Lecuona stops Bulega: record pole with Pirelli SCQ, Race 1 with SCX

· Second victory for Lecuona. Iker Lecuona (Ducati) won Race 1 at Cremona, postponing Nicolò Bulega’s possible championship celebrations. Starting from pole, he secured his second victory, following his success at Donington Park, beating team-mate Bulega and Sam Lowes to complete an all-Ducati podium. Almost all riders opted for the SCX supersoft rear tyre, with the exception of Gerloff and Bridewell, who chose the F0769 supersoft development tyre; at the front, the SC1 soft tyre was the dominant choice, apart from Manzi, who used the SC2 medium. Lecuona also set the fastest lap, in 1’28.077, just 97 thousandths of a second off the lap record).

· Run comes to an end. After nine consecutive pole positions, Bulega saw his record-breaking streak interrupted by his team-mate, who started from the front of the grid for only the second time in his WorldSBK career. In qualifying, Lecuona stopped the clock at 1’27.253, improving the previous lap record, set by Bulega himself last year, by more than six tenths. Bulega posted the second-fastest time, ahead of Alberto Surra, also on a Ducati. In addition to the Spaniard, who set the fastest time using the range extra-soft SCQ tyre at the rear, five other riders also went below the previous lap record.

· First WorldSSP victory for Alcoba. WorldSSP Race 1, held over 13 laps following a red flag, went to the Spaniard Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki), who claimed his first victory in the category by making the most of his pole position. Yamaha riders Albert Arenas, the championship leader, and Italy’s Filippo Farioli completed the podium. Britain’s Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph) set the fastest race lap in 1’31.822, improving Lucas Mahias’ benchmark from one year ago by 179 thousandths of a second. All 33 riders on the grid used Pirelli tyres from the range, with the SC1 soft front and SCX supersoft rear compounds. Race 1 of the WorldSPB, the category equipped with Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres in the SC1 compound on both axles, was won by Spaniard Xavi Artigas (Kawasaki), taking his third victory of the season. Finally, Brazilian rider Aymon Bocanegra won the first of the two races in the Yamaha R3 World Cup.

Record-breaking performances with Pirelli rear tyres
 
“The first day of racing at Cremona confirmed the positive trend seen throughout the season, with further performance improvements across all classes. Despite the circuit being particularly sensitive to temperature variations, lap times quickly approached those recorded in last year’s edition, which was held with the same tyre allocation. The SCX tyre from the range played a decisive role, having already been chosen by all riders from the opening sessions and delivering extremely competitive performance.
“In qualifying, the performance level increased further: the first six riders made the most of the greater grip offered by the new SCQ tyre from the range to go below the previous lap record. On the lap that earned him pole position, Lecuona improved the previous benchmark by more than six tenths. It will be interesting to see whether this solution will also be used in tomorrow’s Superpole Race, although the work carried out by the teams throughout the weekend suggests a clear preference for the SCX even in the shorter race”.