Nicolo Bulega “didn’t have the best feeling” despite strong pace in Jerez WorldSBK practice

Second place in Friday practice for Nicolo Bulega at the Jerez World Superbike round leaves the Italian with hopes of fighting for victories in this weekend’s final round of 2024.

Bulega was fastest in FP1, and second in FP2 behind Michael Ruben Rinaldi, the factory Ducati rider able to lap consistently in the high-1:39s and low-1:40s throughout Friday.

There are two SCX rear tyres in Jerez, a standard version and a development option, but Bulega said he didn’t feel especially good with either of them.

“It was a bit strange today because I didn’t have the best feeling with either tyre,” Bulega told WorldSBK.com.

“I’ve heard the other riders also found it a bit strange today,” Bulega continued, referring to the likes of Jonathan Rea, who said that the track grip was less than in the winter tests, and Alvaro Bautista who was unable to find the rear grip he wanted with either the standard or development SCX rear tyres.

In the end, for Bulega, the result was positive, finishing Friday behind only the aforementioned Rinaldi, who used the SCQ tyre to go fastest in FP2.

“I’m happy with P2, and I feel pretty good, so I’ll aim for the win,” Bulega said.

“Jerez is one of my favourite circuits and I know it well on the Superbike unlike others this season. I tested here at the beginning of the season so it’s a bit different [to other rounds].

“I’ll approach tomorrow like I always do and focus on doing a good race. If I can, I’ll go for the win.”

Despite his encouraging pace in Jerez, Bulega was not expecting it to make much difference in his championship battle with Toprak Razgatlioglu, who goes into this weekend with a 46-point lead.

“Honestly, Toprak [Razgatlioglu] is far ahead in the championship, so it’s not easy,” Bulega said.

“I’ll just stay focused on my job and see what happens.”