WSBK in Barcelona

24.03.2024

Race 1

The Saturday of the Pirelli Catalunya Round was full of emotions”.
Nicolò Bulega took the lead of the race on lap six and built a very wide lead but in the last three laps he had to deal with the sudden drop of the rear tire and he was overtaken by Razgatlioglu (BMW) closing with a second place that still gives him the provisional leadership in the World Superbike Championship standings.
Alvaro Bautista had to deal first with an unimpressive qualifying (P11) then with a three-position penalty. The reigning World Superbike Champion, however, was the protagonist of a fantastic comeback that allowed him to take the podium (P3) and the third position in the world ranking tied with Razgatlioglu.

P2 Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #11)
"I can't say I'm very happy because I was first with a big lead until two laps to go. Unfortunately, in the final part of the race I no longer had grip on the rear and this did not allow me to manage the advantage I had built. On the other hand, however, this is an important experience that I can use in the future. I learned something today and tomorrow I will try to do better."

P3 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #1)
"It was very difficult to make it back to the front group starting from 14th position. And honestly, I don't understand the reasons for the penalty because during qualifying my low speed didn't create any problems for any other rider. I am happy with this podium but I don't have the best feeling with my bike yet. We have to keep working and improve."

Race 2

Alvaro Bautista was the protagonist of a spectacular Sunday. Nicolò Bulega closed the second round of the 2024 WorldSBK season with first place in the championship standings.

The Pirelli Catalunya Round provided plenty of excitement right from the Superpole Race, which ended with a P3 of the reigning World Champion, who started from 11th position and made a fantastic comeback

Bautista was then perfect in Race-2 holding from lap 10 a race pace that was impregnable even for his teammate.
For Nicolò Bulega the satisfaction of a solid second place in Race-2 (P4 in Superpole Race) allows him to return home with first place in the Superbike World Championship standings with a 12-point advantage on Alvaro Bautista.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #1)
"This is a great result at the end of a weekend that was not easy. We managed to recover position after position starting from P14 in Race 1 due to a penalty that I didn't understand. For this, I want to thank the team with whom we did a great job. See you in Assen."

Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #11)
"We adopted a different strategy today than in Race 1 and the choice proved to be a good one. I am very happy with what we did this weekend also because this is a track I like but not one of my favourites, like for example Assen. We go home with a lot of confidence and a feeling that is growing more and more every day".

Race results

Pos.	Nr.	Driver	Bike	Time-gap to Leader
1	1	A. Bautista	Panigale V4R	1:41.963
2	11	N. Bulega	Panigale V4R	2.041
3	54	T. Razgatlioglu	M1000RR	7.005
4	60	M. van der Mark	M1000RR	12.452
5	9	D. Petrucci	Panigale V4R	15.076
6	22	A. Lowes	ZX-10RR	15.285
7	87	R. Gardner	YZF R1	16.000
8	65	J. Rea	YZF R1	16.963
9	77	D. Aegerter	YZF R1	19.849
10	31	G. Gerloff	M1000RR	21.644
11	45	S. Redding	M1000RR	22.108
12	14	S. Lowes	Panigale V4R	24.985
13	55	A. Locatelli	YZF R1	26.329
14	97	X. Vierge	CBR1000 RR-R	26.452
15	53	T. Rabat	ZX-10RR	34.445
16	5	P. Öttl	YZF R1	36.522
17	95	T. Enge	CBR1000 RR-R	46.934
18	27	A. Norrodin	CBR1000 RR-R	1:07.842
NC	29	A. Iannone	Panigale V4R
NC	7	I. Lecuona	CBR1000 RR-R
NC	28	B. Ray	YZF R1
NC	47	A. Bassani	ZX-10RR
NC	21	M. Rinaldi	Panigale V4R

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