Bulega crowned at Assen, matches Toprak’s record: “In 2025 I was angry.”

Bulega keeps on winning and matches an SBK record of his former rival Toprak: sheer dominance in Assen as well.

The TT Circuit Assen is nicknamed “The Cathedral of Speed” and also “The University of Motorcycling.” Leaning on the second moniker, you could say Nicolò Bulega graduated this Superbike weekend in the Netherlands. The hat-trick of wins extends his streak of consecutive victories to 9 in 2026 and 13 if you include the tail end of the 2025 season. He has matched the record for wins in a row (13) that Toprak Razgatlioglu set with BMW in 2024, then repeated the following year.

For the Aruba Ducati rider, it’s also a rematch for what happened in 2025 right at Assen. After winning Race 1, he saw the Superpole Race and Race 2 slip away due to technical issues with his Panigale V4 R. This year there was no contest—no one could stop him. In the overall SBK standings he’s on maximum points, with a lead of 69 points over his teammate Iker Lecuona, who finished second three times at the TT Circuit, as at Assen.

The start of the final race wasn’t the best, but Bulega managed everything calmly and with utmost efficiency, aware of his superiority and with no need to force it: “I didn’t make a perfect start, Sam and Iker passed me, but I stayed calm. I studied where to overtake them and then it was a fantastic race, I didn’t make any mistakes. We improved the feeling compared to Saturday and I’m happy. Last year at Assen I was angry, I’d had more than my share of bad luck, and I really wanted to win all the races of the weekend.”

Talking about the record of consecutive Superbike wins is inevitable, a result that makes the Emilia-born rider proud: “I’m in a good place, I have the right mindset, I know I can be fast in any condition and that’s very important. When you win 13 races in a row it feels great and gives you a lot of motivation for what’s next.”

Has the Bulega era begun in the WorldSBK championship? The 26-year-old from Aruba Ducati answers like this: “I hope so, it sounds good... I can ride my bike really well, the team listens to my feedback and we manage to improve in every session. It’s the result of the hard work done by me and by Ducati. I want to keep going like this, if I can. I don’t like Balaton Park that much; it’s not ideal for my riding style, but in 2025 I finished second and I hope to be fast this year.”

The Balaton Park circuit (Hungary) isn’t one of his favorites, but he’ll be the frontrunner there too. We’ll see if he can keep the winning streak alive, setting a new record, or if someone will be able to spoil the party. Beyond the stats, there’s one thing that matters most to Bulega: winning the 2026 Superbike World Championship. He’ll aim to win the next round as well, but finishing second wouldn’t be a disaster.