SBK Most: Bulega’s sensational Superpole—he makes up for the missing fuel

Sensational Nicolò Bulega: amid the traps of Most he turns on the turbo and lays down the fastest lap ever, four tenths under Toprak Razgatlioglu’s previous record. The Superbike dominator settled accounts in one fell swoop with his present rivals and with those of the past as well.

The performance is extremely striking because it comes at a particular moment. Namely, in the thick of negotiations to step up to MotoGP ’27 (Ducati with VR46?) and in the wake of fresh controversy sparked by the third (and final) regulatory cut imposed on Ducati. From this race all Panigales on track have half a kilo/hour less fuel available. But tell me what’s changed: nothing. Bulega is on a sixteen-race winning streak and meanwhile has signed his fifth pole this season, fourteen in total. And now try to catch him: remember that race 1 has been moved up to 14:00

Here the Superpole matters more than elsewhere, because starting up front is the way to avoid the troubles that often happen at Most’s turn 1. Despite the regulation, there will be five Ducatis in the first five spots on the grid: let’s see how long it takes Dorna and the Federation to understand that choosing a flowmeter to balance bike performance has been a failure. The amount of fuel, regulated by this device, has zero impact on performance. With less fuel the engine should lose power, become more peaky and risk overheating issues. But Ducati had the solution: that’s why they greenlit this regulation...

In the Superbike paddock many hope Iker Lecuona can trouble Nicolò Bulega, to make the show more thrilling and the outcome less predictable. But the Spaniard, at least for now, isn’t at the same level as his teammate. This time too he took a sound beating, half a second. And he also paid three tenths to a blistering Yari Montella, superb on the Barni Ducati. The Bergamo-based squad lost Alvaro Bautista in FP3, due to a big crash with multiple fractures in his right foot that will keep him out for a long while. But the Campania rider, an hour later, brought back a bit of a smile. Sam Lowes and the up-and-comer Alberto Surra played their part in Ducati’s show of strength.

The other side of the regulatory change decided on the eve of Most is the extra half kilo/hour of fuel granted to Yamaha. But here too the contribution is nil: the first R1 is Stefano Manzi’s, in tenth, while Andrea Locatelli’s unfathomable slump continues—on paper he should be the spearhead of Yamaha’s armada. BMW can’t smile either: Danilo Petrucci starts from the third row, but the gap is clear both to Bulega (one second) and to Toprak Razgatlioglu’s benchmark from a year ago: six tenths. Ahead of the Terni rider are Axel Bassani with the Bimota and Lorenzo Baldassarri, always quick with the Go Eleven Ducati.