SUPERPOLE SPRINT Whilst Race One offered little in the way of action, the Superpole sprint race was an absolute riot. From pole, Bulega found himself down in third at the end of lap one, having been passed by Lecuona and Surra and then lost fourth to Sam Lowes on the next lap. Bulega was one of only two riders who had chosen a harder tyre compound and it looked like a choice that would undo his winning streak. He was fortunate that the riders ahead of him slowed each other down whilst fighting for the lead and Bulega never lost touch with the front pack, even though he was briefly edged back to 5th when Balda muscled past him. Coming to the mid-race point, while Lecuona and Lowes were swapping the lead, Bulega, who hadn’ t stayed behind Balda for long, swept past Surra for third and then laid down a lap half a second faster than Lecuona and Lowes to pass them both for the lead.
Lecuona did put up a fight to retake the lead, but he started to look like the hunted and not the hunter and, with two laps to go, Bulega made the move that sealed the deal. Despite Lecouna’ s best efforts to re-pass, that was all she wrote, and another win had Bulega’ s name pencilled against it. It was demonstration of how Bulega seemingly has a solution for every racing challenge. Third was Sam Lowes with another strong ride which, in the early laps, suggested that it could be him and not one of the Aruba. it lads that could take the win, but once Bulega and Lecuona took command, Lowes’ attention switched to Balda who had passed Surra and was looking strong enough that he might score the last podium position. That challenge ended as Baldassarri slid off with two laps to go. Surra held on for fourth. Alex Lowes and Bassani took and fifth and sixth, and Bridewell rode another smart race to finish seventh, securing himself a third row start in Race Two. Bautista overcame his
KIWI RIDER 89