Nicolò Bulega

Nicolò Jarod Bulega (born 16 October 1999) is an Italian motorcycle racer, competing in the Superbike World Championship for the Ducati factory team, having won the 2023 Supersport World Championship with Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team by Feel Racing. He has also been a competitor in the CEV Moto3 Championship in 2014 and 2015, becoming Moto3 Junior World Champion in 2015. Prior to competing in the CEV, Bulega won the Italian and European MiniGP 50 championships, and was Italian champion in the PreGP 125 and PreGP 250 classes.

Bulega is the son of former Grand Prix motorcycle racer, Davide Bulega.

Career Early career Born in Montecchio Emilia, Bulega started his career at the age of eight in the Italian Minimoto Championship. In 2010, he made his debut in MiniGP 50, in both the Italian and European championships, winning both in 2011. In 2012, he won the Italian Championship 125 PreGP, and in the following year, he won the Italian Championship Pre GP 250. As a result, he moved into the CEV Moto3 Championship for the 2014 season, he finished sixth overall in his rookie season with two podium finishes.

Bulega also won the 2015 FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship.

Moto3 World Championship Sky Racing Team VR46 (2015–2018) 2015 In 2015, Bulega made his Grand Prix debut with Sky Racing Team VR46 riding a KTM in the Valencian Grand Prix, and finished the race in twelfth place, scoring four points.

2016 In 2016, Bulega started competing full-time in the Moto3 World Championship with Sky Racing Team VR46. He started the 2016 season with a sixth place at Qatar. At his fifth race in Moto3, Bulega achieved his first Grand Prix podium at Jerez with a second place finish having started from pole position, which was his first pole position in Grand Prix racing. Bulega's first fastest lap came at the British Grand Prix on the last lap. Followed by a crash in Aragon, on his birthday, Bulega finished the Japanese Grand Prix in fourth place, and again set the fastest lap. However, after third placed rider Hiroki Ono was disqualified, Bulega was awarded third place. In both Australia and Malaysia, Bulega crashed on the opening lap. Despite qualifying fourth, Bulega started the final race at Valencia in 16th place due to a 12 place grid penalty, and finished the race in 17th, thus losing the 'Rookie of the year' title to Joan Mir. Bulega finished the championship in seventh place with 129 points.

2017 In a year where former Rookie of the Year rival Joan Mir won the 2017 Moto3 World Championship, Bulega struggled to replicate his debut season. His difficulties included bad qualifying strategies and bad starts (mainly due to his height), and his best results of the year were a fourth place in Germany, one of the few times he was able to qualify in the top-six, and two fifth places, in his "home" race in Rimini, and in the USA. He finished a disappointing season in 12th place, with 81 points.

2018 Bulega's 2018 season was even worse than 2017. He retired in the first four races, and finished the fifth race, only 17th in Spain, being one of the two regular riders to not score points in the first five races of the year. His only top-ten finish came in Thailand, where he finished seventh. He ended the season with a mere 18 points, and 26th in the standings.

Moto2 World Championship Sky Racing Team VR46 (2019) 2019 For the 2019 Moto2 World Championship, despite his poor results, and mainly due to his height and weight on smaller bikes, Bulega was given an opportunity in Moto2 by Sky Racing Team VR46, partnering Luca Marini. He performed somewhat better, with four top-ten finishes in the Spanish, French, Czech, and Thai GPs, but finished 17th in the standings with 48 points. Marini ended in sixth, with 190 points, and four podiums (two victories), and Sky VR46 decided not to keep Bulega for a second season.

Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 (2020–2021) 2020 In the 2020 Moto2 World Championship, Bulega was partnered by Edgar Pons at Gresini. Bulega once again had a bad year, only finishing in the top-ten twice, ending the season 20th in the standings, with 32 points. Luckily for him, Pons had an even worse season, finishing with points in just two races.

2021 For the 2021 season, Bulega's teammate was Fabio Di Giannantonio. Di Giannantonio finished on the podium three times, winning a race in Jerez, while Bulega only finished in a point scoring position three times throughout the season. His 12 points of the season were Bulega's lowest ever of a full season in his career, and due to his bad performance, Gresini elected not to keep him for the 2022 season.

Supersport World Championship Aruba.it Racing - Ducati (2022-2023) On September 22, 2021, it was announced that Bulega would join Aruba.it Racing for their first season of the 2022 Supersport World Championship. He finished in fourth place in the standings at the end of his first season in this category.

On Saturday, 30 September 2023, Bulega was crowned the 2023 World Champion with three races to spare after taking 14 wins and 18 podiums up to and including Race 1 at the Portuguese Round. His future was secure after he was announced as Álvaro Bautista's 2024 teammate at the factory Ducati squad in WorldSBK.

Superbike World Championship Aruba.it Racing - Ducati (2024-) In 2024, Bulega finished his debut season in the Factory Ducati Team second in the championship winning six races and finishing second in 15 occasions, battling out with Toprak Razgatlıoğlu.

In 2025, Bulega finished runner-up in the championship and achieved 20 Superbike victories.

MotoGP World Championship Ducati Corse (2025) Bulega replaces Marc Márquez for the final two races of the 2025 MotoGP season after testing the Ducati Desmosedici GP in a private test at Jerez in 30 & 31 October 2025.

Ducati Corse test rider (2026) Ducati Corse hired Bulega as a test rider for the 2026 season. He joins the Borgo Panigale manufacturer's test team with Michele Pirro next season, opening up opportunities and possibilities for MotoGP in line with the 2027 regulations. He will support Ducati Corse in the development project of the bike focusing on the Pirelli tires.

Career statistics FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts 2014 KTM JER1 JER2 LMS ARA CAT1 CAT2 ALB NAV ALG VAL1 VAL2 6th 95 2015 KTM ALG LMS CAT1 CAT2 ARA1 ARA2 ALB NAV JER1 JER2 VAL1 VAL2 1st 189

Grand Prix motorcycle racing By season

By class

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Supersport World Championship Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos Pts Ducati SPA SPA NED NED POR POR ITA ITA GBR GBR CZE CZE FRA FRA SPA SPA POR POR ARG ARG INA INA AUS AUS 4th 242 Ducati AUS AUS INA INA NED NED SPA SPA ITA ITA GBR GBR ITA ITA CZE CZE FRA FRA SPA SPA POR POR SPA SPA 1st 503

Superbike World Championship By season Season Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd Ducati Panigale V4 R Aruba.it Racing – Ducati 36 6 24 4 11 484 2nd Ducati Panigale V4 R Aruba.it Racing – Ducati 36 14 32 5 14 603 2nd Ducati Panigale V4 R Aruba.it Racing – Ducati 24 23 24 8 21 491* 1st* Total 96 43 80 17 46 1578

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 Ducati AUS AUS AUS SPA SPA SPA NED NED NED ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR CZE CZE CZE POR POR POR FRA FRA FRA ITA ITA ITA SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA 2nd 484 Ducati AUS AUS AUS POR POR POR NED NED NED ITA ITA ITA CZE CZE CZE ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR HUN HUN HUN FRA FRA FRA SPA SPA SPA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA 2nd 603 Ducati AUS AUS AUS POR PORPOR NED NED NED HUN HUN HUN CZE CZE CZE SPA SPA SPA ITA ITA ITA GBR GBR GBR FRA FRA FRA ITA ITA ITA POR POR POR SPA SPA SPA 1st* 491* Season still in progress.