Race of Champions: How Bulega views the thrashing of Bagnaia & Marquez

At World Ducati Week, the Italian manufacturer from Borgo Panigale celebrates with its fans – and, not least, with itself. The highlight is always the Race of Champions, in which the best riders from the MotoGP and Superbike World Championships go head-to-head, joined by riders from national championships such as Germany’s number one, Lukas Tulovic.

The race is a show event, contested on more or less standard Ducati Panigale V4S bikes with 1103 ccm engines and fitted with Pirelli slicks. But anyone who thinks the riders take the race lightly is mistaken. At least some of them display astonishing ambition; in 2024, MotoGP star Marc Marquez even overtook then-Superbike rookie Nicolo Bulega in the battle for third place in the very last corner.

This year, Marquez didn’t even come close to Bulega, who was not only the fastest in qualifying but also shot away from the start in the race to win unchallenged ahead of his SBK colleagues Alberto Surra and Lorenzo Baldassarri. Pecco Bagnaia was the highest-placed MotoGP rider, finishing fifth, whilst Marc Marquez came twelfth.

“It was good to win, but of course it was a bit of a show,” grinned Bulega, who has been unbeaten in the Superbike World Championship for 25 races (!) and will compete in MotoGP in 2027 and 2028 for Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Ducati team. “We’re all racers: when we close our visors, everyone wants to put in a good performance. And when you’re racing, everyone wants to win. We’re all about competition – that’s normal.”

“The bike is very similar to the one in the Superbike World Championship. But we’ve fitted lots of special parts to it, so overall it’s quite different,” noted the 26-year-old. “It’s incredible to be clocking times in the 1:34 min range on a bike that’s almost standard. We’ve only made a few changes to the exhaust and the suspension. It’s fantastic that a production bike can go so fast. “I’d like to congratulate Ducati on the WDW; it’s not easy to organise something like this. There were an incredible number of people there, and riding this little race in front of all the fans felt like a proper race for everyone here. That’s why I had so much fun. The motorbike is beautiful; it was a great weekend.”

Alberto Surra, SBK rookie and surprise of the year, stunned everyone with second place. “It’s hard to keep up with Nicolo,” admitted the 22-year-old from the Motocorsa team. “Hats off to him, because he rides well on any bike. He’s in top form at the moment, and I’m delighted for him. I’m excited and over the moon to have been here. This was my first WDW; I’d like to thank the team and everyone at Ducati who’ve supported me. I’ve never had an opportunity like this before and I’ve tried to make the most of it.”

Baldassarri rounded off the Superbike World Championship riders’ complete triumph over the MotoGP aces by finishing third. “It slipped away from me quite early on when I was locked in a neck-and-neck battle with Surra, who overtook me,” remarked the rider currently seventh in the World Championship standings. “That was a brilliant move; he played it well. Then I regained my composure and managed to catch him. In the final laps, I was right behind him in Turn 3, but I couldn’t pull off the attack. I’m sorry for the fans that I couldn’t put on a proper show.”

Race of Champions Misano/I results

1. Nicolo Bulega

2. Alberto Surra

3. Lorenzo Baldassarri

4. Yari Montella

5. Francesco Bagnaia

6. Tommy Bridewell

7. Franco Morbidelli

8. Fabio Di Giannantonio

9. Lukas Tulovic

10. Hafizh Syahrin

11. Tarran Mackenzie

12. Marc Márquez

13. P. J. Jacobsen

14. Josh Waters

15. Michele Pirro (DNF)

16. Álvaro Bautista (DNF)