Nicolo Bulega recovered from a difficult start after a red flag to claim his 16th-straight victory in the Hungarian WorldSBK Superpole race.
The initial start to the Superpole race saw Bulega get the initial launch off the line, but a mistake from Yari Montella forced both riders wide at the first corner and allowed Lorenzo Baldassarri through into the lead.
However, a crash in the middle of the pack between Andrea Locatelli and Miguel Oliveira at Turn 6 saw the race red flagged on the first lap. Locatelli made it back to the pitlane, but Oliveira was taken to hospital for further checks after suffering a concussion and left shoulder injury.
The Yamaha was awarded a double long lap penalty for irresponsible riding, which saw him out of contention after a promising initial start.
On the restart, however, Bulega made no errors and led from the off down into the first corner from Montella and Baldassarri.
The satellite Ducatis almost made contact on the outside of Turn 3, which promoted Iker Lecuona into second after an initially disappointing start from fifth for the factory Ducati rider.
Sam Lowes was also involved in the original start incident and suffered an issue at the end of the second lap which saw him drop down the order, although he was able to keep running, albeit in a compromised manner.
In the closing stages of the race, Lecuona managed to close the gap to his team-mate in the lead, with the gap on the final lap under a second.
Bulega managed to see off the late pressure as he crossed the line to claim his 16th victory in a row by 0.894s.
Lecuona closed the gap at the end of the race, but his deficit in the opening laps was just too much to recover from as he took second.
Despite his off with Montella at Turn 3, Baldassarri crossed the line to complete the all-Ducati podium.
Alvaro Bautista was another benefactor in the coming together between Baldassarri and team-mate Montella, as he leapfrogged ahead of his fellow Spaniard in a fourth and fifth place finish for the Barni Spark team.
Alberto Surra had a relatively quiet race but ensured all Ducatis made the top six, with Alex Lowes the top non-Panigale despite struggling with his Bimota in seventh.
Garrett Gerloff was eighth for Kawasaki, as Tarran Mackenzie’s ninth saw seven Ducatis inside the top 10.
Xavi Vierge won out in a close battle for 10th, with Remy Gardner, Tommy Bridewell and Locatelli after his long lap all in contention behind the top Yamaha rider.
Stefano Manzi crossed the line in 14th, while Axel Bassani added to Bimota’s struggles down in 15th.
Discussion about this post