Nicolò Bulega wins the Superbike world championship at 26 and moves up to MotoGP with Ducati Vr46

Winning the Superbike world championship at 26 years old and the prospect of finally racing on the most prestigious stage, that of MotoGP: this is the story of Nicolò Bulega, a former child prodigy of two wheels who, going through dark moments, then exploded into full sporting maturity.

The Italian from Ducati finished second in the race in Cremona but, thanks to the points collected, he arithmetically won the World Championship. And next season he will debut as an official rider with the Ducati Vr46 in MotoGP, a dream only touched upon at the beginning of his career and then cherished with two substitutions last season in place of the injured Marc Marquez with the Borgo Panigale team. The celebration given to him by the technicians and above all by his opponents at the end of the race suggests how well-liked Nicolò is in the circus: on the other hand, the parable of the 26-year-old from Emilia is the one that all drivers dream of and that only a few manage to achieve.

"It's crazy cool - rejoices Bulega - The success cannot be summed up with the last year, it is the result of years of work. With Ducati we have done well in the last five years. And I am the first Italian to win the world championship with Ducati".

Bulega took his first laps on the track as a child in 2007 in the Italian minibike championship. In 2011 he was European MiniGP Junior 50 champion. He made his debut in Moto3 in 2015. In 2016 he joined the Vr46 team. In 2019 he moved to Moto2, again in the Vr46 team. Then the dark years and the prospect of leaving two wheels until the redemption of these last years.

Bulega's title comes 14 years after Max Biaggi's last success in the category. The Italian led a perfect season, scoring 25 consecutive victories if the end of the last season is also taken into account. "You made me wait a little too long... It's nice that an Italian takes the baton with an Italian motorbike, an Italian sponsor just like what happened to me", underlines Max Biaggi. The Roman won in 2010 and 2012 with Aprilia. Biaggi also takes stock of the new prospects for Bulega: "Expectations were too high for a boy when he made his debut. And this had an impact, but he was able to find himself."

Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati, was also satisfied: "The thing that makes me most proud is thinking about everything behind it. We saw Nicolò grow together with us, win in Supersport, establish himself in Superbike and become the extraordinary rider he is today".