Regardless of the distraction caused by the need for wheel swaps , Bulega aced the whole round . Fastest in every session , wins in both full length races and the Tissot Superpole sprint is an enviable way to start a campaign . He was in a class of his own and if Round One is representative of his form for the rest of the season , he ’ ll be tying up the championship very early .
SUPERPOLE Honda ’ s Iker Lecouna weekend was ended when a Turn 9 crash in Superpole left him with a fractured bone in his foot . Bulega took pole , with a 1m 28.824s , a shade less than one tenth of a second quicker than Raztgatlioglu and these were the only two riders to break the 1m 29s barrier . Iannone took the last spot on the front row of the grid with Bautista , Petrucci and Redding making the second row a full house for Ducati . Overall , Superpole was a close affair with one second covering first to ninth . The 10-lap Tissot Superpole race went wrong for Razgatlioglu , Bautista and Gerloff on lap one . Toprak and Bautista failed to make Turn 4 ( Miller Corner ) and , whilst both were able to continue they did so from the very back of the field . Razgatlioglu was able to recover to fifteenth position but Bautista lost a minute on the front runners and finished in nineteenth . Gerloff was even less fortunate having to retire after an off at the same corner . Up front , it was a Ducati shut-out with Bulega taking the race by over two seconds from
Iannone and Petrucci . Ominous signs for the rest of the field with independent Ducatis , admittedly ridden by very fast riders , pushing non-Ducati factory teams down into minor placings . Bulega ’ s fastest lap in the race was a 1m 29.914s , and his top speed on the straight was an impressive 314.5km / h . Iannone was able to lay down a faster lap with a 1m 29.033s but Bulega was more consistent and wasn ’ t having to defend , given he pulled out an early lead and maintained it .
RACE ONE Razgatlioglu fought hard for second place in the full length Race One but Bulega was long gone , taking the 20-lap race by nearly five seconds , even after he eased up on the last lap , with Razgatlioglu narrowly holding Bautista at bay . It was a reflection of Ducati ’ s strength that five of the top six places went their way with Petrucci , Redding and Iannone a couple of seconds behind Bautista . Further back , Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani completed Bimota ’ s return with very credible eight and ninth places .
RACE TWO Race Two , the second 20-lapper was another all-Ducati affair with Bulega taking the win from teammate Bautista with Iannone , Redding , Petrucci and Sam Lowes in-trail , although only Iannone was really able to keep the two Aruba . it riders in-sight . Lowes , on the Marc VDS Ducati , in sixth was ten seconds behind Bulega at the flag and right on Petrucci ’ s tail . Locatelli , Alex Lowes and Alex Bassani were best of the non-Ducati
Left to right : Bautista and Razgatlioglu having a chat , and Bulega during a post-race interview .
KIWI RIDER 39