Nicolo Bulega aims to recover “a lot of points” on absent Toprak Razgatlioglu in WSBK title chase

World Superbike rookie Nicolo Bulega heads to the WorldSBK Italian Round at Cremona Circuit with revitalised championship ambitions.

Bulega began his debut season with a victory at round one in Australia, but despite finishing second 11 times in the races between Phillip Island and the most recent round at Magny-Cours, he was unable to make a return to the top step.

He was cut adrift to the tune of almost 100 points in the riders’ standings, trailing Toprak Razgatlioglu by 92 going into the French Round.

But the Turkish rider suffered a collapsed lung when he crashed in FP2 in France, ruling him out of action for all three races there. Bulega crashed out in Race 1, but won both races on Sunday to close to within 55 points.

A further weekend’s absence for Razgatlioglu at Cremona this weekend keeps the door open for Bulega to continue making ground in the championship.

“First of all, I’m really sorry that Toprak [Razgatlioglu] is still suffering from his crash at Magny-Cours,” Bulega told WorldSBK.com.

“I hope he comes back soon because it’s another story if he comes here.

“For the Championship, obviously now I’d like to recover a lot of points because it’s important for us. I don’t expect anything, I try to stay focused on my job, trying to do what I’ve done all season; always alone.”

Bulega’s championship situation is, in the simplest terms, that if he wins all three races he will go to Aragon next week with a seven-point championship lead over Razgatlioglu.

It’s not an impossibility for Bulega, who, at least in the dry at Magny-Cours, proved himself capable of fitting into the gap at the top of the race result sheet left in the #54’s absence, despite picking up right shoulder injuries in his Race 1 crash.

“I’m very happy, especially coming from Magny-Cours, where Sunday was very good for us,” Bulega said. “I come here with strong positivity, and I want to continue to go fast and have a good feeling with my bike.

“This isn’t my home round, we already did that at Misano, but it’s like my second home round because I live not too far from here.

“Even if I’m not at 100%, I can ride well because I already won at Magny-Cours. I’ll try to ride around this problem.”