Superbike: Who should replace Bulega at Aruba Ducati?

For months in MotoGP, the 2027 rider market has made more headlines than the GPs themselves. In Superbike, so far the talk has been solely about Nicolò Bulega’s dazzling streak of victories and Ducati’s unstoppable technical supremacy.

Bulega arrives at Misano riding the incredible wave of twenty-two wins in a row. Half the championship is gone and he’s won every single time. Given that next year he’ll move up to MotoGP with the factory Ducati run by VR46, who will take his place?

The vacant Aruba Ducati seat is tempting for the many riders exiting MotoGP, but the dream pick for Stefano Cecconi, CEO of Aruba and owner of the factory Ducati team, lies elsewhere. Miguel Oliveira is hugely appealing; he will return to BMW at Misano after missing two full rounds due to the injury suffered at Balaton Park. The Portuguese rider has only just arrived in Superbike, coming off a disappointing 2025 with Yamaha Pramac. Even so, he has five premier-class GPs to his name, and in his first Superbike stint he’s taken the BMW—left without Toprak Razgatlioglu—to the podium three times. He hasn’t matched the Turk’s heroics, but he’s been decidedly quicker than Danilo Petrucci, who was seriously injured at Most. Aruba likes Oliveira because of his nationality, as the IT company wants to invest heavily in Portugal. On top of that, Miguel has long lived in Italy, in Verona, speaks perfect Italian, and having already raced with Aprilia in MotoGP, he’s perfectly attuned to our motorcycling mindset.

Miguel Oliveira alongside Iker Lecuona, who has a two-year contract, would make a pairing with immense potential. But there’s a hurdle the size of a house: his salary. It’s well known that Ducati doesn’t go overboard on rider pay, especially in Superbike. The €700,000 Nicolò Bulega is making this year is an exception: last summer he was tempted by BMW, but Ducati didn’t want to lose their then Superbike tester and a prospect to launch in MotoGP. The Italian brand has, in fact, entrusted Nicolò with development of the 850 on Pirelli tires and, as expected, found him a spot on the 2027 grid. Lecuona makes less than half of that, while Oliveira at BMW is on figures higher than Bulega’s. The Germans have reaffirmed their commitment to Superbike for the coming years and will be determined not to let Miguel slip away. In the bidding war for the highest salary, BMW is unbeatable. So, barring the unpredictable, Oliveira will stay put.

Aruba Ducati can still leaf through the roster of numerous riders leaving the top class. Jack Miller has often been linked with the Superbike reference team, but there’s also Franco Morbidelli, who took his first steps in the production-derived paddock. It would be a romantic homecoming for a rider who, even in MotoGP, when everything clicks, can still do beautiful things. With a Factory Ducati in hand, he would surely know which way to twist the throttle. Morbidelli in Bulega’s place—VR46 academy boys on the revolving door. It feels like a passing of the torch written by destiny.

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