Nicolò Bulega’s unbeaten streak this season comes to an end: Iker Lecuona claims his first victory

Iker Lecuona claimed the first, historic victory of his career in the Superbike World Championship. The Spanish rider from Aruba.it Racing Ducati triumphed in Race 1 of the Prosecco DOC Round in the United Kingdom, at Donington Park, following a spectacular duel with his teammate Nicolò Bulega, managing to hold off the pressure from the World Championship leader for all 23 laps.

Getting off to a better start than pole-sitter Bulega, Lecuona immediately took the lead, while Sam Lowes settled into third place. On the third lap, a wide line through Turn 3 allowed Bulega to move ahead, but the Spanish rider responded immediately, reclaiming the lead. One lap later, he also set a new race track record, then attempted to pull away, but his teammate remained constantly on his tail.

The battle remained wide open right up until the final laps. With seven laps to go, Bulega closed the gap again, reducing the deficit to just a few tenths of a second. On the 20th lap, Lecuona made another mistake at Turn 11, but did not allow the decisive pass. Shortly after, the Italian managed to briefly take the lead at Turn 9, but the Spaniard immediately retaliated at Turn 11 with another counter-pass.

In the final two laps, the two Ducati riders engaged in a breathtaking battle, even coming into contact at the penultimate turn of the final lap. Lecuona, however, managed to keep his cool until the checkered flag, thus claiming his first world championship victory in his 141st career race.

For Nicolò Bulega, it was a bittersweet second-place finish, bringing an end to an extraordinary streak of 25 consecutive victories. It was nonetheless a splendid one-two finish for Aruba.it Racing Ducati, the undisputed star of Race 1, which is sure to remain among the most thrilling of the season.