Bulega Vows to Defeat Toprak “Tomorrow for Sure” After Narrow Miss in Portimão Race 1 – FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK)
Starting from P2 on the grid, Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) seized the holeshot and led the opening six laps before engaging in a fierce and relentless duel with Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (BMW). The race quickly turned into a dramatic back-and-forth, filled with overtakes and counterattacks between two of the championship’s leading contenders.
On the final straight, Bulega launched a last-gasp attack, pushing his Ducati to the limit. But his effort came up just 0.067 seconds short of a perfect comeback, forcing him to settle for second despite an otherwise flawless ride.
Nicolò Bulega:
“I’ll never give up. We’re always focused on how to improve our own package. I don’t worry about others—we just work on our own weaknesses. It’s not easy to beat Toprak here, but if we can do it, it’ll be something special.”
“I feel we’ve made a big step compared to last year. Back then, he won with a big gap, but today we fought all the way to the final lap. That shows how much progress we’ve made. I believe we can be even stronger in the next race.”
“Honestly, our pre-season test here wasn’t great, but during the break we worked hard with Ducati to improve. I’m really proud of the battle we had today, and I think if we clean up a few corners, we can fight even better tomorrow.”