Ducati and its riders, Bautista and Bulega, dominate the WorldSBK races at Donington Park, Superpole Race goes to Razgatlioglu
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Yet another weekend under the banner of Ducati red has just come to an end in England at the Donington Park circuit, where the sixth round of the FIM World Superbike Championship was held. Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) won Race 1 and Race 2, yielding the top step of the podium to Toprak Razgatlioglu only in the Superpole Race. From the beginning of the year, the Spanish rider has won 16 out of the 18 races on the calendar, missing the top spot in only two Superpole Races. Similarly, Nicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team) achieved a brilliant brace in the FIM Supersport World Championship where he leads with a 55-point advantage over his direct rival, Stefano Manzi (Yamaha). Outstanding performance for the Pirelli tyres as well, particularly for the standard SC0 rear which, given the low temperatures at Donington, was practically the only tyre used in both categories, proving to be fast and consistent in terms of performance and contained wear on the track’s new asphalt, which is more aggressive on the tyres than in the past. Fast races even in low temperatures with standard SC0 rear “At Donington, with the low temperatures and the new asphalt, the standard SC0 rear was the undisputed protagonist and that is only right. Otherwise, if you could use the SCX in every race, having a range of compounds to cover different types of asphalt and weather conditions would be superfluous. However, it is important to point out that the SC0 is certainly not a fallback choice – anything but. It performed extremely well, registered a highly contained level of wear, and was consistent throughout all the races, allowing the riders to push hard from start to finish and maintain an extremely fast pace even in the final laps, as can also be seen by the fast laps done in both categories and by the overall race time which was significantly lower than previous years, with better lap times to the tune of one second. Credit for this undoubtedly also goes to the new asphalt which provides more grip and optimised the surface, but even with rather low temperatures, the SC0 performed extremely well. Congratulations to Ducati riders, Bautista and Bulega, as well as to all the protagonists of the weekend. Now Imola awaits where we will undoubtedly find much hotter weather.”
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