Following a dominant showing in Superpole, Nicolo Bulega delivered another clutch performance to take victory in Race 1 of the WorldSBK season-opener at Phillip Island.

Bulega’ꦕs start waܫs the only hiccup as he went from first to fifth during the early stages, however, an unrivalled turn of speed prior to the pit stop sequence saw him take the lead. 

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Fellow WorldSBK rookie And♛rea Iannone was the only rider capable of following Bulega initially.

But when the pit stops took place, Bulega came out💜 with a sizable lead which he controlled until the end of the race.

Bulega was unable to deliver the same type o𝕴f result during either Sunday race, however, his stunning achievement is one that won’t go unnoticed by his rivals.

A clear title contender despite being a rookie, Bulega admitted post-rac𝓰e he was still in shock as to what he achieved.

“Maybe I still don’t realise but what can I say? It’s incredible,” said Bulega. “To win the first race and also take the lap record and pole position, iꦚt’s like last y𝓀ear when I was in WorldSSP but now, it’s in WorldSBK.

“I can’t say a lot because I still don’t realise, it’s a good sensation. In the l✅𓃲ast two laps, I was smiling a lot under my helmet when I saw my pit board with 3.5s advantage.

“You can dream as much as you want but when 💟you🗹 have to do it, it’s different.

“I𓃲t’s a dream come true and I’m happy to win the first race as I feel less pressure.”