Is Bulega evidence that World Superbike is a championship for losers?

Klosse · Apr 24, 2024

Nicolò Bulega is leading the championship and he is doing it in a convincing fashion. Before being sacked from the Moto2 team after the 2021 season, he had managed one (1) rostrum finish in GP racing during seven seasons. Does this say something about the quality of the riders in World Superbike? Or is it evidence of something else?

mylexicon · Apr 24, 2024

Bulega is 24 years old and he’s winning Superbike races. I don’t mind if it took him a while to mature as a rider, and the GP paddock was not the right place for him.

Grand Prix isn’t for everyone. Some riders mature too late or they are too big in stature or they have no connections or whatever.

Klosse · Apr 25, 2024

mylexicon said:
Some riders mature too late or they are too big in stature or they have no connections or whatever.

Is ”whatever” the one that applies to Bulega?

mylexicon · Apr 25, 2024

Klosse said:
Is ”whatever” the one that applies to Bulega?

If GP bikes or tires are too stiff for his liking, then yes. Otherwise he is just a late bloomer.

PRS717 · Apr 25, 2024

mylexicon said:
Bulega is 24 years old and he’s winning Superbike races. I don’t mind if it took him a while to mature as a rider, and the GP paddock was not the right place for him.

Grand Prix isn’t for everyone. Some riders mature too late or they are too big in stature or they have no connections or whatever.

I agree with this. From what I understand, Bulega is a relatively big guy which, I'm thinking, would work against him more in the lower classes of racing. Plus, some riders gel with the bigger bikes whilst some Moto2, Moto3 & WSS champions do not. Bulega took a bit of a hit at Assen so let's see what he does from here on out. Quatararo wasn't on anyone's radar when he first came into MotoGP. Was he a "loser"?

mylexicon · Apr 25, 2024

PRS717 said:
I agree with this. From what I understand, Bulega is a relatively big guy which, I'm thinking, would work against him more in the lower classes of racing. Plus, some riders gel with the bigger bikes whilst some Moto2, Moto3 & WSS champions do not. Bulega took a bit of a hit at Assen so let's see what he does from here on out. Quatararo wasn't on anyone's radar when he first came into MotoGP. Was he a "loser"?

Stoner is another example. He had 7 non-scores in his rookie GP season, and he was regarded as someone who didn't gel with Michelin's front tire (the best tire in GP at the time). Sete unexpectedly retired, Ducati didn't have many options for a last minute replacement, they gambled that Casey would do better on the Bridgestones, and the rest is history.

Riders fall through the cracks continually in every series. Sometimes they find their way back. Sometimes they don't. It's actually harder these days to find your way back because production racing continues to struggle compared to bygone eras. Bulega has defied the odds after a lackluster start to his career.

Klosse · Apr 25, 2024

mylexicon said:
Stoner is another example.

An example of what that is relevant to the topic of this thread?

mylexicon · Apr 25, 2024

Klosse said:
An example of what that is relevant to the topic of this thread?

Yes. A rider who is struggling. He accomplishes something in a lower division, then he suddenly proves his mettle in the top category.

We only get 1 or 2 phenoms per decade. The rest are just losers with potential, until they start winning.

Klosse · Apr 25, 2024

mylexicon said:
Yes. A rider who is struggling. He accomplishes something in a lower division, then he suddenly proves his mettle in the top category.

We only get 1 or 2 phenoms per decade. The rest are just losers with potential, until they start winning.

Bulega is a rider who represents ”1 or 2 phenoms per decade”, you think?

mylexicon · Apr 25, 2024

Klosse said:
Bulega is a rider who represents ”1 or 2 phenoms per decade”, you think?

No. He's obviously the opposite. A rider who never accomplished much as a junior then he suddenly came of age and started performing.

This is common in GP and SBK, though Bulega does have a particularly long track record of non-accomplishment during his GP career.

JFM01 · Apr 28, 2024

Different riders are just suited to different kinds of bikes.
On the other side there are people like Stefan Bradl who had a semi-decent GP career but could do next to nothing in SBK.

Sennas_Caress · May 13, 2024

Bulega is a very talented rider. He had a very good start to his career, winning title after title, when coming up through the ranks. Topping it with the 2015 junior world championship.

He also started the Moto3 career really well with a rather fresh VR46 team. He was very unfortunate not to win the rookie of the year, losing out to Mir, largely thanks to two first lap crashes at the end of the season.

Then he went down hill.

Luckily Supersports gave him a lifeline and he had the possibility to rebuild his career.

Not easy for a teenager to go from world champion to loser year on year. Must have taken a big mental toll on him.

I hope we can see the talented youngster in WSBK shine. That would be lovely

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