Bulega winsin Jerez and keeps fight for the title alive

• Nicolò Bulega (Ducati) was the fastest rider in all practice sessions held at Jerez de la Frontera for the WorldSBK Spanish Round and grabbed both the pole position and Race1 victory. The Italian rider made the most of the standard medium SC1 front and E0479 development SCQ rear tyre combo to set the fastest time in Superpole, lapping in 1’36.629, a new all-time lap record for the circuit, nearly a second faster than the previous benchmark set by him in 2024.

• For Race1, Bulega completely changed tyre specs, opting for standard hard SC2 front and E0126 development SCX rear tyres. With this combo, he raced to victory almost four seconds ahead of Toprak Razgatlioğlu (BMW), who also opted for the same tyre choice. Third-ranked Álvaro Bautista (Ducati) was the highest-placed rider using the new E0672 development medium front tyre. While the best ranking among those who opted for the standard SC1 medium instead was Alex Lowes (Bimota), who crossed the finish line in sixth place. The E0126 development SCX was the unanimous rear choice. To complete the 20 laps of Race1, Bulega took almost 13 seconds less than in the same 2024 race, improving the average lap time by over six tenths.

• In WorldSSP, Stefano Manzi (Yamaha) won ahead of Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki) and Can Oncu (Yamaha), who finished second and third, respectively. All riders raced with the SC1 front and SCX rear tyre combination.

All front options proved to be valid, while development rear tyres confirmed their effectiveness
 
“At the Jerez track, each rider opted for personal setup and strategy, and all our tyre solutions proved valid. On such a layout, and with asphalt temperatures around 42°C — not excessively high — the SC2 front was a solid tyre choice and helped Bulega win with some margin and Razgatlioğlu finish second, while the new E0672 development medium front supported Bautista’s strong third place. Alex Lowes, who opted for the standard medium SC1, took home a positive sixth. Jerez represents a great testing ground for our new E0672 front, and the feedback collected has been encouraging, as most riders confirmed the positive feelings already reported at Estoril. As for the rear, both development options once again proved extremely effective: with the extra-soft E0479, Bulega shattered the all-time lap record he set last year, while the supersoft E0126 was the most widespread choice in all sessions, and the unanimous one in Race1. By winning today’s race, Bulega keeps the battle for the World Title alive: it will be decided tomorrow, on the last day of the season. It will be interesting to see whether today’s tyre choices will be confirmed.”