SBK Assen: Nicolò Bulega, you're magic—another record-breaking Superpole

Give this guy a MotoGP bike, because in Superbike there’s no contest. Nicolò Bulega obliterated Assen’s all-time record, sealing the 12th Superpole of his career and the fourth in a row, adding Jerez’s grand final to the hat-trick of this lightning start to the season. Note well: Bulega set this wonderful lap on the SCX tire (soft race compound) since Pirelli did not bring the SCQ qualifying tire on this occasion.

After clocking a 1'32"144, the Ducati rider even went back out, hunting for an even more dazzling lap, but he crashed without consequences at Turn 1, losing the front. Nicolò, it was already more than enough! Despite the further restriction on fuel flow, the front row for race 1 will be all Ducati with Sam Lowes (on the satellite Marc VDS) and the other factory rider Iker Lecuona. He had fancied his chances, but against Bulega there’s just no way.

Superpole went very well for Danilo Petrucci, who had flirted with the dream of the front row and still finished a very solid fourth. It’s a promising spot: especially if it rains, Petrux truly holds the right card to turn around this unexpectedly complex start to his BMW adventure. Lining up next to the Umbrian rider will be Xavi Vierge, helped by the tow from his former Honda teammate Iker Lecuona. “I was hoping for something better,” admitted the Ducati lieutenant.

Races go by and the Honda HRC project, instead of progressing, is sinking deeper and deeper. Jake Dixon got injured in preseason and hasn’t turned a lap yet, Somkiat Chantra returned in Portugal and here at Assen he crashed in FP3 and won’t start race 1. Jonathan Rea, the most successful rider in Superbike history, is desperate: on paper he’s the Honda HRC tester, but in reality the weight of the project rests entirely on his shoulders. Two years ago here, with Kawasaki, he started from Superpole; this time he’s eighteenth...