Nicolo Bulega’s 2026 Ducati Panigale WorldSBK bike revealed

The bike expected to take Nicolo Bulega to the 2026 WorldSBK title has been revealed.

Ducati has introduced a new, updated version of the Panigale V4 R for the 2206 World Superbike Championship season, after Bulega finished second in the past two seasons to Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Razgatlioglu’s absence from WorldSBK this year seemingly opens the door for Bulega to walk to the 2026 title, the Italian being the only one even remotely close to Razgatlioglu’s level in the championship in the past two years.

However, with limited testing this winter as a result of poor weather at both Jerez and Portimao in January, things are not as straightforward as Ducati would’ve liked heading into the year.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati team also brings in a new rider alongside Bulega, as Iker Lecuona moves over from Honda. The Spanish rider has four years of World Superbike experience and has amassed three podiums in that time. It should be expected that his rostrum rate is dramatically increased with this change of teams and, perhaps more importantly, machinery.

As for the livery, it is red, which is hardly a surprise for the Bologna brand, of course. In general, it follows a similar trend to recent seasons where the WorldSBK paint has been reasonably comparable to the livery used in MotoGP. On this occasion, that means the addition of some white stripes intended as a kind of ‘throwback’ element in the design to celebrate Ducati’s 100th anniversary, the company having been founded in 1926.

After the wet weather tests in Europe, Ducati – along with the rest of the teams and manufacturers – head soon to Australia for the final test of the preseason and the first race of the season-proper, both at Phillip Island on 16–17 February and 20–22 February, respectively.