Toprak Razgatlioglu "very aggressive" in Aragon WorldSBK battles - Nicolo Bulega
Nicolo Bulega says his two race wins at the Aragon WorldSBK were “fantastic” as he closes his points gap.
After being beaten by Toprak Razgatlioglu in Race 1 at Aragon on Saturday, Nicolo Bulega responded with two wins of his own on Sunday.
Razgatlioglu’s Saturday win was his 13th on the spin, so Bulega’s two Sunday successes wrestled back some momentum in the championship battle even if he only reduced his points deficit to the reigning champion by three.
Not only were the race wins important results for Bulega, but he also enjoyed the style in which they came, both after strong battles with Razgatlioglu.
“I’m really happy because I needed these two wins this Sunday,” Nicolo Bulega told WorldSBK.com.
“It was very difficult because Toprak [Razgatlioglu] was very strong and aggressive throughout the whole weekend. I just tried to stay with him, respond to his overtakes, and it was a great pair of battles. I enjoyed it a lot.
“In the end, we won two races; it was fantastic.”
Bulega explained that his Sunday wins came after some changes overnight to his Ducati Panigale V4 R.
“Yesterday, I was not very happy because I knew I had the speed, but I wasn't 100% happy with my bike,” he said.
“Thanks to the team because we improved the bike after Saturday.”
He added: “We tried to improve the corner exits; in some places, Toprak was faster. On Sunday, he was still faster, but not as fast as on Saturday.
“We recovered a little bit there, and I’m happy because it wasn’t easy.
“We knew we didn’t have a lot of margin, but we were able to get the maximum from what we had.”
Bulega now faces a 36-point deficit in the 2025 World Superbike Championship to Razgatlioglu with six races remaining across two rounds in Estoril, where he beat Razgatlioglu head-to-head in the 2024 Superpole Race, and in Jerez where he was victorious in Race 1 and the Superpole Race.
“Regarding the championship, we have to go race-by-race, trying to win each and see where we end up,” Bulega said.
“Last season in Estoril, I won the Superpole Race, but it was just my first year.
“This year I feel faster and stronger, so I will try to stay at the front.
“Jerez is a track I like, it's one of my favourites, so I will try to win at Jerez as well.”
In this article
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
