SBK Most: Red furies unleashed in the Sprint, Bulega never loses

Nicolò Bulega gave himself a slight advantage with a small mistake at the first corner, just to spice up at least a few turns. Then he set things straight, flying to his 18th win in a row, a record never before seen in this Superbike season dominated far and wide by Ducati’s red fury.

We mentioned the initial slip-up: Nicolò, starting from pole, came into turn one a bit too hot, running wide just enough to let Iker Lecuona and Yari Montella slip through. No problem. The rider from Campania on the Barni team was caught and passed in a few corners, while to overtake Iker it was necessary to wait for the heavy braking into the chicane. Right where 90 seconds earlier he had made a small mistake, Bulega put things back in order. There’s no contest: Nicolò is simply on another level compared to today’s Superbike riders, including his teammate Iker Lecuona. This time the Spaniard took over two seconds, a very harsh lesson, plain and simple.

This Championship keeps churning out identical races. The Sprint podium was the same as in Race 1, with an excellent third place for Yari Montella. The rider from Campania here has taken the place of Sam Lowes, who had been the third wheel in previous rounds but is getting tangled up here: on Saturday he went out after contact with Alberto Surra, and this time he did it all by himself, crashing at the first corner. A typical mistake by a very fast rider who often has indecipherable blackouts, given his experience.

Superbike promoters, to curb Ducati’s performance, have resorted to the “God rule,” that is, the ability to intervene in the technical regulations by introducing brand-new rules. Before Most they cut another half kilo/hour of fuel, with no practical effect, because the flowmeter simply doesn’t do anything to balance performance. Even over the short distance there were five Panigale V4Rs ahead of everyone, six in the top eight. Baldassarri and Surra flirted with the dream of the podium, breathing down Montella’s neck. Texan Garrett Gerloff inserted the Kawasaki Ninja between Mackenzie and Bridewell. With the Ducati, everyone goes fast, even the very privateers.

Due to the terrifying crash on the first lap of Race 1, Danilo Petrucci did not start, having been hospitalized with a fractured coccyx. The other main rider, Miguel Oliveira, was injured in contact with Andrea Locatelli in the Balaton Superpole Race. BMW therefore found itself without riders, except for test rider Michael van der Mark, thrown into the fray to replace the Portuguese.

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