BULEGA SAYS TITLE FIGHT FORCED HIM TO TAKE A TOUGHER LINE AGAINST TOPRAK

Nicolo Bulega says he felt compelled to take a more forceful approach when he challenged Toprak Razgatlioglu in the closing stages of the 2025 WorldSBK title fight. His explanation echoes Casey Stoner’s account of how racing Valentino Rossi changed his own attitude to overtaking.

The flashpoint came on the opening lap of the final Superpole race at Jerez, where Bulega attempted to pass Razgatlioglu. The pair made contact and Razgatlioglu crashed out. Bulega was criticised by some of the Turkish rider’s fans, but Razgatlioglu went on to secure the championship with a third-place finish in the season’s final round.

Speaking on the Mig Babol podcast, Bulega said he had long been regarded as too cautious in battles. “People used to get on my nerves because they’d say Bulega is a bit timid when it comes to overtaking,” he said. He explained that his preference was to make a clean, technical pass and then try to pull away, rather than force a rival off line.

But with even a small chance of winning the title still available, he believed he had to act. “As long as you’ve got even the slightest, tiniest chance of trying to win the championship, in my opinion you’ve got to give it a go,” Bulega said. He added that he did not normally ride aggressively, but felt the circumstances demanded “a slightly aggressive approach”.

Bulega said his intention was to show Razgatlioglu that he was more fired up than usual and willing to do something extra. He recalled that Razgatlioglu then “closed the door on the outside”, describing the incident as the way the race unfolded. To illustrate the intensity of championship battles, Bulega also pointed to Michael Schumacher’s 1994 clash with Damon Hill, saying: “That’s life.”

Stoner described a similar shift in a 2022 appearance on the Gypsy Tales podcast. The two-time MotoGP champion said he used to feel guilty even when a pass merely made another rider run wide. “I had guilt that I wanted to let them back pass because I was like, ‘Oh, that wasn’t a clean pass,’” he said.

Battling Rossi, however, made Stoner reconsider. He said Rossi would often pass late and force him to stand up or run wide, prompting him to respond in kind. “I was like, ‘Right, I’ve just got to return serve and let him know he can’t keep doing that,’” Stoner recalled. He felt he had been “too nice in the early years” and had allowed other riders to get on top of him.

Both riders’ accounts describe the pressure of a close contest pushing them beyond their preferred style: Bulega said he needed to make his title rival understand he would fight harder, while Stoner said repeated battles with Rossi taught him not to yield ground.