Nicolo Bulega “clever” to take P2 at Cremona WorldSBK as title nears

Nicolo Bulega says it was “clever” for him to take second place in Race 1 at the Cremona WorldSBK.

Second equals Bulega’s worst finish of the season, and this time it comes after finishing second in both Friday practices as well as Superpole.

On each occasion Bulega was beaten by Iker Lecuona, who won Race 1 by five seconds but still feels Bulega is a threat in Sunday’s races.

Bulega himself is trying to clinch the title this weekend. He’d have had to out-score Lecuona by 15 points in Race 1 to win the title on Saturday, and in the Superpole Race he’ll need eight points more than his team-mate. 

Race 2, then, seems like the most likely opportunity for Bulega to take the 2026 WorldSBK crown, and by taking 20 points for second in Race 1 he was able to make Sunday’s task as straightforward as possible given Lecuona’s pace throughout this weekend.

“I think I have to be happy because yesterday I lost a bit of feeling with the bike after the FP2 crash,” said Nicolo Bulega after Race 1, speaking to WorldSBK.com.

“So, today the target was to rebuild the confidence and try to make my pace. 

“Iker [Lecuona] was just very strong, faster than us, so I just decided that there was no sense to take risks and try something stupid. 

“So, I just decided that second was a very good position. I would like to close the championship here, so second today was a clever position.”

He continued: “We have to be intelligent sometimes. Today was the day that we have to be intelligent, so second was good.”

Bulega added that he might have a chance to take the fight to Lecuona in the Superpole Race.

“Maybe with new tyres I have a bit more possibility to stay with Iker,” he said.

“But he’s going very fast here in this track, so we will see. I will try in the Superpole Race to stay with him, and then I will try to close [the championship] in Race 2.”