Nicolo Bulega (Ducati Lenovo Team) wasted no time making an impression on his MotoGP debut in Portugal. The 2025 WorldSBK runner-up qualified P18 on the grid and then suffered an early crash in the Sprint, but the Italian scored a point and showed strong late race pace in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Bulega, who will continue to stand in for World Champion Marc Marquez at the final round in Valencia, will go title hunting with Ducati in WorldSBK again next season. However, he’ll also take on a new role as Ducati’s MotoGP Test Rider.
Speaking during Saturday’s FP2 session in Portugal, Davide Tardozzi – Ducati Lenovo’s Team Manager – outlined their plans for Bulega: “He will be the guy who will develop the bike, because we think that Nicolo will have in 2026 the experience and the speed to do this with the tyres.”
The #11 has already had plenty to learn in MotoGP, particularly with the different tyres (Michelin’s rather than Pirelli’s), which Tardozzi references, as well as the carbon brakes.
Looking at the replacement rides at the end of this season, Tardozzi sees them as a valuable opportunity for Bulega to gain more experience with the current bike and tyres before their attention turns to the new 850cc era in 2027: “These two races and the test in Valencia will give him information about the 1000cc bike and the Michelins.”
And it’s not just the differences in machinery that Bulega will need to get to grips with. Tardozzi is already looking towards the future development of the bike: “He will have the opportunity to compare the new bike during the following year.”
Valencia is quickly approaching, and it’s a circuit Bulega hasn’t raced at since 2021 in Moto2. Let’s see how the impressive Italian gets on at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo at the weekend, before the much-anticipated Valencia Test goes green on Tuesday.