Saturday morning’s Superpole qualifying was something of a lottery as several riders crashed, and the resulting yellow flags repeatedly interrupted the others’ pursuit of fast lap times. That also affected the two BMW Motorrad factory riders, who consequently did not always have a clear track. At the end of the session, Oliveira and Petrucci had qualified ninth and 19th respectively.

In Saturday afternoon’s first main race, Petrucci finished 14th to score two points. Oliveira was one of several riders who slid and crashed out. In Sunday morning’s Superpole Race, Oliveira finished eighth, improving his position on the grid for the second main race. Petrucci made up numerous positions in the ten-lap sprint and took the chequered flag in 11th place. In the second main race, Oliveira worked his way into the top five after a strong start. However, he then crashed and was unable to convert the potential into the corresponding result. Petrucci once again battled his way through the field with determined overtakes and finished the weekend in 12th place.

Two race weekends remain in the final stages of the season. The action continues from 9th to 11th October at Estoril, Portugal, followed one week later (16th to 18th October) by the season finale at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

Reactions after the Cremona round.

Shaun Muir, Team Principal of ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “Cremona has been a much more positive weekend for us and we’ve made an important step forward after the difficulties we had at Magny Cours. We saw good pace from both riders, particularly on Sunday, and Miguel showed that we had the potential for a top five result after making a strong start in Race 2. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to convert that pace into the result we wanted, but it’s clear that we are moving back in the right direction. Danilo also worked extremely hard throughout the weekend and made some very strong comebacks through the field. There is still work to do, but we’ve taken some important information from Cremona and the team is working hard to build on this. We now look forward to Estoril, where we know we can take another step forward and continue building momentum towards the end of the season.”

Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “Here at Cremona, we found our way back in the right direction, and the weekend gives us reason for optimism. With Miguel, we could have achieved top-five finishes if it had not been for the crashes. Now we need to continue working on making sure that he can convert this into race results. Danilo is also heading in the right direction, even though we are not yet where we want to be. The most important thing is that both riders are focusing towards the front again. That gives the entire team a boost, but we also know that there is still a lot of work ahead of us. Congratulations to Ducati and Nicolò Bulega on winning the title early. He is a worthy champion and has had an incredible season. We will give everything to make the championship exciting again next year.”

Danilo Petrucci, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “It was really nice to race in Italy again. The weekend started with difficulties but we gave our maximum. In Sunday’s races, my last ones at home, I made quite a lot of overtakes. The race wasn’t the best, but I fought really, really hard. That’s what I enjoy. I want to thank everyone who came here to cheer for me, and all the BMW crew who are always pushing – they’re the best. I’d like to finish the season strong. I can’t wait to go to the next race; we’ve been testing at Estoril so let’s push there.”

Miguel Oliveira, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “Cremona was a tough pill to swallow, especially race two. We had a really good pace and track position to achieve an excellent result. Unfortunately, in Turn 10, I took a little more rear brake, the bike started to chatter, and I couldn’t stay on top of it. It’s frustrating, but I think we’re in a better position than we were after Magny-Cours, so that’s already good. It would have been nice to go to my home race with some momentum from a good result, but this won’t take away our determination to have a very good weekend for the Portuguese fans. I’m looking forward to it.”

 

Facts and figures.

Superpole.

Air temperature: 21°, track temperature: 25°, humidity: 50%, conditions: dry.

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1.	Iker Lecuona (ESP)	Aruba.it Racing - Ducati	Ducati	1:27.253*
2	Nicolò Bulega (ITA)	Aruba.it Racing - Ducati	Ducati	1:27.297
3.	Alberto Surra (ITA)	Motocorsa Racing	Ducati	1:27.437
4.	Sam Lowes (GBR)	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Ducati	1:27.627
5.	Yari Montella (ITA)	Barni Spark Racing Team	Ducati	1:27.723
9.	Miguel Oliveira (POR)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	1:28.001
19.	Danilo Petrucci (ITA)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	1:28.932

* New all-time lap record

 

Race 1.

Air temperature: 25°, track temperature: 30°, humidity: 39%, conditions: dry, laps: 23.

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Gap
1.	Iker Lecuona (ESP)	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati	-
2.	Nicolò Bulega (ITA)	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati	5.591
3.	Sam Lowes (GBR)	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Ducati	7.247
4.	Luca Baldassari (ITA)	Team Goeleven	Ducati	8.763
5.	Garrett Gerloff (USA)	Kawasaki WorldSBK Team	Kawasaki	20.250
14.	Danilo Petrucci (ITA)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	39.564
DNF	Miguel Oliveira (POR)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	-

Fastest race lap: Iker Lecuona, lap 5, 1:28.077

 

Superpole Race.

Air temperature: 22°, track temperature: 25°, humidity: 57%, conditions: dry, laps: 10.

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Gap
1.	Iker Lecuona (ESP)	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati	-
2.	Nicolò Bulega (ITA)	Aruba.it Racing - Ducati	Ducati	2.005
3.	Alberto Surra (ITA)	Motocorsa Racing	Ducati	5.214
4.	Yari Montella (ITA)	Barni Spark Racing Team	Ducati	5.550
5.	Sam Lowes (GBR)	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	Ducati	6.540
8.	Miguel Oliveira (POR)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	11.197
11.	Danilo Petrucci (ITA	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	16.524

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 2, 1:27.783 (new record)

 

Race 2.

Air temperature: 27°, track temperature: 30°, humidity: 40%, conditions: dry, laps: 23.

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Gap
1.	Iker Lecuona (ESP)	Aruba.it Racing - Ducati	Ducati	-
2.	Nicolò Bulega (ITA)	Aruba.it Racing - Ducati	Ducati	8.590
3.	Yari Montella (ITA)	Barni Spark Racing Team	Ducati	12.724
4.	Alberto Surra (ITA)	Motocorsa Racing	Ducati	13.914
5.	Alex Lowes (GBR)	Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team	Bimota	17.159
12.	Danilo Petrucci (ITA)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	35.183
DNF	Miguel Oliveira (POR)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	-

Fastest race lap: Iker Lecuona, lap 2, 1:28.122

 

 

Current riders’ classification (R10/12, after 30 of 36 races).

Pos.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1.	Nicolò Bulega (ITA)	Aruba.it Racing - Ducati	Ducati	602
2.	Iker Lecuona (ESP)	Aruba.it Racing - Ducati	Ducati	469 (-133)
3.	Yari Montella (ITA)	Barni Spark Racing Team	Ducati	269 (-333)
4.	Alex Lowes (GBR)	Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team	Bimota	226 (-376)
5.	Sam Lowes (GBR)	ELF Marc VDS Racing Team	Ducati	219 (-383)
12.	Miguel Oliveira (POR)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	109 (-493)
16.	Danilo Petrucci (ITA)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	61 (-541)
20.	Michael van der Mark (NED)	ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	23 (-579)

 

Current manufacturers’ classification (R10/12, after 30 of 36 races).

Pos.	Manufacturer	Points
1.	Ducati	620
2.	Bimota	268 (-352)
3.	Yamaha	162 (-458)
4.	BMW	151 (-469)
5.	Kawasaki	145 (-475)
6.	Honda	45 (-575)