Marco Bezzecchi
Nicolo Bulega is now eyeing a MotoGP seat after his two-race substitute ride for Ducati last season, but he is currently experiencing complications in trying to secure one for himself.
After Marc Marquez was ruled out of the final four rounds of the 2025 campaign, Nicolo Bulega took over from his initial replacement, Michele Pirro, for the last two race weekends of the season.
Despite Bulega not being interested in a MotoGP ride at first, he seemingly developed an itch for the premier class prototypes after taking part in a test for Ducati ahead of his proposed replacement ride.
Ducati just told Bulega to go out and have fun during his debut in the premier class, and due to the notoriously difficult-to-wrangle GP25, his results weren’t anything to write home about in the two races that he competed in.
However, his motorcycle racing prowess has been on show for several years in World Superbikes, and the Italian narrowly missed out on glory last season after Toprak Razgatlioglu secured the final at the very last race of the season.
Predict the order of the Ducati riders in the 2026 MotoGP standings
Claudio Domenicali says Ducati need to convince their satellite teams to bring Nicolo Bulega into MotoGP
During an interview with GPOne at Ducati’s 2026 season launch event for their World Superbikes division, CEO Claudio Domenicali was asked about the future of his star rider in the production motorcycle racing category.
Asked what Bulega needs to do to secure himself a spot on the 2027 MotoGP grid, the Italian executive said, “With Nicolo, I don’t think he has anything left to prove to us; he has shown his worth over the past two seasons.
“We had a bit of bad luck as a team, and that cost us the title, but he drove extraordinarily well, so I expect him to continue driving like that.
“Keep smiling, as you always have, and stay positive towards yourself, the company, the team and the fans.”
“The balance is complicated in the sense that it doesn’t just depend on us. We choose two riders for the official team, and we tend to manage the riders who enter MotoGP through the satellite teams, so we’ll have to talk it over with them as well.
“It will depend on how the tests go; it will depend on many things. Let’s not rush things too much. Let’s do the job, and then, halfway through the season, we’ll try to decide together.”
Bulega is now signed up to take part in three tests for Ducati’s factory MotoGP team this year, in an effort to develop the 2027 bike in line with the new regulations that are set to overhaul the premier class next year.
- READ MORE: Nicolo Bulega tells Francesco Bagnaia which team he should join if he loses Ducati MotoGP seat
Do you agree with Toprak Razgatlioglu that Nicolo Bulega deserves a MotoGP ride?
Nicolo Bulega’s past ties to Valentino Rossi’s riders academy may help him secure a ride at VR46 for 2027
Despite the fact that he is no longer a part of the development programme, Bulega spent a number of years as a signed rider to Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy.
The talent programme has aided the development of some of the biggest names currently on the grid, such as Francesco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi.
The academy’s very first member, Franco Morbidelli, currently rides for VR46 and could potentially make way for Bulega in 2027 following frustrations inside the team over the Italian rider’s bad boy persona out on track.
Rossi has made it clear that VR46 will be fielding two new riders in 2027, fuelling speculation that Bulega could be a potential pick for the Italian satellite team in MotoGP’s new era of racing.
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