An opportunity gone at Aragon for Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) as the rookie Italian suffered a mechanical problem on the second Warm Up Lap of a restarted Race 1 of the Tissot Aragon Round. The reigning WorldSSP Champion was seen speaking intensely to his mechanic after the sighting lap during the quick start procedure, explaining that he could hear a strange noise. The original race was red-flagged after Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) suffered a crash at Turn 4 due to a winglet from Jonathan Rea’s (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) becoming caught in the rear wheel after contact at Turn 2. The Warm Up Lap of the restart was when drama hit Bulega, with smoke billowing out from his Ducati Panigale V4 R at Turn 10, resulting in him pulling off before the race started.

“I LOST A LOT OF POINTS” – Bulega laments missed opportunity

“I was unlucky today; we had a problem with my bike and I lost a lot of points,” began a dejected Bulega, now 33 points back in the Championship from Toprak Razgatlioglu. “I had a very good feeling with the bike so I lost points and the possibility to win. When I did the last sector of the sighting lap, I started to hear something strange. I said this to my mechanic on the quick restart and then on the Warm Up Lap, I felt it more and then I stopped.”

A BIG HIT FOR ENGINE ALLOCATION? “We think it’s an engine problem”

When asked about what he thought it could be, Bulega was rather short with his answer: “The team have to check but we think it’s an engine problem.”

There’s also the problem of engine allocation for Bulega, who had to have an engine change at both Portimao after Friday practice and after the Cremona Superpole Race. Although team boss Serafino Foti insisted at the time that it was on “safety” grounds, the engine allocation is a topic but one Nicolo wants to distance himself from: “I don’t know as it’s not my work; I only think about opening the throttle, the team do the rest.”

Talking about whether or not he has a plan for Sunday to regain points on Razgatlioglu, there’s anger as a motivation for Sunday: “Now, I’m going to use this angry feeling for tomorrow and try to recover points and forget this day. There’s no plan. I was fast today, I had a good feeling and I was able to win today. I’ll try again tomorrow with all I can.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com