Will Nicolò Bulega be MotoGP’s big surprise? He has everything it takes—here’s why

Nicolò Bulega is savoring a double celebration: in a few weeks the announcement will arrive of his jump to MotoGP with VR46’s Ducati, then he’ll celebrate the Superbike World Championship title, the second of his career after dominating Supersport in 2023. That much is already known. The question that hangs in the air is this: what can Bulega aim for in MotoGP?

Having left the World Championship at the end of 2021 with morale at rock bottom, Bulega reaches the top class with Valentino Rossi’s very own structure. The misunderstandings are now buried in the past; his return closes the circle. Nicolò’s comeback has spoiled the plans of numerous MotoGP protagonists who were eyeing the same seat. Among them was Luca Marini, Valentino Rossi’s brother and head of the outfit: the need to align with Ducati’s strategies outweighed family convenience. The market move had an extremely high degree of difficulty, but it went through. Crucial was the availability of Aruba.it, owner of the official Superbike team, which opened the door to the arrival of Franco Morbidelli, the current VR46 rider from whom Bulega has snatched the 2027 seat.

The top class is full of successful Superbike riders who couldn’t make it work on the other side. For now, that’s also the case for Toprak Razgatlioglu: the former Superbike showman with Pramac Yamaha is almost always stuck at the back. The differences with Bulega ’27, however, are substantial. Toprak landed in the top class without knowing the Yamaha MotoGP bike, the Michelin tires, and a considerable number of tracks. Bulega, on the other hand, has spent months testing the Ducati 850, the bike he will ride in 2027, and has even been developing the Pirelli tires that will replace the Michelins next year. So Nicolò won’t be taking a leap into the unknown like the Turk did; in fact, among all the riders on the 2027 MotoGP grid, Bulega will be the one lining up with the most mileage on the Pirelli-shod 850. We wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him right away in the group that matters.

Nicolò Bulega lands in MotoGP on the back of a winning streak with no precedent. This season he boasts 23 wins in 24 races, to which you can add the run of four victories with which he closed out the ’25 World Championship. So we’re at 27 wins out of 28: in the only misstep (so to speak...) Bulega finished second in a photo finish by a few thousandths behind teammate Iker Lecuona in race 1 at Donington. A tiny blemish on a record worthy of an absolute superstar.

Before solving the riddle, there’s this Superbike championship to wrap up, one that’s been marked since the very first round in Australia, where Nicolò started with a phenomenal hat-trick, proving untouchable in all conditions: dry, wet, and mixed. But his teammate, despite losing the head-to-head 23 times out of 24, has been exceptionally consistent and, with a string of second places, could push the final verdict back by another couple of rounds. There are four rounds left: Magny-Cours, in France, on September 4-6. Then will come Cremona, Estoril, and Jerez. Each stop offers a maximum of 62 points and at the moment Bulega has a 133-point lead. So it’s unlikely he can celebrate the title already in France, that is, with three rounds to spare. He would need to gain 53 points on Lecuona, a swing only possible in the event of a total disaster for his teammate. Who, however, has so far made only one mistake: the slide during the Superpole Race in Great Britain.

Barring the unexpected, the date for the world title celebration is set for Cremona, on the last weekend of September. Celebrating at home is a privilege very few Superbike champions have had. After the Lombardy event, only 128 points will remain in play, so essentially it will be enough not to lose more than five points to Lecuona between Magny-Cours and Cremona, compared to the current lead. A perfectly attainable goal.

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