Nicolo Bulega “made a mistake, didn’t ride well” in Hungarian WorldSBK Superpole Race

A 13th place for Nicolo Bulega in the Hungarian WorldSBK Superpole Race came after a “mistake” in tyre choice and subpar riding from the Italian.

Bulega, who, on every occasion he had finished a race before the Superpole Race in Balaton had done so with a finish inside the top-two, lost 12 points to Toprak Razgatlioglu on Sunday morning for the second time this year after his crash in Misano with Axel Bassani.

Five more points dropped in Race 2, when he returned to the top-two but 10 seconds behind Razgatlioglu, mean the rider who led the World Superbike championship for the opening six-and-two-thirds rounds now trails by 26 heading into the summer break.

“Honestly, a difficult weekend, especially this morning in the Superpole Race,” Nicolo Bulega reflected, speaking to WorldSBK.com after Race 2 in Hungary.

“We started bad on Friday because I had zero feeling with my bike, then yesterday we improved for Race 1.

“But then, in this tricky condition this morning, it was not my best race because I didn’t ride very well in that condition – I have to improve.

“I had zero feeling. Then, for Race 2, I was very focused to recover some positions.”

Bulega added that his choice of intermediate tyres was “a mistake” on Sunday morning.

“I did a mistake with the choice of the tyre and I was quite sure that it was not going to be full dry, so I decided to put intermediate tyres but I did a mistake,” he said.

“Honestly, I don’t know what to say, just try to improve for the next races.”

Magny-Cours “also a good track for me”

Magny-Cours is the next track on the calendar at the beginning of September. It’s a circuit that has been strong for Razgatlioglu in the past, but Bulega was a winner there last year.

“Magny-Cours is also a good track for me because last year I won two races,” he said.

“It’s true that Toprak [Razgatlioglu] was not there because he had the big crash.

“But I have a good feeling.

“Also, in Supersport, I won two races in Magny-Cours, so it’s a track that I like and I will try to do my best.”