Nicolo Bulega unbeaten but “not easy to stay confident” at Australian WorldSBK

Nicolo Bulega says it wasn’t easy to maintain his confidence during the Australian WorldSBK Superpole Race as light rainfall affected the first part of the race.

Bulega dropped to fourth at the start, Yari Montella taking the early lead as the Race 1 winner slipped behind both Lowes brothers.

The Italian took four laps to get back to the front, after which point he was effectively unchallenged en route to a victory taken by 2.7 seconds.

But Bulega said afterwards that he struggled to maintain his confidence in the early part of the race due to the light rainfall in certain parts of the track.

“Very good result, another one,” Bulega said in his parc ferme interview on the WorldSBK international TV broadcast.

“It was a bit more difficult because the first laps with these little drops of rain was not very easy to stay confident. 

“But after some laps I started to ride better and then I won also this race and I’m really happy.”

Double delight for Bimota

Behind Bulega on the podium were the two Bimota riders, Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes.

For Bassani, it was a first World Superbike podium for Bimota, gained after being decisive behind Bulega as he cut his way through the pack to quickly pass Montella and catch Bulega’s tow.

Bassani used that to get away from the battle behind and secure his long-awaited podium finish, the Italian having been without a rostrum since 2023.

“It’s been really funny racing, especially in the start, the first three or four laps,” Bassani said during his parc ferme TV interview.

“There was a little bit of chaos, especially for a little bit of rain, but it’s been really good. When I had the possibility to stay on the back of Nicolo [Bulega] I said ‘Now is the time to push’ because I knew it was possible to put a little bit of gap to the riders [behind] and we did it. 

“I’m really happy, especially because Alex [Lowes] is on the podium with me, so both [Bimota] bikes are on the podium. I think for me it’s the perfect race.”

For Alex Lowes, third place marked a turnaround from Race 1 when he slumped to seventh in the second half of the race.

“It’s not been Australian weather but today was a bit more how I normally feel in Australia,” he said in parc ferme.

“Yesterday I just seemed to go backwards in the race, I didn’t feel very good at all, but today I really enjoyed it. Had a battle with my brother [Sam Lowes] for a little bit – that was nice – and then managed to feel quite good at the end. 

“We made some massive changes to the bike overnight, so I was trying to understand how to ride the best I could; the bike was great and really happy to have this podium. 

“Fantastic for Axel [Bassani] as well, he really deserves his first podium with our team, he’s been riding fantastic and I’m really proud of the guys.”