Both Nicolo Bulega and Iker Lecuona were not happy with the way they felt while riding during practice at the Dutch WorldSBK, despite both finishing inside the top-three.
The Aruba.it Racing Ducati teammates were 1-2 in FP1, Bulega leading Lecuona, and while it wasn’t a repeat in FP2 the latter was still solid enough in third place in the World Superbike field.
But neither rider was completely happy with their feeling on the bike, Bulega in particular saying he is at “90 per cent” with his feeling in comments that echoed what he said in Portimao where he won all three races leading every lap.
“We started in a good way this morning,” Nicolo Bulega told WorldSBK.com after FP2 in the Netherlands, “but I was not very happy with the feeling with the bike.
“We improved a little bit today, but I’m still 90 per cent, so we have to work tomorrow to find that last 10 per cent.”
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Bulega added that what he is missing is in corner entry.
“I miss a little bit the feeling with the front to put the bike where I want with the brake, it’s a bit difficult to bring the bike in with the brake,” he said.
“I have to release a little bit too early. But I think it’s a situation that we can manage for tomorrow.”
Despite the imperfect feeling, Bulega was content with his performance.
“Anyway I’m happy because I have a good pace, I have a good feeling with the bike,” he said.
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“We did also great work with used tyres, I never changed tyres this afternoon, so it’s a good Friday.”
Lecuona “frustrated” 
Iker Lecuona, 2026 Dutch WorldSBK, pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
For Iker Lecuona, the speed was not the same as Bulega’s in practice at Assen, but it was still decent enough with the third-best time at the end of the day.
The Spanish rider was nonetheless dissatisfied after Friday’s running, feeling he’d never been able to find comfort on the bike.
“Bit frustrated, overall,” Lecuona told WorldSBK.com.
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“I’m not really happy with the feeling because even in the morning I don’t feel right on the bike, don’t feel comfortable.
“This afternoon we don’t find a way to make a good step. We changed something on the bike that worked in some points that we [didn’t expect], so we improved some points that we are okay – that is good, but we don’t improve any points that we struggle.
“So, a bit frustrated talking about feeling on the bike.”
While Bulega’s problems are generally in corner entry, Lecuona had a similar complaint to BMW’s Miguel Oliveira, who said he couldn’t get the M1000 RR to turn in the flowing corners. For Lecuona, it’s high-speed turns where he can’t carry the speed he wants to.
“Just in the fast corners I don’t feel good on the bike,” the Spaniard explained.
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“I go wide every time I want to go faster.
“So, it’s something that we need to work, we need to understand what happened, and try something for tomorrow because that track has a lot of fast corners so I struggle in that area that is quite critical here.”
As with Bulega, Lecuona was strong despite his imperfect feeling on the bike, so there is reason for him to be optimistic about his potential in terms of results.
“My teammate [Bulega] was faster, but the rest were slower than me [over] 10 or 15 laps,” said Lecuona.
“So, we are good in pace performance, but still I miss something, so let’s see tomorrow.
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“Of course, we are there, so we can think about the podium, but right now I don’t think about that, I think about FP3, trying to improve, and trying to feel more comfortable and fast on the bike.”