One win closer to the title: Why Nicolò Bulega (Ducati) was still nervous

With every victory, Nicolò Bulega moves one step closer to clinching the 2026 Superbike World Championship early, but despite his 24th victory in his 25th race, there will be no title celebrations this weekend at Magny-Cours – Aruba.it Ducati team-mate Iker Lecuona, finishing second in the first race, ensured that this will not happen for at least another three weeks in Cremona.

However hard the Spaniard tried, he only posed a threat to Bulega at the start of each race. This was because both Superbike races were stopped after nine laps and restarted. Both parts of the race followed a similar pattern: the World Championship leader got off to a flying start, but Lecuona subsequently pushed him off the lead. Yet by lap 2, Bulega had regained control and pulled away irresistibly with record-breaking lap times.

“The two starts made it more difficult,” said the Ducati factory rider, highlighting the particular challenge. “In a race, the start and the first lap are the trickiest. You have to get it spot on in both of these situations, and if you make a mistake, the race is sometimes already over. So the first lap is hugely important for getting yourself into the best possible position. Going through this process once isn’t easy; two starts are correspondingly harder. But it’s the same for everyone, and the rider who can maintain their focus best will probably be the winner in the end.”

I learnt that from Toprak.

Race 1 winner Nicolo Bulega

Bulega wasn’t just perfectly focused, though; his race management was also exemplary. The 26-year-old’s lap times remained consistently fast right up to the final lap.

“I’ve learnt that from Álvaro and Toprak over the past few years. You mustn’t push the tyres too hard and need to let them come up to temperature over a few laps first – but Iker does that brilliantly too,” said Bulega, praising his team-mate. “From the middle of the race onwards, I take particular care to ride cleanly and not be too aggressive on the throttle, so as not to destroy the rear tyre. Of course, that comes at the expense of lap times. Striking the right balance isn’t easy, because Iker was constantly applying pressure. The final laps are always a bit nerve-wracking, wondering whether my strategy will pay off or not.”

Incidentally, with his fastest lap of 1:35.030, Bulega beat Toprak Razgatlioglu’s lap record from last year by almost half a second!