Bulega sets the pace on the opening day at Assen

A string of fast times in the afternoon saw Nicola Bulega lead the way in the Superbike class. The Ducati star arrives in The Netherlands with a perfect record of six podium finishes from six races and he showed his strength again today

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completed 35 laps today. The reigning WorldSBK champion was the fastest rider of all in Sector 1 throughout the day and used this as the foundation for his fast times. However the other sectors were more of a challenge and he ended the day three tenths of a second off the pace in third position

Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) split Bulega and Razgatlioglu with an impressive 1’33.844 to set the second fastest time

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) ended the day fourth fastest ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). Locatelli, armed with the Super Concession chassis upgrades introduced at the Portuguese Round, looked confident again as he aims to continue his podium form from the last round

P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I feel quite good on my bike. We made an improvement from FP1 to FP2 and even though I don’t feel 100% we are OK. We can still improve, not so much in terms of lap time, but in terms of my comfort on the bike. I’m struggling a little bit too much today but, in general, it was a good Friday. We improved a lot from FP1 and that’s good. Hopefully we can make another step tomorrow to feel more comfortable and go faster.”

P2 – Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team)
“We didn’t start in a really good way, we were P14, but it was OK. The feeling with the bike was really good. For FP2 we started trying some different tyres and the bike was working well so I was happy. The feeling with the bike is really good. It’s only Friday but we have to be happy with today. We know where we lose time on the straight but we only lose time there. We know we have a good bike and tomorrow we will try to fight. We can improve the race pace but we will try to do our best.”

P3 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“I’m not feeling perfect on the bike so we haven’t started as strongly as we would like. I’m always trying to do my best and we’re working to improve the bike. It’s not working how I need it right now, the bike doesn’t help me when I’m riding, but we still have one more practice session tomorrow morning before Superpole. We’ll try a different setup for tomorrow to improve. If we can improve the bike, I think I’ll start enjoying it more. Then I’ll focus on qualifying, because I need a good lap time for a strong grid position.”

Combined Results after FP2
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’33.592
2. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.252s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.319s
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +0.422s
5. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.433s
6. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.543s

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