Saturday at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve will be a day that Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) won’t forget. Victory in Race 1 in the FIM Supersport World Championship enabled him to clinch his first title. Following his incredible achievement during the Pirelli Portuguese Round, several key figures from the Aruba.it Racing outfit, Ducati Corse and Bulega’s 2024 teammate, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) have lavished praise on Bulega following his title success.

A JOURNEY TO THE TITLE: Foti leads Bulega plaudits after ‘difficult moments’

Saturday was a day of celebrations for the Aruba Ducati team and the manufacturer. They won the Manufacturers’ Championship in both WorldSBK and WorldSSP, as well as Bulega claiming his title and Bautista winning Race 1. Speaking about the day, and Bulega’s journey to be Champion, Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Team Manager, Serafino Foti, said: “It was an amazing day because we won the Manufacturers’ Championship in WorldSBK, Alvaro won the race and Nicolo won the Manufacturers’ and Riders’ titles in WorldSSP. This title for him is amazing. He had a difficult moment in the last two or three years. From our point of view, he was the best rider, and he won the Spanish championship in the past. He did a really good job this year. He won 14 races. I would like to congratulate all the team, all the people around this project and all the people from Ducati who worked at home. He was a talent. If you saw the story, he was a talent and he was in the VR46. I remember two years ago, when Alberto Martinelli, his manager, called us and I said, ‘why not?’. If you know the story, if you understand racing, you can’t forget the results in the past. It was a hard challenge but now we are here to enjoy it.”

CECCONI’S VIEW AFTER STUNNING SEASON: “The level of the competitors was high!”

Team Principal Stefano Cecconi was jubilant for both team and rider, saying: “We were hoping for this, but it’s never easy to get the result. You’re nervous until the last lap so now we are enjoying the moment but the whole day was tough! At the beginning, there were many things that were completely unknown for us. A new Championship, a new bike, and a new rider who we didn’t know before. We used the first season to get some experience and to learn a lot about what to do. In the second season, we had the goal to do better than the first one. The level of the competitors was high even if, compared to last year, some of them moved to WorldSBK. Manzi and the others are really strong. It wasn’t an easy season, and nothing is free. Nicolo and the team did a perfect job.”

BAUTISTA ON HIS 2024 TEAMMATE: “An almost perfect season… I expect him to be fast from the beginning”

Reigning WorldSBK Champion and 2023 Champion-elect Bautista spoke with pride about Bulega’s success after the Italian clinched the title. He said: “I think it’s been an almost perfect season. He won a lot of races, and, for me, he was the strongest rider in the category. Congrats to him because he did really well in the second year with a new bike, with the Ducati. His riding style is aggressive, maybe because he’s a bit big, and you see him riding aggressively. He’s very precise. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, he’s very consistent with his lap times in a race and he worked really well with the team. I know his work method. He’s a very complete rider. I think he has a good level and he’s done a lot of tests with the WorldSBK machine, with the test team. He did really well, he impressed the Ducati guys because he went very fast at many tracks. I expect him to be fast from the beginning. It’s nice to have more riders with talent like him in this category because it makes the Championship, and the level will be higher.”

“HE RODE THE BIKE VERY GENTLY AND EVERYTHING SEEMED SIMPLE” - Zambenedetti

Ducati Corse’s Technical Coordinator, Marco Zambenedetti, added: “It’s an incredible day and a pleasure to represent the Ducati family. I want to see thank you to everyone, in the team in Bologna and everywhere else. Nicolo has had an incredible season. He rode the bike very gently and everything seemed simple. This is the feeling that we usually have when a rider is very fast and has everything under control. We are grateful to him for this title. We will enjoy having him in WorldSBK next year. Last year, we had one year of warming up to take some reference for the rider and the teams. I think, this year, we got back all the work done.”

Congratulate Bulega on his title success with the hashtag #Bu1eGAS and watch the Jerez season finale using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now only €9.99!