SBK Misano: Bulega is a shark in the Adriatic; Race 1 is a triumphal march

The only uncertainty hanging over Misano is when Ducati will announce the agreement between Nicolò Bulega and the VR46 team for MotoGP 2027. There were no doubts about the outcome of race 1 and, in fact, the Cannibal dominated, extending the streak of consecutive wins: it’s now 23!

The only one who aims to beat him, his garage mate Iker Lecuona, this time allowed himself the luxury of leading for four corners. At the start he nullified Bulega’s pole, but Nicolò then catapulted himself towards Quercia with incredible momentum, settling matters at the dawn of a race with no more shocks. Along the way, Nicolò shaved the lap record, erasing Toprak Razgatlioglu, who in the previous two years had always beaten the Ducati rider here.

This time Lecuona didn’t try to hang on; the rival quickly became a tiny, fading dot on the horizon. The brilliant seventh place that Iker had earned in MotoGP just six days earlier with Gresini Ducati, standing in for the injured Alex Marquez, motivated Bulega more than the protagonist himself. A champion’s reaction: Lecuona took six seconds, not a small gap with the same bike and team.

Bulega is cruising on maximum points. If he also bags the two Sunday races—and there’s no one in sight to stop him—he will match Toprak Razgatlioglu’s 21 consecutive wins in a season. The next target will be Alvaro Bautista’s 27, and with 17 heats still to go, that’s no problem. In the meantime, while he’s at it, he has also equaled Marco Melandri’s 75 Superbike podiums. Melandri, however, had contested 203 races, while Bulega has only 91.

There’s no contest with the two factory riders, but if you’re a kid from southern Italy in your second Superbike year with a top, yet still private, team, a Misano podium is a dream. Yari Montella was the best of the rest, an amazing result also because the gap to the steamroller was less evident than usual. Helping the cause was the slip of his direct rival Lorenzo Baldassarri, who went down at Rio in the opening stages. A blot to erase immediately.

The Rimini brand, headquartered a stone’s throw from this circuit, is the only one at this stage of the World Championship that can somehow keep up with the uncatchable Ducati Panigale V4 R. “Being the best of the others is the only reasonable goal” is the mantra in the Bimota garage. It should be added that, even with Kawasaki behind them, we’re talking about a high-end technological atelier, yet artisanal. Yamaha, BMW, and Honda have now faded from view. Back to internal Bimota affairs, it’s worth noting that Axel Bassani outpaced the Brit Alex Lowes. Both celebrated their contract renewals today. There will be time to try to raise the bar.

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