History was waiting at the TT Circuit Assen on Sunday afternoon and Nicolo Bulega delivered, storming to a 13th consecutive World Superbike victory to equal Toprak Razgatlioglu's modern-era record and complete a stunning clean sweep of the Dutch Round.
The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider did not make it easy on himself. Starting from pole position in Race 2, the Italian ran slightly wide at the opening corner and was swallowed by Ducati stablemates Sam Lowes and Iker Lecuona inside the first two laps. But Bulega simply observed, recalibrated and went hunting.
"I did not make a very perfect start. Sam and Iker overtook me the first laps. Then I just stay calm, study them where I can overtake them," Bulega said afterwards. "Then was a very fantastic race. I did some good overtakes, so I'm happy. And then I did not make any big mistakes. I did a very good race pace."
The 25-year-old regained the lead inside eight laps and pulled almost three seconds clear of team-mate Iker Lecuona by the flag, with Sam Lowes rounding out an all-Ducati podium. It was Aruba.it Racing Ducati's sixth consecutive one-two finish — another staggering line in a season that already reads like a rewritten record book.
Bulega's 13th straight win ties the record set by Toprak Razgatlioglu, who achieved the feat twice during his Yamaha and BMW title runs. The Italian admitted the mental dividend of such a streak matters as much as the points.
"I'm in a good situation. I have good mentality now. I know that I can be fast in every condition, so that this is very important for my head," he said. "When you win 13 races in line is very important especially for your head because give you a lot of motivation for the next races."
"We are a very good level because I can ride my bike very well. My team is listening to my comments very well, so we can improve session by session, and yeah, this is the results of hard work from me and from Ducati."
Through three full rounds, Bulega holds a maximum-points haul of 186 across nine race starts, leaving him 69 clear of Lecuona in the championship standings. Sam Lowes sits third on the back of three podiums in the Netherlands. Miguel Oliveira — making his WorldSBK return from injury with Pata Yamaha — finished 12th in Race 2 to round out a measured weekend.
The Dutch crowd saw a rider utterly in control of his weekend, but Bulega is already bracing for the unfamiliar demands of Balaton Park, which hosts Round 4 in two weeks.
"Balaton is a track that I don't really like a lot. For my riding style is not perfect. But anyway, last year I did second, so not so bad result. So I hope to to be faster this year."
He will need to navigate that skepticism carefully. Standing alongside Razgatlioglu in the record books is one thing; surpassing him requires winning in Hungary, where the gradient of the streak inevitably becomes steeper. But on current evidence — three wins from three at Assen, including Superpole Race honours — betting against Bulega looks like the riskier call.
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