Nicolo Bulega's (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) stellar start to the 2026 season continued at the Balaton Park Circuit, and with his Race 1 win, he now holds the undisputed record for the most consecutive race wins in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s history. His win establishes the #11 head and shoulders above the pack as he led his factory Ducati teammate onto the first podium of the Motul Hungarian Round, now 74 points ahead of Iker Lecuona in the Riders’ Championship.

BITING THE BULLET: “I’m not riding naturally. This makes it a little difficult, but another P1, it's incredible”

On Friday, it looked like Bulega was in for a Round 4 battle at Balaton Park after his teammate, the #7, topped both Free Practice sessions on the opening day; however, with Saturday in the books and just Sunday remaining, the Championship leader’s weekend so far has been nothing short of a Hungarian holiday. Starting Race 1 from pole position after a record-setting lap time of 1’38.783s, he was already more than two seconds clear by Lap 3. His gap grew as large as 4.5s before Lecuona began to reel him in slowly lap by lap, cutting the Italian’s margin to 2.5s by the end of Race 1. His teammate continues to get faster on his Ducati Panigale V4R, however Bulega continues to be the man to beat in 2026.

On his Saturday, Bulega said: “It wasn’t a bad day, honestly, I’m not riding well at this circuit because some areas of the track make me think a lot about what to do, I’m not riding naturally. This makes it a little difficult, but another P1, it's incredible. We worked hard after Friday where I didn’t have a perfect feeling. Today I feel much better. We broke the record, I’m really happy for that, and I hope to continue like this.”

THE ITALIAN PRODIGY: “It’s something incredible that we could achieve this in just my third year in WorldSBK”

With the win, Bulega’s tally of consecutive race wins climbs to 14, the streak dating back to his win at Estoril’s Race 2 back in October 2025. The victory breaks his tie at 13 consecutive wins with his longtime WorldSBK rival, Toprak Razgatlioglu. While he has previously downplayed the importance of the record, this, along with the emotional connection he has with his Aruba.it team, surely sweetens the moment for the #11.

On what the record means to him, Bulega said: “It’s something incredible that we could achieve this in just my third year in WorldSBK. It’s a dream. I’m riding the best bike, and I’m really happy to achieve this with this team. It’s incredible, and I hope to continue like this. For sure, there are lots of strong riders. Iker is the closest right now, he has the same bike as me and everything he needs to show his potential. He’s strong, and he’s coming, but at the moment we’re working very well.”

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