SBK Assen: Nicolò Bulega's dominance continues, no contest in the Sprint

Long races, short races, bone-dry, heavy rain or a light drizzle: no matter how you make him race, Nicolò Bulega wins. In fact, he dominates: the third Superpole Race of this Championship was never in doubt. The Ducati rider rocketed from pole and, as usual, escaped to victory—his eighth of the year, twelfth in a row.

"He beats nobody," say the usual social media experts. Toprak Razgatlioglu is no longer here, having moved up to MotoGP, but beyond the technical level of the current rivals, it’s the performance analysis that debunks that impression. This time Bulega broke away by laying down a pole-pace lap right at the start, just a whisker off the MotoGP bests on this very track. The Panigale V4 R is a rocket, but it’s still a production-derived bike, nothing like the monsters of the top class. Tire choice aside: in this sprint race everyone started on the SCX, Pirelli’s softest available option, the same used in qualifying.

To grasp how fast Nicolò Bulega is going, consider that so far he has led 127 of the 135 laps contested in the first eight races of the current Championship. His points lead is one for the history books: only Carl Fogarty, back in 1995, had a bigger margin at this stage. Naturally, the Brit wrapped up his second title well in advance—the same thing that will happen this year, barring unpredictable plot twists.

This time Iker Lecuona didn’t lay a glove on him, not even at the end when a few raindrops reappeared, exactly like in the second half of Race 1. The day before he’d nipped at the dominator’s heels; this time he was already far back. This Superbike keeps serving up carbon-copy races: the podium was identical to Saturday’s, with Sam Lowes third again ahead of Alvaro Bautista. Four Ducatis up front, as always. Even with less fuel.