Nicolo Bulega back on top in WorldSBK: “My pace was better than yesterday”
Nicolo Bulega bounced back from his first WorldSBK defeat of 2026 with two wins on Sunday at Donington.
After losing for the first time in 26 races on Saturday, Nicolo Bulega responded with two dominant wins on Sunday at the UK WorldSBK.
Bulega won by over a second in the Superpole Race, taking the lead from Yari Montella at mid-distance after Iker Lecuona crashed out of the lead on the second lap.
In Race 2, Bulega led from start to finish, beating Lecuona after the Spaniard fought his way through the pack to second.
The turnaround from Saturday was about improving his level over Saturday, Bulega said.
“I’m very happy because yesterday I was a bit disappointed because, okay Iker [Lecuona] for sure did a better job so he deserved the victory yesterday, but I knew that I had the potential to win,” said Nicolo Bulega after Race 2 at Donington.
“Honestly, yesterday I didn’t play very well my cards, so today I just woke up and said ‘Okay, let’s ride like you are able to do it and let’s win’.”
Bulega added: “We changed something on the bike because yesterday Iker was turning better than me.
“I was braking hard, but not turning very well, so we tried to make a compromise between me and him.
“I think my pace today was fast, so we improved from yesterday.”
Bulega was also keen to point to suggest that his pace might have been good enough to win in the 10-lapper without the crash for Lecuona.
“Today my pace was very strong, better than yesterday,” he said.
“When I overtook Yari, then I made my fastest lap, and I did also 1m25.1s with two laps to go.
“So, for sure my pace was strong.
“I don’t know Iker, the last three or four laps, how he can go, but I don’t know.”
Although Bulega won both WorldSBK races on Sunday, he was not without work, particularly in the Superpole Race when it took him half the race to pass the aforementioned Montella.
“The start, also this morning, to overtake Yari [Montella] was very difficult,” Bulega explained.
“I don’t know why but I was losing a little bit in the acceleration.
“So, to overtake – also yesterday with Iker and this morning with Yari – I have to be a bit aggressive at turn 11 in the braking because I was overtaking from far, not from close.
“So, [in Race 2] I knew that if I can start first and make already my lines from the beginning it could be easier for me.”
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
