Alex Lowes<\/a> told Crash.net, speaking at Motorcycle Live on 15 November, after the Valencia MotoGP Sprint which he had not seen at the time.<\/p>\n\u201cI was there in Jerez when he [Bulega] tried the bike, I think he had about \u2013 it was damp, the track, it wasn\u2019t fully dry \u2013 20 laps.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI remember, I was on the phone to my brother, and he was like \u2018Do you think he\u2019ll ride?\u2019 I said \u2018No, I don\u2019t think he will,\u2019 because, if he had a full day\u2019s testing, or two days\u2019 testing, I thought he might have a go, but to go straight into the weekend at Portimao with not much time, what are you going to achieve, really, if you\u2019re honest?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople in that paddock, as well, sort of just as happy to see you not do well \u2013 that\u2019s unfortunately how it is, unfortunately. Where would be a good result to finish? That\u2019s why it\u2019s dangerous to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you have to not have an opinion on the face value of the result, and try to check the lap times, the consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the conditions at the Jerez test, Lowes added: \u201cIt was a two-day Michelin test that was badly affected by the rain. I guess the target was to do one day on the Superbike and one day on the MotoGP bike.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did three-quarters of the day on his Superbike, then, the same day, finished the day on the MotoGP bike.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt looked like, to me, it was more of a \u2018Well done for a good year, and what do you think?\u2019 That\u2019s why I was surprised that he did it, because you want the best preparation, but maybe he\u2019s happy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he started the weekend at Portimao quite well. [Practice] was spits of rain, [FP2] was non-existent, then he crashed in the Sprint. You don\u2019t get any time, do you, to get up to speed, so that\u2019s why I was surprised.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think he\u2019s a good rider, a fantastic rider, as they all are, there\u2019s lots of riders that are similar. I think, if he had a full year on the bike, he\u2019d do a solid job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowes, who had a similar experience Bulega in 2016 when he replaced Bradley Smith at Silverstone and Misano, added that he thought the Italian would simply wait until 2026 to begin learning the MotoGP bike, given he has a testing role with Ducati lined up for next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m surprised he did it, he\u2019s already got a test rider role next year, I thought he might use that to prove himself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBut, at the same time, why not? You don\u2019t know how many chances you get on a MotoGP bike.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I think he\u2019s a good rider. I look at it different to a lot of people \u2013 my brother\u2019s raced against Diggia [Fabio Di Giannantonio], Bastianini, Martin, Maverick [Vinales], Rins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI sort of know the level of everyone, I\u2019ve raced against some of them also in the odd race that I\u2019ve done, I\u2019ve raced with Pol [Espargaro] as a teammate at Suzuka.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, as a rider, more or less the level of everyone, and I think he\u2019s a good rider.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of riders who, if you put them on a Ducati for two or three years in MotoGP would be pretty strong and consistent, so it will be pretty interesting to see what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
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