Superbike Aragon Practice: Bulega the strategist, rival Lecuona — what a crash!

In the intense heat of Aragon, Spain, Superbike fires up: Nicolò Bulega spent the second session preparing for the race, while his rival Iker Lecuona slammed the Ducati violently into the barriers. The rider is on his feet, but a bit sore.

The rise in track temperature slowed things down, so Bulega’s morning benchmark remained out of reach. The other factory Ducatista pushed hard—it’s obvious he’s desperate to take his first win with the Red bike right on home soil. Lecuona is coming off twelve consecutive on-track seconds, always behind his unleashed teammate who’s on a nineteen-race winning streak: he’s won them all this season, plus the final four of last year’s World Championship.

On this track, marked by a one-kilometer straight and high tire wear, the most important thing is finding a setup that keeps the tires from roasting after just a few laps. That’s exactly what Nicolò Bulega focused on, skipping the time attack—which, on the other hand, is Sam Lowes’ specialty. The Briton slotted the Marc VDS Ducati between the two factory bikes, making amends for the misstep—a simple slide—at the start of the morning session.

In such a one-note Superbike season, you have to look for news between the lines of the standings. On this first day, Honda showed a timid sign of awakening with Jake Dixon on the cusp of the top ten and a Somkiat Chantra finally distanced from the tail of the field. Sure, Ducati is still miles ahead, but it’s more than the nothing we’ve seen so far. We’re halfway through the championship, but Dixon is making his seasonal debut due to the preseason testing crash in Australia. The two days of testing at Misano last week certainly helped the CBR-RR, but let’s not forget that MotorLand is historically one of the most favorable tracks for Honda. Race Saturday will clarify the situation.

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