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FORM GUIDE: Bulega chases down Falappa and Chili, closing in on Biaggi’s wins-in-a-season record for an Italian rider

Tuesday, 10 June 2025 10:35 GMT

A home round beckons for Championship leader Bulega and there are a few Italian rider records in his sights at Misano…

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship return to action at the iconic Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” this weekend, with plenty of big stats and milestones on the cards. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) is closing down several Italian rider records after a stellar start to the season, while teammate Alvaro Bautista will be aiming to end his worst Ducati winning drought, currently at 21 races. Check out all the information you need ahead of the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round below.

777/444 – After being on the podium for the 777th race at Most, Ducati are just one short of their 444th win.

294 – A milestone is nearing for Michael van der Mark: he now has 294 starts.

37-40 – Bulega, currently at 37 podiums, needs just three to reach 25th in the all-time list, occupied by Doug Polen and Scott Redding.

21 – Alvaro Bautista is on his worst winning drought while riding for Ducati: 21 races. His last win was Aragon Race 2 last year.

14 – Bulega has 14 wins. His next targets, among Italian riders, are: Giancarlo Falappa (16, fourth in the list of most successful Italians) and Frankie Chili (17, third). The most successful Italians are Marco Melandri (22 wins) and Max Biaggi (21).

14-18 – Bulega, at 25 years 7 months and 2 days (age at Most) has 14 wins: it’s the second-best score at this age, behind the 18 wins by Razgatlioglu and tied with Ben Spies.

8-10 – Bulega has won eight times this season, just two short of the best value for an Italian rider, Max Biaggi in 2010. Bulega is of course benefiting of the three-race format that didn’t exist back in 2010. Out of the eight Bulega wins this year, two are Superpole Races.

100+150+150+100 – In 2017 at Misano, Jonathan Rea took his 100th career podium, in 2019 his 150th, in 2021 his 150th for Kawasaki, in 2022 his 100th career front row.

100 – 100 podium placements of Ducati riders at Misano are an all-time record. The next highest is from Assen, as the Italian manufacturer have 94 there.

67 – Misano has hosted 67 WorldSBK races so far, third overall with Donington Park. Only Phillip Island (73) and Assen (71) have hosted more races.

37 – This is the track in which a single manufacturer has won the highest number of races: Ducati won 37 times. Next up is also Ducati, with 36 wins at Phillip Island and 34 in Assen. The best value for another team is 19 by Kawasaki at Donington Park.

17 – The record of podiums at Misano belongs to Jonathan Rea: 17; Troy Corser follows at 16. Among the current riders, the best value is 12 by Razgatlioglu.

16 – 16 years ago (2009), Jonathan Rea got his maiden WorldSBK win at this track.

15x5 – The last 15 wins here came all from the first five grid spots: the sequence started after Jonathan Rea won from 9th in Race 2 in 2018.

12 – Ruben Xaus is the only rider who won here starting outside the top ten on the grid. In 2003, he recorded a double, starting twice from 12th on the grid for the factory Ducati team.

12/13 – In 2022, Ducati claimed back the record of poles at Misano, 12, after Kawasaki had equalled them in 2021. In 2023, Ducati improved to 13.

11 – Ducati was the sole winner here for 11 straight races: from 2001 Race 1 to 2006 Race 1. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) broke the streak, taking his only WorldSBK win in 2006 Race 2.

9 – From 2011 to 2021, Kawasaki set a record streak of nine poles here. That equalled the absolute record streak in WorldSBK set by Ducati at Brands Hatch: nine straight poles from 1995 to 2002 (double race weekend in 2000).

8 – In 2019, Jonathan Rea became the most successful rider at Misano, upping his tally to eight. He left Troy Bayliss at six. In 2023 Bautista reached Bayliss at six. Razgatlioglu is just behind at five.

7 – This is one of the two tracks in which Tom Sykes set the record for poles at any given track, seven. The other is Donington Park.

6 – The last six wins at Misano came always from pole, a record streak for Misano.

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