Bulega dominates WorldSBK France Race 2, closing to Razgatlioglu in the championship
Nicolo Bulega took a dominant victory at the WorldSBK French Round in Race 2, the 24-year old WorldSBK rookie closes the gap to Toprak Razgatlioglu in the world championship to just 55 points.
Before the race got underway, Alvaro Bautista and Ducati confirmed that the Spaniard would not participate in Race 2 after a huge crash in the Superpole race. Bautista pulling out of the race means that all of the “Big Three” as they were known, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista, had pulled out of the French WorldSBK round.
Nicolo Bulega maintained his lead at the beginning of the race, as Alex Lowes ran wide into Turn 9 with a suspected issue on his Kawasaki, the Brit falling to 16th place at the end of the first lap.
Michael van der Mark would overtake Xavi Vierge at Turn 5 in the opening few laps, the pair duelling all the way through until Turn 9, where van der Mark would finalise his move aboard the BMW, as Axel Bassani also went underneath Vierge to take fourth place on his Kawasaki. Bassani’s teammate Alex Lowes had also been making progress after falling to 16th early on, eventually overtaking Andrea Iannone for 11th place after just a few laps.
Axel Bassani would eventually get past van der Mark for third place, as Garrett Gerloff quickly followed by overtaking Xavi Vierge for fifth, the American setting his sights on van der Mark for fourth place.
Bulega had pulled out a huge lead early on, clearing Danilo Petrucci by nearly three seconds. Petrucci himself was also multiple seconds in front of the chasing pack behind, led by Bassani.
However, Bassani would be given a long lap penalty at the halfway stage for taking a short cut without losing one second. The long lap penalty at Turn 9 puts the rider on an incredibly wide line, losing that rider multiple seconds of time, Bassani would rejoin the race in 11th place.
Sam Lowes would bring his Honda into the pits to retire from the race in the final 10 laps, another retirement for the Brit who has had a difficult weekend. His brother, Alex Lowes, made incredible inroads on the field, overtaking Scott Redding, Remy Gardner, Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona for fifth place with around seven laps remaining.
With just a handful of laps remaining, Alex Lowes would attack van der Mark for fourth place, finally getting past the BMW rider at the difficult and tight Turn 12 right-hander.
As riders struggled for grip, Remy Gardner and Iker Lecuona would run wide at Turns 12 and 13, as Scott Redding managed to come through and re-take eighth place.
Nicolo Bulega would come home to take a crucial victory at Magny-Cours in Race 2, he closes to Toprak Razgatlioglu in the World Championship, with Razgatlioglu’s health called into question for the future rounds, as he nurses a punctured lung after a huge crash on Friday.
WorldSBK France – Race 2 Results
1st Nicolo Bulega, Ducati
2nd Danilo Petrucci, Ducati
3rd Garrett Gerloff, BMW
4th Alex Lowes, Kawasaki
5th Michael van der Mark, BMW
6th Remy Gardner, Yamaha
7th Scott Redding, BMW
8th Xavi Vierge, Honda
9th Iker Lecuona, Honda
10th Andrea Locatelli, Yamaha
11th Axel Bassani, Kawasaki
12th Andrea Iannone, Ducati
13th Alessandro Delbianco, Yamaha
14th Tito Rabat, Kawasaki
15th Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Ducati
16th Philip Oettl, Yamaha
17th Bradley Ray, Yamaha
18th Tarran Mackenzie, Honda
19th Ivo Lopez, Honda
DNF Sam Lowes, Ducati
DNS Alvaro Bautista, Ducati
Featured Image: Ducati Corse Media
