Assen Practice 1: Ducati's fuel is cut, but Nicolò Bulega couldn't care less

Nicolò Bulega was the fastest in the first practice of the third World Superbike round at Assen. They reduced the fuel flow to slow down the Ducatis, but it isn’t working: there are four Panigale V4 Rs up front, with Lecuona, Sam Lowes, and the excellent Baldassarri right behind the championship leader.

Here at Assen, the International Motorcycling Federation has made the first regulatory cut to the Ducatis in an attempt to shake up a Championship so far dominated by the Red bike, with Nicolò Bulega on maximum points: six wins in six races. The fuel flow has been reduced to 44.5 kilograms/hour (mass, not volume), that is half a liter/hour compared to Phillip Island and Portimão. Just take a look at the standings below to gauge how effective this balancing method is: not at all. Ducati was in front before and is immediately in front again. It’s also worth noting that the value can no longer be lowered: reducing fuel means leaning out the mixture, which leads to higher temperatures and a greater risk of failures—issues that the engine engineers in Borgo Panigale have learned to manage well. They also cut the fuel for Bimota, which hasn’t won since 2000: the logic behind the algorithm overseeing the balancing system remains anyone’s guess...

In the Netherlands a year ago, the German brand hit a clear slump even with Toprak Razgatlioglu, only fourth and 17 seconds behind Bulega in Race 1 and tumbling to eighth in the second long race. The weekend for their successors has started poorly. The first to go down was Miguel Oliveira, fresh off a triple podium at Portimão. Then it was Danilo Petrucci’s turn—he was doing much better than the Portuguese rider but lost the front going into the final chicane. Major damage to the M1000RR, but the rider is OK.

The opening session on the Drenthe plain went so smoothly for Ducati that it felt like a seamless continuation of the previous two rounds at Phillip Island and Portimão. Three very different tracks, but the same dominance by the Italian brand. With a 1'33"952, Bulega is already close to the official race lap record, which he himself set last year at 1'33"596. Recall that Nicolò dominated Race 1 here but suffered a double mechanical issue in Sunday’s races, losing those 37 points that weighed heavily in the final point-for-point battle with Toprak Razgatlioglu. Breaking up the Ducati train is Xavi Vierge’s Yamaha, the only one currently managing to ride above the Yamaha R1’s issues. Only thirteenth, instead, on the same bike, is Andrea Locatelli, who won his first and so far only World Championship race here a year ago. We’ll see at 3 pm if anything changes...