Nicolo Bulega 2026 WorldSBK champion
Nicolò Bulega has been crowned 2026 World Superbike Champion after finishing second in Race Two at Cremona, securing his first title in the category with two rounds remaining.
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider followed team-mate Iker Lecuona home as the Spaniard completed a clean sweep of the Italian weekend. Bulega’s three second places were enough to settle the championship in front of his home crowd during Ducati’s centenary year.
Bulega becomes the first Italian to win the WorldSBK riders’ title aboard a Ducati, and only the second Italian champion in the series’ history. Max Biaggi claimed Italy’s previous titles with Aprilia in 2010 and 2012.
The result also makes Bulega the first rider to win both the World Supersport and World Superbike championships, having secured the 2023 WorldSSP crown aboard Ducati’s Panigale V2.
26 wins and nothing worse than second
Bulega’s championship has been built on a combination of outright speed and consistency. Across the opening 30 races, he has recorded 26 victories and four second places, with Lecuona the only rider to have beaten him.
That leaves Bulega with a podium finish in every race so far, while the two factory Ducati riders have shared all 30 victories between them.
Bulega won the opening 21 races of 2026. Combined with four consecutive victories at the end of last season, that extended his winning streak to a WorldSBK record of 25 before Lecuona broke the sequence at Donington Park.
He also claimed pole at each of the opening nine rounds. Including the 2025 Jerez finale, his run reached a record ten consecutive poles before Lecuona took top spot at Cremona.
The title follows runner-up finishes behind Toprak Razgatlioglu in both 2024 and 2025, completing Bulega’s progression from WorldSSP champion to WorldSBK champion in three years.
Ducati completes the triple crown
Bulega’s title completes Ducati’s sweep of the three WorldSBK championships for 2026. The manufacturers’ and teams’ crowns had already been secured at Donington Park in July, with four rounds still to run.
The latest Panigale V4 R has won every race of its debut WorldSBK season to date, with Bulega’s 26 victories complemented by Lecuona’s Donington Race One win and Cremona hat-trick.
Ducati’s fifth consecutive manufacturers’ championship takes its total to 22, while Bulega has delivered its 17th riders’ title. According to Ducati’s figures following Cremona, the manufacturer’s WorldSBK record now stands at 479 victories and 1,266 podium finishes.
Bulega joins a list of Ducati champions that includes Australians Troy Bayliss and Troy Corser. Bayliss won three titles for the Italian manufacturer, in 2001, 2006 and 2008, while Corser secured the 1996 crown.
For Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali, the combination of an Italian champion, a home celebration and the company’s centenary gave the result particular significance.
Claudio Domenicali – Ducati CEO
“There are victories whose meaning goes beyond the sporting result, and this is certainly one of them. Nicolò is the first Italian rider to become Superbike World Champion with Ducati, and he has done it in front of his home crowd, in the year in which we celebrate our centenary. It is difficult to imagine a more beautiful way to experience this moment!
“What makes me even prouder is thinking about everything that lies behind it. We have seen Nicolò grow with us, win in Supersport, establish himself in Superbike and become the extraordinary rider he is today.”
MotoGP next for Bulega
Bulega will move to MotoGP with the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team in 2027, taking his newly secured WorldSBK title into the next stage of his career.
Before then, six races remain in the 2026 WorldSBK season, giving Bulega further opportunities to add to his tally and Ducati the chance to extend its unbeaten run.
