Italian hat-trick
Race 1 at Phillip Island, February 24, 2024: that's the day Nicolò Bulega, as a rookie, wins his first victory on his debut in Superbike. The greatest attention is all for the young driver from Emilia, but also for another aspect that cannot be excluded: with the 2nd place for Andrea Locatelli and 3rd for Andrea Iannonealso making his Superbike debut, completes a podium composed alone Italian pilots.
This hasn't happened since 1993
A result that seemed like a 'first time' even in the minutes after crossing the finish line, and which instead brought back another hat-trick dating back 31 years ago, moreover on Italian soil. Yes, because the 1993 San Marino Roundheld on the Misano Adriatico circuit, was actually the first case of a podium made up of only Italians in Superbike.
Who won
Even then, the result matured at the end of Race 1, on the circuit now named after Marco Simoncelli but at the time just subject to layout changes. The winner was the 'Leone di Jesi', better known as Giancarlo Falappa, one of the members of the Superbike Hall of Fame. In the fourth round of the 1993 world championship, Falappa won riding the Ducatijust like Bulega in Australia.
The other two on the podium
There are also commonalities between the past and the present Mauro Lucchiari and Andrea Iannone: although the latter finished 3rd at Phillip Island, the rider from Abruzzo still achieved his first podium in Superbike, achieving it with a Ducati. Two aspects practically the same as those of Lucchiari, who however obtained the title in '93 second position. ThirdInstead, the birthday boy arrived Fabrizio Pirovano with the Yamaha, same house with which Locatelli took second place in Australia. Winner of the Supersport world championship in 1998, Pirovano, who tragically passed away in 2016, is also part of the Superbike Hall of Fame.
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