Marco Bezzecchi
Nicolo Bulega is one of the hottest prospects on the World Superbike Championship grid and has been linked with a move to MotoGP in the future.
He rides within the same Ducati team that has produced an incredible run of form this season across both disciplines, and they have a chance at world titles in both.
Marc Marquez has been the talk of MotoGP in 2025 and has delivered strong performance after strong performance in his pursuit of a seventh premier class crown.
Recently, he won the Italian Grand Prix by a comfortable margin, and faced boos from the crowd who still support Valentino Rossi. That crowd may have a new rider to cheer on soon, if Bulega makes the bold switch from superbikes.
Marquez emulated Rossi with one tactic he used in Mugello to screw with his rivals. He was a very cheery individual all weekend.
Despite that, Marquez still faced a ‘very aggressive’ Francesco Bagnaia in the early stages of Sunday’s race, before his tyres fell off a cliff and he dropped to fourth.
How Nicolo Bulega responded when asked if he would be scared of Marc Marquez in MotoGP
The aforementioned Bulega has joined Marquez in producing some special achievements on track in the World Superbike Championship this season, and is yet to finish lower than second in 18 races.
He has suffered three retirements, but when he reaches the flag, he has been in imperious form. He leads MotoGP graduate for 2026, Toprak Razgatlioglu, by nine points at the top.
When asked by GPOne if he is scared by the potential of racing Marquez in 2027, he gave a mixed response about his future prospects.
Marquez is working ‘much harder’ at Ducati, and it’s showing in his results. Bulega has a lot of respect for the Spaniard’s achievements.
“Marquez at the moment seems unbeatable and is making a big difference. Honestly, I still don’t know if I’m going to MotoGP in 2027, so it’s difficult for me to identify myself and to be able to say what I could do against him,” he said.
“It’s too early to say, but what is sure is that he is now in an incredible state of form and not many have managed to beat him. Especially this year. I, in this particular case, would settle for a good debut.”
How did Nicolo Bulega fare in the lower motorcycle divisions?
Bulega spent four seasons in Moto3 and three more in Moto2, failing to achieve a victory in any of those seven seasons.
As soon as he arrived in the World Superbike Championship last year, he burst into life and managed to finish second in the standings.
This year, at the age of 25, he has taken his performance to another level. The clock is ticking on a potential move to MotoGP, though.
If he waits until 2027, he will be 27 years old, and he doesn’t seem too confident about a move then either.
What will help him is if Razgatlioglu arrives at Pramac and does really well next year. Then, teams may start to take a look at him.
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