Ducati must sign Nicolo Bulega for the 2027 MotoGP season after seeing his Valencia test data

Add as preferred source on Google

Nicolo Bulega has had a couple of opportunities to show what he can do in MotoGP now, and his data from MotoGP’s post-season test in Valencia shows exactly why Ducati must sign him for 2027.

Marc Marquez’s injury at the Indonesian Grand Prix in October saw Michele Pirro and Nicolo Bulega share the reins of his GP25 in the final four rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season.

The former was more than happy to fill in for the sidelined Spaniard, but the latter was a bit more sceptical at first.

Initially shooting down talks of him replacing Marquez, Bulega requested a test from Ducati first, in order for him to get to grips with prototype machinery before making his debut in the premier class atop the most dominant bike on the grid.

Whilst he hasn’t done anything extraordinary during his stint in the factory MotoGP outfit, the Ducati World Superbikes star has shown glimpses of being able to thrive in Grand Prix motorcycle racing through his trajectory in the limited amount of running he has had so far.

READ MORE: What Davide Tardozzi told Nicolo Bulega after he called himself a ‘disaster’ on his Ducati debut

Nicolo Bulega was one of just two riders to improve their Valencia GP qualifying lap times in the post-season test

The biggest indication that Bulega is on the right path to becoming a MotoGP star is through the improvement in his lap times at Valencia between the final round of the season and MotoGP’s post-season test.

The Italian rider was one of just two riders to improve on their times in qualifying, which highlights how the extra mileage for Bulega has seen him thrive.

What’s more, Bulega made a mistake on his fastest flying lap, which he says cost him around two tenths. The lost time would have put him within the ballpark of Raul Fernandez’s benchmark, and he admitted that he is “slowly getting a feel for the MotoGP machine.”

His personal best during the testing session still wouldn’t have been good enough to reach Q2 in last Saturday’s qualifying shootout, but the cooler track temperatures saw a sizeable drop in pace.

Only the top three riders on the timing sheets in the test would have progressed through to Q2.

READ MORE: Jorge Lorenzo says Ducati are ‘preparing’ to place Nicolo Bulega at MotoGP team in 2027

2027 will be the best time for Nicolo Bulega to make the move from World Superbikes to MotoGP

There are a multitude of factors in play that make the 2027 MotoGP season the best opportunity for Bulega to enter the category as a full-time rider.

The first being the fact that the MotoGP regulations are being completely re-hauled for then. Every rider on the grid will be working with new machinery, which offers the perfect clean slate for the 26-year-old to get to grips with a bike that everyone else is also trying to work out.

The new regulations will also see Pirelli enter the category as MotoGP’s official tyre supplier. The Italian manufacturer currently supplies WSBK, and whilst the compounds will be slightly different, he already has ample experience with the characteristics of the Pirelli rubber that is utilised.

Toprak Razgatlioglu is tipped to cause trouble once Pirelli tyres are in use in the premier class, and the same should be expected for the Italian rider.

The final reason is also linked to Razgatlioglu, who served as the antagonist to Bulega’s championship hopes in World Superbikes during the 2025 season.

With his main rival now off the grid, the Ducati man can bolster the confidence he has in his abilities by winning the WSBK title in the upcoming season and head into MotoGP as an established world champion.

All the signs are there, it’s just up to Ducati to work out the star-studded line-ups within their stable before a seat becomes available to the 26-year-old.