Nicolo Bulega torn on 2026 Ducati WorldSBK bike: “He likes some areas but not others”
The 2026 Ducati WorldSBK might not be a clear improvement over the 2025 version, Nicolo Bulega’s feedback suggests.
The 2026 WorldSBK season marks a new beginning for Ducati, with an updated version of the Panigale V4 R rolling into its garage.
The 2025 V4 R has won two WorldSBK titles since it was introduced in 2019, and, with Nicolo Bulega, was part of a two-rider domination – the other half of which was fulfilled by BMW and Toprak Razgatlioglu – of the season just gone.
Bulega had his first taste of the 2026 bike during the 2025 season in Misano, then tested it again in Aragon. In Jerez, after the final round of 2025, Bulega took part in the two-day post-race test there and topped both days.
Despite the on-paper performance, though, the new bike does not appear to be an absolute improvement over the existing package, according to Bulega’s feedback.
“He likes some areas but some areas he doesn’t like,” said Aruba.it Racing Ducati Team Manager Serafino after the second day of the Jerez test, speaking to WorldSBK.com.
“It’s the first touch because this is the first real test, because in Misano, in Aragon, was a ‘shakedown’.
“Now we need to start to understand the bike, we need to know the secrets of the bike because everything is new.”
Foti says that Ducati’s target is to win the title in the first year of the new bike, something it failed to achieve in the first year of the original Panigale V4 R.
“The base is more or less last year’s bike,” he said, “but of course I hope we can improve a little bit.
“Our target, our goal, is always the same: we lost the [2025] championship for 13 points but of course our target is try to fight for the championship. I hope that we can win the championship next year.”
This ambition is echoed by Ducati’s technical boss on the WorldSBK project, Marco Zambenedetti, who is cautious of over-optimism for the 2026 campaign despite the absence of the aforementioned Razgatlioglu from next year’s World Superbike grid.
“The goal is to achieve the title,” Zambenedetti told WorldSBK.com. “I hope also before the last race!
“It [2025] was a fantastic championship, I’m so proud that we kept on pushing. I’m thankful to everyone for all the effort to arrive to the end.
“In the end, I think both riders [Bulega and Razgatlioglu] deserved the title. They are from another level.
“But we cannot be relaxed. Next year there will be new riders from MotoGP, new riders, new package, and it’s important to be concentrated and arrive prepared.”
“Every time we send the bike on-track, we improved the package”
For Zambenedetti, the test in Jerez was a valuable experience for Ducati to try to understand its new bike in WorldSBK trim.
It was also a test where the Italian engineer feels the factory, team, and Bulega all made progress, as well as Bulega’s new teammate for 2026: Iker Lecuona.
“The bike is new, so we are starting learning how to achieve the maximum potential,” Zambenedetti said.
“This test is important because, every time we send the bike on-track, we improved the package and we tried to define in all the details all the small things.
“For sure it’s important also having Nicolo Bulega’s [...] feedback on this new bike and also starting to give to Iker [Lecuona] some references that we will improve during the winter tests.”
Discussing the differences between the new bike and the old one, Zambenedetti explained that there are numerous revisions to be considered on the new model.
“It’s a bike that has been fully, deeply revised in all the areas,” he said.
“Aerodynamics, we put some concepts from the MotoGP, we revised completely all the chassis, front frame, rear swingarm, different bike balance, totally different airbox and engine heads, revised suspension, totally different electronics package.
“So, a lot of things to fix, to understand, and to be ready for Phillip Island.”
He added: “For sure, making a comparison with the old [bike] is slightly difficult because the fuel flow will be changed in Phillip Island. For now, we have our reference of this year and we need to understand the new package in respect to the 2025 season.
“Let me say that [the thing I expect is most different] is the chassis and aerodynamics, in terms of bike behaviour. I hope we have improved.
“For sure we have done a good job but in the end only the riders’ feedback and the lap time will say what happened.”
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