Ducati factory team: Who, according to Nicolo Bulega, should get the second Panigale

The Aruba.it Ducati team has a clear roadmap. During World Ducati Week in early July, the Borgo Panigale-based manufacturer and Stefano Cecconi’s team agreed to continue their partnership for a further two years in the Superbike World Championship, running until the end of 2028. In the next step, the contract with Iker Lecuona was extended for the same period; he is not only the only rider to have beaten Bulega this year, but, after 19 (!) second-place finishes, is also comfortably second in the World Championship standings going into the summer break – 133 points behind Bulega and 147 ahead of third-placed Yari Montella.

Next up is the search for rider number 2. The list of interested parties is long; no other seat in the paddock is so coveted. Even championship leader Nicolo Bulega is pondering who might take over his bike. “There are quite a few MotoGP riders who don’t have a seat,” noted the 26-year-old, who will be competing in the premier class for VR46 Ducati alongside Fermin Aldeguer in 2027. “It could be good for the team and the championship to take one of them. Especially when you consider that the Superbike World Championship will then be run on Michelin tyres. The people at Michelin know these riders and understand how they work. If I were Cecconi, I’d take one of them.”

The riders in question are the Italian Franco Morbidelli, the Australian Jack Miller, the South African Brad Binder, and the Spaniards Alex Rins and Maverick Viñales.

Bulega’s story cannot be repeated at present

Team owner Cecconi would be keen to repeat the story of Bulega, whom he signed for his Supersport team at the time following the 2021 Moto2 season. After finishing third in the World Championship in his first year, Nico became champion in 2023 and was promoted to the factory Superbike team for 2024, where he excelled right from the start. However, there is currently no young and promising Italian rider available; as for Celestino Vietti (24), who is currently seventh in the Moto2 World Championship and whose name has been repeatedly linked with the team, there have been no talks from Aruba to date.

“I got the Superbike opportunity because I was already part of the team; I’ve grown with them,” Bulega told SPEEDWEEK.com. “And I’m Italian. If I were Stefano Cecconi, it would be important to me to have an Italian in the team.”

Franco Morbidelli

Foto: gold & goose

How much weight does an Italian passport carry?

Ducati has repeatedly given Italians a chance – before Bulega, for example, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Davide Giugliano, Michele Fabrizio and Lorenzo Lanzi. According to Bulega’s logic, there is only one conclusion: a current but soon-to-be-unemployed MotoGP rider + Italian = Franco Morbidelli.

What speaks in favour of 31-year-old Morbidelli, apart from his passport, is his good relationship with his current team, VR46. Valentino Rossi’s team would have liked to bring Vietti into MotoGP, but has to bow to Ducati’s wishes and take Bulega instead. Given that ‘Morbido’ will be unable to find a ride anywhere after nine years in MotoGP, and with no other factory team in the Superbike World Championship offering him a chance, no one would be surprised if the 2020 World Championship runner-up ends up at Aruba.it Ducati – which is what many in Italy are hoping for anyway.

Moto2 World Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez, a key figure on the transfer market in recent weeks, is then in danger of falling by the wayside: the places in the Tech3 KTM MotoGP team are going to Senna Agius and Luca Marini, and at Aruba he is not the first choice due to political constraints. If the opportunity to join the BMW works team also slips through his fingers, the Spaniard will extend his contract with his current Moto2 team, Intact GP from Memmingen, for another season.