Nicolo Bulega details strategy that overcame Dutch WorldSBK chaos

Nicolo Bulega says he had accepted second place in Race 1 at the Dutch WorldSBK, but was remotivated when the weather cleared towards the end of the race.

Bulega led more or less from the start, passing his teammate Iker Lecuona – who made the holeshot and led the first lap – at turn 11 on lap two.

The Italian had just started to increase his lead over one second when rain arrived around lap 14. That margin was then quickly erased by Lecuona who then took the lead with only a few laps to go.

For Bulega, this was the moment to think about the championship and preserve 20 points rather than push for five more. But when the rain eased off with two laps to go, his desire to win returned, and he was able to take advantage of the controlled pace he’d run in the first half of the race to conserve grip.

“More complicated than what I expected, but anyway it was a good race,” Nicolo Bulega reviewed, speaking to WorldSBK.com after Race 1.

“The last seven laps it started raining, but I was first, and when you’re first it’s difficult to understand how you can push. 

“Then Iker [Lecuona] overtook me and I said ‘Okay, no sense to take a big risk today’, so I just decided to follow him. 

“But then, the last two laps it was coming dry again, so I pushed, my pace was good because I saved a lot the front tyre during the race. 

“I won, and I’m really happy.”

Bulega arrived in Assen with a win streak of 10 races, meaning that three more in the Netherlands would land him on 13, the same number as Toprak Razgatlioglu achieved in 2024 and 2025 and which stands as the outright record in World Superbike.

The Italian admitted that he was motivated to continue that streak going, and by taking his 11th straight win he moved level with Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista for consecutive wins.

“I’m in a good consecutive wins,” he said, “so I like to continue this trend. 

“Winning is everything. 

“I said ‘Okay, don’t take big risks’, but then, when I see the possibility to win again, I believed until the end and I did it.”