Bulega.

But Bulega said Bassani hadn’t apologised to either himself of his team personally, something the Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider clearly took offence to.

“He said when he braked, he lost the front,” Nicolo Bulega said after Race 2, as reported by WorldSBK.com.

“But when I watched the video, I saw that he lost the front because he touched me. If he doesn’t touch me, he doesn’t lose the front.

“He didn’t have the pace to win, so why make a stupid overtake at the first corner? You cannot win the race at the first corner.

“A rookie mistake.

“Even worse is that he didn’t come to say sorry to me, just an Instagram story for the people. It’s not enough.

“Also, to give respect to my team, because they had to rebuild the bike again, completely new.

“I destroyed the bike completely and the chassis. A lot of damage.

“The minimum is to say sorry to me and my team. Just an Instagram story isn’t enough.

“He just said, ‘I closed the front when I braked,’ some excuses for what happened. When you see the video, no need for excuses.”

Bassani “said sorry two, three, four times”

Axel Bassani, on the other hand, insisted that he “braked at the normal point,” and added that he didn’t want to speak with Bulega after the Superpole Race because he “was feeling quite bad” having taken the WorldSBK points leader out of a race.

“I felt like I braked at the normal point, but hard because it was me, Bulega and Toprak [Razgatlioglu],” Bassani said.

“I tried to defend my position.

“I wasn’t able to slow down when Bulega stopped. He closed the door.

“I tried everything to stop and to not hit him, but I lost the front and we crashed.

“I’m so sorry because I know I put him down and he’s fighting for the Championship and I’m not. For me, it’s a crash but, for him, it’s something more.

“I’m sorry for him and the team and his team.

“I said sorry to him in the gravel, two, three, four times. After the race, I stayed in the office because I was feeling quite bad.

“I didn’t have the energy to go to him and say sorry because I was also thinking about Race 2.

“If I have the possibility to speak with him, no problem, I’ll speak to him.”