Alvaro Bautista: Nicolo Bulega ‘was going to be the next Valentino Rossi’
Two-time WorldSBK champion Alvaro Bautista claim🧔s Nicolo Bulega was supposed to be the next great Italian rider after Valentino Rossi.
168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Alvaro Bautista got his 2024 WorldSBK season up-﷽and-running ✨a weekend later than expected after having to wait until the sixth race of 2024 to claim his first WorldSBK.
Bautista was winless at Phillip Island, something that had previous🍷ℱly not happened in Ducati colours.
But Bautista took back co🅰ntrol in Race 2 of the Catalunya round and he go🎶t the better of team-mate Nicolo Bulega, who leads the championship.
🎃And speaking of the championship fight, Bau𒆙tista was asked about Bulega’s potential going forward.
“Well, this means that, if you want to fight for a championship, you have 𝓰to have a good bike but also go☂od riders,” Bautista told . “Nicolo [Bulega] has come from winning the Supersport title and is a very talented rider.
“You give a talented rider a good motorcycle, and he wꦓill go fast from day one.
“When he arrived in Moto3, he was Valentino's sponsor a෴nd he was the future Italian promise, he was going to be the next Valentino [Rossi].
“Then he had problems a🎃nd the truth is that more was expected of ﷺhim. He didn't hit the key.
“But when he came to Supersport, from the first moment he was fast on the Ducati. So I think what Ducati was missing was fast and competitive ridersﷺ.”
Bautista has always maintained the stance that Bulega would b🦩e a title threat, and 💎the Spaniard is being proven right.
In fact, Bautista expects him to🧸 be the main contender: “I already said it last year, that for me Toprak [Razgatlioglu] would go very fast with the BMW; and that [one of] the strongest ri🌊ders this year, and the best candidate for the title was Nicolo.
“It was very clear to me. His way of working and his mentality is the same as ﷺmine. For me he is the main candidate for the title.”
Bulega and Bautista are not the only Ducati riders who have been strong as𒁏 Andrea Iannone has also been very impressive through the opening two rounds.
Iannone has been on the podium twice in six races, and while the results have been strong, the consistꦦency is what has surprised Bautista the most꧑.
Bautista added: “I knew💯 he was going to g🗹o fast, but he has surprised me with his consistency in these first rounds, because he has always been fighting at the front.
“Andrea has talent, he has always been fast. He has lacked managing si🍒tuations a bit. But I see him more mature, much calmer.
“Anyway, I think he's four years 🃏younger than me, so he's old but not that old. He is a veteran [jokes].”
