Bulega wins with new rear SCX in Cremona

· Nicolò Bulega (Ducati) was protagonist of the first day of races in the Italian Round of the FIM Superbike World Championship, in Cremona. First the Italian took pole position and then went on to win Race1 with a margin of almost 3 seconds over Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (BMW). Both ran the race with a medium SC1 compound at the front and the newly introduced E0126 supersoft development tyre at the rear. Same choice was made by all the other riders on the grid, with the sole exception of Yari Montella (Ducati), who opted for the hard SC2 at the front.

· Nicolò Bulega’s pole position time of 1’27.866 was also the circuit’s new all-time lap record, almost a tenth faster than his 2024 record. The race took place on 47°C of asphalt temperature, a full 14 degrees higher than last year’s Race1. The best race lap was set by Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (BMW) in 1’29.024, on lap nine.

· Stefano Manzi (Yamaha) won the first race of the WorldSSP weekend, using a SC1 front – SCX rear combination, the same adopted by all the riders at the start. Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph) set the fastest lap of the race on lap seven, stopping the clock to within a tenth of Yari Montella’s lap record set in 2024.

Supersoft E0126 the winning choice, even in Cremona’s heat
 
“In the first Cremona race, the newly-developed E0126 supersoft confirmed itself as a wining choice, both in terms of performance and consistency over the distance. Compared to the Assen round, where it made its debut, today the track temperature was 14°C higher, and all the riders on the grid chose this specification for the start. Ducati and Bulega were the most capable of finding an effective set-up and make the most of the tyre’s qualities, taking a well-deserved victory that was anything but obvious, given the close battle with Razgatlıoğlu for most of the race. Toprak pushed his BMW to the fullest to keep his chances alive, and set the fastest lap of the race on lap nine. The high temperatures and a track that was not perfectly rubberised – due to the pollen deposited during the night – put the teams to the test in finding the most effective configuration for their bikes, but with the SC1 front and rear E0126 combination, the fans witnessed a race full of overtaking and comebacks. The SCQ performance was also excellent, with Bulega taking pole position, retouching the all-time lap record by almost a tenth.”