The absence of Toprak Razgatlioglu from the Jerez World Su💧perbike testඣ means his title rival Nicolo Bulega won’t gain too much optimism.

Ducati rid🦂er Bulega topped theꦛ timesheet on Day 1 of the preseason WSBK test on Wednesday, as the only rider with a lap inside the 1:38s.

But he knows that champion Razgatlioglu’s absence, due to a finger injury sustai﷽ned in training, means the timesheet doesn’t tell a ဣfull story.

“We cannot see th💫e real level,🥀” Bulega admitted. “I was fast but Toprak was not here!

“Last year he was the fastest guy ✨so we have to check his lap times and his feeling with the bike.

“Last year, in the race week, when he was here, I was quite goo♔d.

“I am looking forward to seeing him on tr𝓰ack again, then weꦦ’ll see…”

Bulega was the championship runner-up behind Razgatliog♓lu la🧜st year, in his rookie WSBK campaign.

He intꦑend🅰s to push Razgatlioglu even further in 2025.

“It’s good to♑ be back with 🌠a great feeling,” Bulega said after the first day of testing.

“It was difficult because of the wind. I was more focused on the wind than on what I was doing with the bike, so it was strange𓆉.

“But I am happy to start the new year with the same goo♔d feeling.

“We tried something different with 𝓡the set-up, and als𓆉o for my body position to be more comfortable on the bike.

“Some parts I liked, some parts [I did𝓰 not]. We need a mixture for the next day.

“I✱f we can put it all together, we have a good package.

“I will try to do a longer run [on Thursday].”

Bulega tested two Ducatis on Wednes𒆙day, later switching back to💝 his original.

“We just tried something different in both bikes. It was faster 🃏for the mechanics,” he explained.