Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) is your 2026 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Champion. Unprecedented. Historic. Record-shattering. Unique. Extraordinary. Perhaps, even, legendary. So many superlatives can describe the season ‘Bulegas’ has put on, smashing all sorts of records and consistently re-writing the history books. He’s wrapped up the title early after thoroughly dominating the 2026 campaign, but it’s not been an easy journey for the Italian to reach this point.
‘THE NEXT VALENTINO ROSSI’
Bulega was hyped up as he rose through the ranks, running the #46 in what is now the Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2014, as a one-off appearance, and 2015, winning the title in the latter, and being referred to as the ‘next Valentino Rossi’, or one of the next MotoGP Champions – high praise for any rider, but also a lot of pressure immediately being added. In the same year that he won the title, he made his debut in the Moto3 World Championship, before starting a full-time campaign in 2016. He took two podiums and one pole as he finished seventh in the standings. The following year, he finished 12th with one pole and no podiums to his name, and he was 26th in 2018.
A NEW CHALLENGE
Despite his results not reaching the same heights, Bulega moved into Moto2 as he remained with the Sky Racing Team VR46 squad. He picked up a best finish of 17th with the team in the intermediate class in 2019, and he left to join the Gresini Moto2 squad for 2020. Results were still hard to come by for the Italian and, by the end of 2021, Bulega’s career in the Grand Prix paddock was coming to an end as he finished 26th in the standings.
“IT WAS MY LAST POSSIBILITY TO BE A PROFESSIONAL RIDER”
After losing a seat in Moto2, Bulega switched to WorldSSP for 2022 with the Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team, who joined the Championship as Ducati returned to World Supersport. The #11 claimed nine podiums in 2022 but a win remained elusive, although his campaign exploded in 2023. 16 victories and 21 podiums in total meant he was crowned World Champion, and he was emotional after securing the title. In a special feature interview, he stated that WorldSSP was his “last possibility to be a professional rider”, and it was the second chance of his life. His performances in WorldSSP secured him a spot in WorldSBK for 2024, remaining within the same structure as he won the WorldSSP title with.
RUNNER-UP TWICE IN WORLD SUPERBIKE
Bulega made an immediate impact in WorldSBK, winning Race 1 at Phillip Island in 2024 – his first race. Victories were hard to come by that season, partially thanks to Toprak Razgatlioglu winning 18 out of 36 races and the remaining 18 being shared by seven other riders, but ‘Bulegas’ claimed six in his rookie campaign. 2025 was even better as he doubled his win count, claiming 14 victories, with the title fight going down to the last race of the season in somewhat controversial fashion, but once again he lost out to ‘El Turco’.
GRABBING HIS CHANCE
With Razgatlioglu in MotoGP, Bulega entered 2026 as the favourite after finishing as runner-up twice. A new model of the Panigale V4 R was introduced as well, and the rider-bike combination… well, it was practically unstoppable. In the first eight rounds of the season, Bulega claimed 23 wins – with 21 in a row. With his four at the end of 2025 coming consecutively too, he created a new all-time win streak record at 25. He has taken nine poles this year, and adding Jerez 2025 to the list, it was ten consecutive before he was beaten at Cremona; a new all-time record. He’s claimed all possible podiums this year too, making it truly a season like no other from the rider from Emilia-Romagna.
“WHEN I WON THE WORLD SUPERSPORT TITLE, I STARTED TO BELIEVE IN MYSELF AGAIN”
Amid the title celebrations after Race 2 at Cremona, Bulega said: “It’s incredible, when I was young I was in this paddock because my dad had a team in WorldSSP. I was just a child walking in this paddock, watching my idols, Bayliss, Haga, Corser, a lot of incredible riders. This Championship and the WorldSSP title mean a lot to me; I arrived here in a difficult moment. When I won the WorldSSP title, I started to believe in myself again. When I came to WorldSBK, I knew it would be difficult, but I found a team that always believed in me from the first race.”
THE BEST OF AN INCREDIBLE CAMPAIGN
There’s no shortage of highlights to choose from in Bulega’s 2026 campaign. There’s been utter domination – think in Race 2 at Phillip Island, where he destroyed the field by 11 seconds. In the Netherlands, Bulega had to resist teammate Iker Lecuona as race started to fall mid-race, with the #11 just coming out on top. At Balaton Park, in Race 1, he recorded his 14th consecutive win, breaking the previous record of 13 set twice by Razgatlioglu. Heading to Czechia, there was another incredible fight between the two factory Ducati riders as the win streak continued. A tyre choice gamble in the Tissot Superpole Race at Aragon led to one of the best races of the season, as several riders traded paint – but it was Bulega, on the harder tyre, who claimed victory. On home soil at Misano, ‘Bulegas’ completed a home hat-trick in front of thousands of passionate Italian fans.
MORE HISTORY
Bulega is now the second Italian World Superbike Champion, following in the footsteps of Max Biaggi who won the title twice; in 2010 and 2012 with Biaggi also winning on Italian machinery but for Aprilia. The #11 has also become the first rider to win both the WorldSSP and WorldSBK titles, after he claimed the former in 2023, when he raced within the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati structure.
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