Nicolo Bulega wins 2026 WorldSBK title at Italian Round

Nicolo Bulega has clinched the 2026 WorldSBK title during the Italian Round at Cremona, his first title in the class.

Bulega’s title victory came in Race 1 of round 10 of the 2026 WorldSBK season, one which has been completely dominated by the Italian.

Bulega has won 26 races with 30 podiums from the 10 rounds so far this season. He’s also taken nine pole positions during 2026 and has broken the record for the number of consecutive pole positions at 10, a streak going back to Estoril 2025.

Bulega’s title is his second in FIM World Championship competition after winning the 2023 World Supersport Championship. His performance that year earned him the chance to step up with the factory Ducati team to WorldSBK in 2024, a season in which he won his first race at Phillip Island, and finished second in the standings, beating team-mate Alvaro Bautista and finishing behind Toprak Razgatlioglu. 

Bulega would go on to finish second to Razgatlioglu again in 2025, but with the Turkish star absent from the 2026 grid Bulega was free to dominate alone, and with a worst finish of second so far this year it’s fair to say that that was achieved.

Indeed, in fully dry races, Bulega has not finished lower than second since his rookie year, and hasn’t been beaten by a rider, other than Razgatlioglu, who wasn’t on a Ducati since Alex Lowes beat him to the final podium position in the Superpole Race at Cremona in 2024.

Bulega’s performance in 2026 has earned him another move with Ducati, this time to MotoGP with the VR46 team, with which he made his grand prix debut in 2016. The Italian has been testing Ducati’s new 850cc MotoGP throughout 2026 and even came to Cremona with a shoulder injury from a crash in testing at Mugello. The preparation work Bulega and Ducati have put into 2027 has led several riders, most emphatically Pol Espargaro, to view Bulega as one of the favourites to win grands prix early next season.

After Razgatlioglu, Bulega will be the second consecutive WorldSBK champion to move to MotoGP after over 15 years without such a move, the last before Razgatlioglu having been Ben Spies, who made the transition after winning the 2009 World Superbike crown.