Nicolò Bulega is the new World Supersport champion. The victory in the first Portimão race this Saturday allowed the rider who has dominated the season to seal the title with still three races to go.

Despite starting from pole position, Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) had a slow start and was overtaken by Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha). However, he quickly regained the lead in the first corner. In the early laps, Manzi managed to put pressure on his rival, but on the fourth lap, he was passed by Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team/Ducati).

Once in second place, Montella kept up with Bulega and even set a new lap record, but on the seventh lap, he was forced to retire due to a technical issue with his bike. Bulega then had a more comfortable lead, with Manzi more than a second behind. Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) climbed to third place.

The top three positions remained unchanged until the end. Bulega crossed the finish line with a 2.637s gap over Manzi, who managed to distance himself from Navarro after a few laps of pressure. Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta) finished fourth, winning a hard-fought battle against Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing/Ducati).

Results:

O conteúdo Nicolò Bulega is the new WSSP champion after a dominant win at Portimão race 1 aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The Superbike paddock arrives in Portimão this weekend for a round in which titles can be decided in all categories. For the World Supersport 300 Championship, it’s the end of the season, so the champion will be determined.

In WSBK, Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) leads with a gap of 47 points over Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha). If the Spaniard scores 16 more points than his opponent in Portugal, he will become the champion. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) is in third place and can’t go any higher, but he could still be caught by Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha), Axel Bassani (Motocorsa/Ducati), and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati).

As for WSSP, Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) is in a privileged position to become the champion: he has an 85-point lead over Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), and even if he loses 35 points, he will still seal the title. Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta), in third place, no longer has a chance to fight for the championship.

WSSP300 is coming to an end, and the battle will be among the top three. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) has a 30-point lead over José Luis Pérez González, so he has a relatively comfortable lead with 50 points at stake. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM Paligo Racing) is 47 points behind, so once Buis scores at least three points, he will be out of contention.

Here are the schedules for the Portimão round of WSBK, WSSP, and WSSP300 (CET times):

Friday, September 29th
10:45-11:15: FP1 WSSP300
11:30-12:15: FP1 WSBK
12:25-13:10: FP1 WSSP
15:15-15:45: FP2 WSSP300
16:00-16:45: FP2 WSBK
17:00-17:45: FP2 WSSP

Saturday, September 30th
10:00-10:30: FP3 WSBK
10:45-11:05: Superpole WSSP300
11:25-11:45: Superpole WSSP
12:10-12:25: Superpole WSBK
13:40: Race 1 WSSP300
15:00: Race 1 WSBK
16:15: Race 1 WSSP

Sunday, October 1st
10:00-10:15: Warm-up WSBK
10:25-11:40: Warm-up WSSP
10:50-11:05: Warm-up WSSP300
12:00: Superpole race
13:30: Race 2 WSSP
15:00: Race 2 WSBK
16:15: Race 2 WSSP300

O conteúdo Potentially decisive weekend in the Superbike World Championships: Schedule for the Portimão round aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.