“Problems” at both ends for Nicolo Bulega at French WorldSBK: “We have to improve”
Former points leader Nicolo Bulega was beaten by eight seconds in Race 1 at the French WorldSBK.
After six weeks of summer break, WorldSBK returned with the patterns set out in the last rounds before the pause as Toprak Razgatlioglu handily beat Nicolo Bulega in Race 1 at the French Round.
For Razgatlioglu, it was a 10th World Superbike win at the circuit, while for Bulega it meant losing more ground in the championship.
The manner of the defeat, crossing the line 8.5 seconds behind Toprak Razgatlioglu, also gave Bulega little confidence for Sunday’s races if he is unable to find improvements with his Ducati Panigale V4 R.
“Honestly, I think we have to improve a little bit,” Nicolo Bulega told WorldSBK.com after Race 1 at Magny-Cours.
“At the beginning of the race, the first lap was not the best.
“When I tried to recover, it was not so bad, but after 10 laps I started to feel some problems with my bike – especially at the front, but also in the rear.
“It was difficult to keep a good pace. Toprak [Razgatlioglu] was very fast, so I hope to improve for tomorrow.”
Speaking more specifically, Bulega said that he is having problems making the bike turn with the front tyre, while the rear is too reactive when he tries to accelerate.
“I would like to turn a little bit better with the front, because now I cannot push with the front to try to turn,” he said.
“Also, the rear is a bit nervous; when I open the throttle I feel already on the tyre and I cannot open the throttle very well.”
Bulega slipped to fourth off the line in Race 1 which meant he was already over two seconds behind Razgatlioglu when he got to second place, but the Italian did not think this made much difference in the outcome of the race.
“Honestly, even if I started better, it was not enough to follow Toprak,” he said,
“Okay, maybe it was a bit better at the beginning, but it [wouldn’t] change anything for my position.”
Bulega now trails Razgatlioglu by 31 points in the riders’ standings with 11 races remaining in 2025, including Sunday’s two remaining races at Magny-Cours.
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Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
