SBK Cremona: Now enjoy it, Nicolò Bulega - the World Championship finale is an apotheosis

A widely heralded celebration, yet thrilling all the same: Nicolò Bulega has been crowned Superbike World Champion with two rounds to spare, the natural epilogue to a staggering domination: 26 wins and 4 second places in 30 races. At 26, he succeeds Max Biaggi, the only and last Italian world champion in this category. For Ducati it’s the 17th Riders’ crown, the first with an Italian rider in the saga of legends like Carl Fogarty and Troy Bayliss.

For the son of a racer (his father Davide was the 250 GP European champion), just a handful of points were enough to seal the deal, and from the very first meter of this Race 2 the verdict never wavered for a moment. The cherry on top was missing—celebrating from the top step of the podium. But who cares, it’s a historic day even so.

The indisputable dominance of Iker Lecuona—fastest in practice, pole-sitter, and then unbeatable in all three races—further swelled the pride of the Ducati brass, who turned out in full force with CEO Claudio Domenicali and racing boss Luigi Dall’Igna in the box. Because they’re not only bringing to MotoGP a fantastic rider like Bulega, to whom—no coincidence—they’ve entrusted the development of the Pirelli-shod Ducati 850 in view of 2027. They’re also savoring the vertical takeoff of Iker Lecuona, who here in Cremona has decisively changed pace: he’s the perfect rider to inherit the tricky mantle of the new champion. Here the Spaniard erased those few tenths of advantage that Nicolò had been rubbing in his face for almost the entire season. After all, Iker did brilliantly never to waver: Bulega was winning, but he (almost) always finished second.

There’s almost no point dissecting Race 2; it was bound to go the way it did: up against a Lecuona like this and with the title in hand, it would have been foolish for Nicolò to go looking for trouble. So, with the formidable Iker immediately escaping, the new champion settled in calmly and serenely (so to speak...), just waiting for the rev counter to escort him to the moment of triumph. The bottom step of the podium was once again a family affair between Yari Montella and Alberto Surra, who in 2027 will remain with Motocorsa, the ideal platform to support the exponential growth of the 22-year-old former Moto2 rider.

Nicolò Bulega has shed the pressure and can focus even more on testing the Ducati 850 that he will ride in MotoGP in 2027. Barring, of course, taking part in the final two Superbike World Championship rounds to be held on October 10–11 at Estoril (Portugal) and the following Sunday at Jerez (Spain).

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