Superbike speaks Italian: there's none for anyone in Barcelona, Nicolò Bulega dominates the two days of testing carried out yesterday and today, confirming his form aboard the Aruba team's Ducati. After closing Day 1 by coming close to the track record, the rookie achieved his goal on Day 2 and beat the benchmark by signing a 1'40″172 (the previous one belonged to Alvaro Bautista in 1'40″264).
The reigning world champion himself had a difficult day, making the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team's test bittersweet. The protagonist of a fall, Bautista did not go beyond the 16th final time, paying for a delay of one second and 399 thousandths. It wasn't enough to mount the SCQ to find the time attack, however there is optimism in terms of pace.
Only Toprak Razgatlioglu manages to get close to Super Bulega, remaining 27 thousandths from the top. The Turk also beats the Catalan track record and once again proves to be at ease astride the M1000 RR. The BMW standard bearer is the only one closely chasing Bulega and the leading pair manages to make the difference over their pursuers. The first of these is Danilo Petrucci, third. The rider from Terni climbs back up after a morning of chasing and finishes as the best of the independents, just over four tenths behind the leader and teammate.
Good performance by Andrea Iannone, who is still familiarizing himself with the new category, but at the end of Day 2 he was fourth. The Goeleven rider takes almost half a second from Bulega and precedes Jonathan Rea. Still not fully at ease with the Yamaha, the six-time world champion is working hard to get to know the M1 and puts the Barcelona tests to rest with the fifth fastest time, exactly six tenths from the top.
Immediately behind we find his teammate Andrea Locatelli, author of a big step forward on the second day and credited with the sixth fastest time. Another rookie in seventh place is Sam Lowes. Having already appeared quite satisfied with his Ducati, the Marc VDS team rider moves within seven tenths of Bulega and is the third independent ahead of the other Ducati rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who closes the top 10 with the Panigale V4R of the Motocorsa team.
Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes fit in between the two. The Dutchman, eighth, is the second of the BMW drivers behind Toprak Razgatlioglu, from whom he pays a delay of seven tenths. The Briton, on the other hand, is the best placed among the Kawasaki riders and doesn't go higher than ninth. To find the other ZX-10RR you have to scroll down to 15th position, where Axel Bassani is, rather late compared to the leading group.
11th time for Remy Gardner, who just missed the top 10 by 24 thousandths. The Australian from the GRT team precedes Garrett Gerloff, 12th with the BMW of the Bonovo team. More difficulty for their respective teammates: Dominique Aegerter is 13th and is the first to overcome the second gap from the top, while Scott Redding is actually 17th. The Honda duo travels at the back together with Tito Rabat and the MIE pair, as well as Philipp Oettl and Bradley Ray, in extreme difficulty.
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