Ducati star Nicolò Bulega at the finish line: the undisputed 2026 Superbike World Champion

When describing Nicolò Bulega’s Superbike season, one has to resort to superlatives. The Italian won nine out of ten Superpoles and secured an incredible 26 victories and 30 podium finishes in 30 races, along with numerous track and lap records. In fact, following epic battles with Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2024 and 2025, the 26-year-old was already considered the clear favourite before the season even began. That he was crowned World Champion and successor to the Turkish rider at his home race in Cremona is more than deserved.

There could not have been a better place than the Cremona Circuit for Bulega to clinch the 2026 Superbike World Championship: he is the first Italian Ducati world champion, and the grandstands were awash with red as fans, friends and family witnessed his triumph. The fact that it was his worst race weekend is, in the light of three second-place finishes, nothing more than a minor blemish.

In just three years, Bulega has cemented his place at the top of key Superbike statistical categories. His 48 victories are just four fewer than three-time world champion Troy Bayliss. No rider has recorded more hat-tricks than the Italian – 35 in total – with Razgatlioglu in second place with 32. His 49 fastest race laps are more than icons such as Carl Fogarty, Troy Corser, Colin Edwards or Tom Sykes managed to amass over their long careers.

Of the Italian Superbike aces, Bulega is already by far the most successful rider (Marco Melandri has secured 22 wins, Max Biaggi 21), although Biaggi is a two-time world champion. And Bulega could win seven more races before the end of the season, before moving up to MotoGP for 2027.

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