Why Haga and Fogarty are pleased that Nicolò Bulega is moving to MotoGP

Nicolò Bulega is a phenomenon. After failing to make his mark in Moto2, Ducati signed him up for the 2022 Supersport World Championship, and in his very first year he established himself as a consistent top rider. The following year, Bulega secured Ducati’s first title in the middleweight class in commanding fashion. The move up to the 2024 Superbike World Championship was the logical next step.

What the 26-year-old achieved with the V4R right from the start was impressive. Bulega outshone the established two-time Superbike World Champion Álvaro Bautista and finished as runner-up in the world championship with six wins and 24 podium finishes. In 2025, he improved his tally to 14 wins, 32 podium finishes and 603 points – a total that would normally have been enough to win the world championship – but the exceptional Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) scored 13 points more.

In the 2026 Superbike World Championship, Bulega has confirmed his status as favourite, having secured 26 wins and one second place from 27 races so far. Even given Ducati’s dominance this year, victory is by no means a foregone conclusion – after all, eight other riders are racing the superior V4 bike from Borgo Panigale. Barring any drama, Bulega will clinch the riders’ world championship at his home race in Cremona (25 to 27 September).

A glance at the statistics highlights the outstanding performance of Bulega, who hails from Montecchio Emilia: with 46 wins, he has long since left icons such as Noriyuki Haga (43 wins), Tom Sykes (34), Troy Corser and Colin Edwards (31) long since behind him. By the end of the season, he could even have overtaken Troy Bayliss (52 wins). Even if it wasn’t possible to bag three wins in a single race weekend back then: it’s impressive!

“It does make me proud to see my name alongside great riders like Nori Haga,” Bulega admitted humbly. “I’ve also had a look at the Superpole statistics. I’ve won it 18 times so far and find myself in the company of some very famous riders. It’s only my third season in the Superbike category, and the fact that I’m already being mentioned in the same breath as them is almost unbelievable to me.”

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In fact, the future world champion is already ranked 7th in the pole position statistics. However, as the move to MotoGP in 2027 has already been decided, Bulega can only hope to draw level with Carl Fogarty at best, who secured 21 pole positions during his long career.