Nicolo Bulega will start from the front of the grid at the inaugural WorldSBK Cremona race for Saturday afternoon’s race despite a late crash.

With championship leader Toprak Razgatlıoğlu sitting out for this race weekend, Bulega made the most of the opportunity to snatch the pole position. His lap time of 1.27.953s placed him in unmarked territory as the sole rider to produce a lap in the 1.27s.

Ducati locked out the front row with Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci finishing second and third, respectively, but Petrucci will start in sixth due to his impeding in practice.

The final two minutes of the session saw Alex Lowes and Bulega crash in Turn 13 and Turn 2, but as no rider could improve due to the yellow flags being issued, Lowes finished fourth but will start third aboard his Kawasaki.

Andrea Locatelli will start fourth aboard his Pata Prometeon Yamaha, with the Italian sandwiched between the Lowes twins, with Marc VDS rider Sam finishing fifth.

Petrucci will start in sixth following his penalty, ahead of the Honda duo Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona occupying seventh and eighth.

Bradley Ray surprised everyone by qualifying ninth with his Yamaha Motoxracing team, ahead of BMW Motorrad’s Michael van der Mark, who rounded off the top-10.

Tito Rabat snatched a promising 11th spot for the Kawasaki Puccetti team, ahead of Bonovo BMW’s Garrett Gerloff and Kawasaki rider Axel Bassani.

Double reigning champion Alvaro Bautista could only muster 14th, with stand-in BMW rider Markus Reiterberger occupying 15th place on the grid.

READ MORE: Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea sidelined for Cremona WorldSBK round

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Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega completed a Sunday WorldSBK double at Magny Cours with victory in Race 2 with an impressive ride.

The Italian assumed the lead on Lap 1 and never relinquished it en route to firmly beating the rest of the field, with Barni Spark Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci making it a hat-trick of podiums in second.

Bonovo BMW rider Garrett Gerloff had an impressive ride too, taking his first WorldSBK podium since 2022.

Joining Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea on the sidelines for Race 2 was Ducati’s reigning champion Alvaro Bautista, who sustained a fractured rib during a crash in the Superpole race.

The result of the sprint format race on Sunday morning set the front three rows of the Race 2 grid, led by Bulega, Alex Lowes and Petrucci, who had to fight hard from 10th to claim a podium in the Superpole Race and Race 1.

Both Bonovo Action riders Scott Redding and Garrett Gerloff started from Row 2 with the Honda HRC riders of Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecouna also starting from a promising top nine slot.

Lights out and 21 laps began with Bulega leading Lowes and Petrucci into Turn 1 as Vierge and Michael van der Mark made their way into the top five.

There was a disaster for Lowes early on as he went wide and tumbled down the order with an apparent technical issue with his Kawasaki ZX-10RR.

This cleared Petrucci into second, but Bulega was already flying out in front to open up a healthy lead as Lowes tried his damndest to fight back through the field in 16th.

On Lap 3, the lead stood at 1.6s as Vierge made his way into third, past van der Mark and right on Petrucci’s tail.

Lowes meanwhile, recovered from his Lap 1 mishap, continued to climb the order, rising to 13th.

That was 12th by Lap 4 as Bulega’s lead had grown to two seconds.

Vierge’s chances of challenging Petrucci in second faded quickly and instead, he found himself under pressure from van der Mark, who made a move stick to claim third, closely followed by Lowes’ Kawasaki team-mate Axel Bassani.

Bassani, who has struggled for form during his first campaign on the ZX10-RR, dispatched van der Mark for third at the Turn 5 hairpin on Lap 5 – chasing his first podium in Kawasaki green.

Bulega had feared he wouldn’t have the fitness to sustain a full-race distance after his Lap 1 crash in Race 1, but seven laps into Race 2, the Italian enjoyed a lead of over two and a half seconds.

Petrucci was also in clear air in second, with the battle for the final podium position behind him raging between Bassani, van der Mar, Gerloff and Vierge.

Lowes, charging hard on the Kawasaki, was by no means out of podium contention as he sought to break into the top-10, block-passing the Pata Prometeon Yamaha of Andrea Locatelli into Turn 5 with 14 laps to go.

Bassani, trying his best to keep hold of third, left the track without losing a second of time, incurring a long-lap penalty as a result and dropped to 11th as a consequence, promoting Lowes to ninth and van der Mark to the front of the fight for the final podium spot.

With 12 laps to go, Gerloff stole a march on van der Mark, moving up into third at the popular overtaking spot that was the Turn 5 hairpin.

Lowes used that same spot two laps late to surge past GYTR GRT Yamaha rider Remy Gardner into seventh and to move just two seconds within a third-place spot.

He used the same manoeuvre next time around the Magny Cours circuit to sit up the Honda of Vierge, taking sixth in the process as his brother Sam sadly retired with technical trouble aboard his MarcVDS Ducati.

The Kawasaki man’s charge advanced further with eight laps to go as Lecuona pulled up with a fault on his CBR1000 RR-R.

However, Lowes’ charge could well halt at fifth, with the top riders stretched out across the Magny Cours circuit.

With six laps remaining, Bulega enjoyed a healthy gap over Petrucci, who indeed had substantial breathing room over Gerloff and van der Mark, who led Lowes by nine-tenths of a second.

Still, Lowes wasn’t going to rest on his laurels and he went four-tenths faster than van der Mark on Lap 17 to get right on van der Mark’s tail for fourth and on Lap 18 he got the job done at Turn 13.

First and second looked like a done deal, but Gerloff had to keep up the pace to keep Lowes at bay, who was trying his damnedest to close a 1.9s gap to the third-place man with two laps to go.

There was no such trouble for Bulega on the final two tours of the circuit, however, and he signed off on a commanding victory with Petrucci taking second.

Gerloff was able to hold onto third, his first podium for the Bonovo BMW squad with Lowes’ fight-back charge ending in fourth.

Van der Mark rounded out the top five finishing clear of a four-bike scrap between Gardner, Redding, Vierge and Lecuona.

Locatelli completed the top-10, with Bassani finishing 11th after his long-lap penalty put an end to his early race promise.

Team GoEleven Ducati rider Andrea Iannone finished 12th, with GYTR GRT Yamaha stand-in Alessandro Delbianco, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing’s Tito Rabat and Team Motocorsa Racing’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi rounding out the points-paying positions.

Victory for Bulega in Race 2 saw him cut his deficit to championship leader Razgatlioglu to 55 points.

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Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider Nicolo Bulega was able to fend off the advances of Kawasaki Racing Team’s Alex Lowes to take his first WorldSBK victory since February during a hotly contested Superpole Race at Magny Cours.

The leading duo finished nose-to-tail in a frenetic race with Barni Spark Racing Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci winning out in an intense battle for the final podium spot.

Lowes, Bulega and Bonovo BMW rider Scott Redding lined up on the front row under blue French skies at Magny Cours, in stark contrast to the wet Saturday affair which met the field for ROKiT BMW Motorrad BMW rider Michael van der Mark’s sensational victory in Race 1.

For Ducati, it was paramount to get a strong result, with championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu continuing to miss out due to injuries sustained in practice – especially for Bulega, who crashed out on Lap 1 during Saturday’s race.

Joining the Turkish rider on the sidelines was Pata Prometeon Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea, who sustained injuries to his thumb after tangling with Bulega in Race 1.

Lowes got a strong start to lead from Bulega and Garrett Gerloff with van der Mark fourth and Honda’s Xavi Vierge in fifth.

Bulega and van der Mark looked to make progress on Lap 1, moving into first and third respectively at Turn 5 whereas there was a disaster for Alvaro Bautista, crashing out before he could complete a single tour of the Magny Cours circuit.

Van der Mark, a sensational victor on Saturday was looking to repeat that success, going to and fro with Lowes on Lap 2, but the Kawasaki man held firm.

The field was tight four laps in, with Remy Gardner in 11th just a few laps back from the race leader, but there was a mini breakaway forming.

Bulega, Lowes, van der Mark and Vierge had a little bit of breathing room over the chasing pack as Pata Yamaha rider Andrea Locatelli and Barni Spark Ducati man Danillo Petrucci scrapped over fifth place.

Sadly that scrap came to an untimely end on Lap 5, with the pair colliding at Turn 5 at Locatelli’s expense – who dropped down to the back of the field and eventually pulled into the pits on Lap 6.

Meanwhile, out in front, Lowes was all over the back wheel of Bulega’s Ducati and the fight for victory was well and truly on.

The front pair had a moderate gap to van der Mark in third, who had Vierge, Petrucci and Redding for close company.

The elbows came out between Petrucci and Vierge in the battle for fourth with the Honda rider forced wide on Lap 7 at the Turn 11/12 chicane, allowing Redding to cut past both riders.

On Lap 8, the victory battle was truly heating up, with Lowes passing Bulega into Turn 5 before the Ducati man got the cut back to reclaim the lead.

Tucking into the slipstream, Lowes had another look into Turn 5 a lap later but thought better of making a move.

Petrucci had fought his way into third at this point with van der Mark falling back into a massive pack of duelling riders.

Redding, Vierge and Gerloff all found their way past the ROKiT BMW man on what was a tough penultimate lap for the Dutchman.

The final lap saw Bulega take a slight gap over Lowes and it looked as if the race was settled.

Try as he might, Lowes couldn’t get close enough to make a move for victory and Bulega took his first win since the opening race of the season at Phillip Island in February.

The maximum 12 points for Superpole Race victory meant Bulega narrowed the margin to Razgatlioglu in the Riders’ standings to 80 points.

It was still a fine effort from Lowes, who shared the podium with the feisty Petrucci after the Barni rider fought several riders to claim the final rostrum spot.

That left Redding to finish fourth for the second successive race with Vierge completing the top five in a fine showing for Honda.

Gerloff finished sixth to make it two Bonovo BMWs in the top six with Iker Lecuona ensuring the factory Honda squad saw two riders in the top-10.

That left Race 1 winner van Der Mark to finish eighth, ahead of Gardner, who claimed the final Superpole Race point in ninth.

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The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati squad sealed a second successive one-two in practice in Saturday’s Free Practice 3 session at Misano with Nicolo Bulega leading WorldSBK reigning champion Alvaro Bautista.

Bulega’s 1:33.114s effort was just 0.11s ahead of team-mate Bautista with GYTR GRT Yamaha’s Remy Gardner continuing his form with an impressive third courtesy of a 1:33.332s laptime.

Free Practice 3 was the final time the field could prepare ahead of Saturday’s all-important Superpole session.

A short 20 minutes was all the time World Superbike riders had to find that extra bit of pace around the Misano circuit.

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati test rider Michele Pirro had another tricky session with a light fall as the wildcard rider failed to match his full-time teammates.

One Ducati rider who wasn’t struggling was Andrea Iannone, once again inside the top five for the third session in a row.

The enigmatic Italian went fourth fastest on the GoEleven Ducati, setting a time of 1:33.343s.

ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu rounded out the top five with a 1:33.369s effort, 0.255s behind Bulega.

It was an altogether positive session for the GRT squad, leading the line for Yamaha as Dominique Aegerter joined Gardner inside the top-10.

With rumours suggesting he could be replaced next season, the Swiss rider went sixth fastest in FP3 thanks to a 1:33.571s laptime in what would undoubtedly be a confidence boost for the YZF R1 competitor.

Garrett Gerloff also had a much-improved session.

The American was off the pace aboard his Bonovo Action BMW on Friday, but on Saturday morning he went seventh fastest aboard his M 1000 RR with a 1:33.619s tour of the Misano circuit.

Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes was up next on his ZX-10RR, courtesy of a 1:33.886s effort and Michael van der Mark made it three BMWs inside the top-10 with the ninth quickest time (1:34.015s).

Sam Lowes secured another top-10 spot, setting a best time of 1:34.036s on the Marc VDS Ducati, 0.922s back from the top spot.

WorldSBK at Misano continues with Superpole at 11:00 local time.

FP3 – Full Results

• 1 – N. BULEGA – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:33.114
• 2 – A. BAUTISTA – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:33.125
• 3 – R. GARDNER – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team – 1:33.332
• 4 – A. IANNONE – Team GoEleven Ducati – 1:33.343
• 5 – T. RAZGATLIOGLU – ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team – 1:33.369
• 6 – D. AEGERTER – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team – 1:33.571
• 7 – G. GERLOFF – Bonovo Action BMW – 1:33.619
• 8 – A. LOWES – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK – 1:33.886
• 9 – M. VAN DER MARK – ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team – 1:34.015
• 10 – S. LOWES – ELF Marc VDS Racing Team – 1:34.036
• 11 – I. LECUONA – Team HRC – 1:34.054
• 12 – A. BASSANI – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK – 1:34.061
• 13 – D. PETRUCCI – Barni Spark Racing Team – 1:34.086
• 14 – X. VIERGE – Team HRC – 1:34.122
• 15 – M. RINALDI – Team Motocorsa Racing – 1:34.137
• 16 – A. LOCATELLI – Pata Prometeon Yamaha – 1:34.267
• 17 – J. REA – Pata Prometeon Yamaha – 1:34.310
• 18 – T. RABAT – Kawasaki Puccetti Racing – 1:34.484
• 19 – M. PIRRO – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:34.568
• 20 – P. OETTL – GMT94 Yamaha – 1:34.675
• 21 – S. REDDING – Bonovo Action BMW – 1:34.943
• 22 – T. MACKENZIE – PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda – 1:35.174
• 23 – B. RAY – Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team – 1:35.267
• 24 – A. NORRODIN – PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda – 1:36.896

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Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s sensational World Superbike rookie Nicolo Bulega set the ultimate pace in front of his home crowd at Misano on Friday afternoon as ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed out partway through Free Practice 2.

Bulega’s 1:33.511s time was 0.402s clear of second-placed Alvaro Bautista, making it a factory Ducati one-two.

With temperatures likely to be similar in Saturday Race 1 and Sunday Race 2, FP2 was an important session for the riders to gauge their race readiness through long runs.

World SBK rookie Sam Lowes had a temporary mishap with a crash aboard his Marc VDS Ducati at Turns 5 early on but was able to continue.

Andrea Locatelli meanwhile was also caught out, losing the front at Turn 4 on his Pata Prometeon Yamaha and had to return to the pits with a damaged windscreen.

Razgatlioglu then lost control of his M 1000 RR at Turn 16 with 20 minutes of the session remaining.

After going fastest in FP1, the Turkish rider put himself out of contention for the remainder of FP2 with the provisionally fourth fastest time after over-pushing on a new set of tyres.

Coming back into the garage, Razgatlioglu complained he had too much front end on his BMW, leaving his mechanics to tweak his setup.

Danilo Petrucci, riding his Barni Racing Ducati on Friday in an attempt to comeback from injuries sustained in an April motocross incident, waited until the final 16 minutes of FP2 to take to the track.

The Italian was clearly feeling fatigued and it was no wonder considering his April incident prompted surgery to repair a broken jaw and collarbone, forcing him to miss Round 3 of the World Superbike campaign at Assen, but he valiantly fought to claim the 12th fastest time.

Bulega enjoyed the top spot for the majority of the session and as the session drew to a close, he punched several successive fast laps to push the pace even further with his world champion team-mate Bautista providing motivation in a close second.

Bautista could do nothing to trouble Bulega however, who continues to impress in his maiden World Superbike campaign.

Also impressive was GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider Remy Gardner.

Gardner got his first podium last time out at Assen and looks to be carrying that form into Misano, setting the third-fastest time aboard his YZF R1, a 1:33.921s effort.

GoEleven Ducati’s Andrea Iannone worked his way into the top five for the second successive session, lapping Misano in 1:33.960s aboard his Panigale V4R.

Despite falling earlier on, Razgatlioglu stayed in the top five as his 1:34.221s lap ensured he featured high on the leaderboard.

The Turkish rider’s effort in FP1 remained the fastest time of the day, prompting speculation he could have topped FP2 had he not fallen from his M 1000 RR machine.

In sixth was Iker Lecuona, impressing aboard the Team HRC Honda CBR1000 RR-R, working well with the new swingarm on his Japanese machine and setting a 1:34.222s laptime.

Next up were the two Lowes twins, led by Kawasaki’s Alex with a 1:34.287s lap with Sam recovering from his early off to finish eighth fastest courtesy of a 1:34382s effort.

GRT Yamaha’s Dominique Aegerter (1:34.384s) and Team Motocorsa’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi (1:34.417s) rounded out the top-10.

FP2 – Full Results

• 1 – N. BULEGA – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:33.511
• 2 – A. BAUTISTA – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:33.913
• 3 – R. GARDNER – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team – 1:33.921
• 4 – A. IANNONE – Team GoEleven Ducati – 1:33.960
• 5 – T. RAZGATLIOGLU – ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team – 1:34.221
• 6 – I. LECUONA – Team HRC – 1:34.222
• 7 – A. LOWES – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK – 1:34.287
• 8 – S. LOWES – ELF Marc VDS Racing Team – 1:34.382
• 9 – D. AEGERTER – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team – 1:34.384
• 10 – M. RINALDI – Team Motocorsa Racing – 1:34.417
• 11 – A. LOCATELLI – Pata Prometeon Yamaha – 1:34.438
• 12 – D. PETRUCCI – Barni Spark Racing Team – 1:34.476
• 13 – J. REA – Pata Prometeon Yamaha – 1:34.544
• 14 – M. VAN DER MARK – ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team – 1:34.592
• 15 – X. VIERGE – Team HRC – 1:34.754
• 16 – A. BASSANI – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK – 1:34.756
• 17 – T. RABAT – Kawasaki Puccetti Racing – 1:34.794
• 18 – M. PIRRO – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:34.803
• 19 – S. REDDING – Bonovo Action BMW – 1:34.832
• 20 – T. MACKENZIE – PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda – 1:35.105
• 21 – G. GERLOFF – Bonovo Action BMW – 1:35.137
• 22 – P. OETTL – GMT94 Yamaha – 1:35.755
• 23 – B. RAY – Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team – 1:36.666
• 24 – A. NORRODIN – PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda – 1:37.933

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