Bulega beats records as the new Pirelli SCQ shines in the Superpole Race

· There’s no stopping Bulega. Another flawless weekend for Nicolò Bulega, who continued his dominant run aboard his Ducati by conquering the Misano World Circuit in the seventh round of the FIM Superbike World Championship. The Italian rider won all three races of the weekend, each time finishing ahead of team-mate Iker Lecuona and Yari Montella to complete all-Ducati podiums. With 25 consecutive victories, the championship leader further extends an already remarkable record. In Race 2, as in yesterday’s contest, all riders started on standard Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike supersoft SCX rear tyres, while the soft SC1 was the preferred front option, with the sole exception of Manzi, who chose the medium SC2. Compared to last year’s Race 2, held in temperatures 8°C cooler than today’s 56°C track temperature, the race was 5.2 seconds faster overall, with an average lap-time improvement of 0.248 seconds.

· SCQ scores a clean sweep in the Superpole Race. The Misano weekend marked the debut of the new extrasoft SCQ as a standard tyre, having first appeared last season as development specification E0479. Chosen by every rider for the Superpole Race, it enabled Bulega—once again victorious ahead of Lecuona and Yari Montella—to set a new race lap record of 1’31.945 on lap four of the 10-lap contest. The time was six tenths quicker than the benchmark he had established in Race 1 the previous day and 0.742 seconds faster than the previous record set by Toprak Razgatlıoğlu in 2024. Compared to last year’s edition, won by Razgatlıoğlu using the harder supersoft compound, the sprint race was 10.5 seconds faster overall, corresponding to an average lap-time gain of more than one second per lap. As for the front tyre choice, all riders selected the soft SC1 specification, Manzi again being the only exception.

· Arenas bounces back in Supersport. After narrowly missing victory by a few metres in yesterday’s race, Albert Arenas (Yamaha) responded immediately by taking a commanding solo win in WorldSSP Race 2 ahead of Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph) and Aldi Mahendra (Yamaha). All riders opted for the soft SC1 front and soft SCX rear combination. In WorldSPB Race 2, victory went to David Salvador (Kawasaki). Maria Herrera completed a double in WorldWCR Race 2 after a lengthy battle with Beatriz Neila, while Muklada Sarapuech secured third place to become the first Thai female rider to claim a podium finish in a world championship competition.

Superpole Race run at record pace on the SCQ, a tyre available to all riders on the market
 
“We conclude the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round with great satisfaction and outstanding results across every area, from new outright lap records in both qualifying and race conditions to race-pace improvements of around one second per lap.
Both the supersoft SCX rear, used in the long races, and the SCQ, selected for Superpole and the Superpole Race, delivered an exceptionally high level of performance. I would particularly like to focus on the SCQ, an extremely soft solution designed not only to maximise one-lap performance but also to provide effectiveness in short-distance races.
Over the 10 laps of the Superpole Race, every rider on the grid chose the SCQ, and the overall race time was more than 10 seconds quicker than last year, with race pace improving by over one second per lap. In addition, Bulega set a new race lap record of 1’31.945, improving the 2024 benchmark by more than seven tenths of a second. These are significant results achieved with a standard tyre that is commercially available and can be purchased by anyone.
Finally, I would like to renew my congratulations to Bulega and Ducati for the extraordinary sequence of victories and records they continue to build together race after race”.