Nicolo Bulega is expected to move to MotoGP in 2027 with VR46, but who the Ducati World Superbike team are studying to replace the Italian do not align with his beliefs.
It is an open secret that VR46 will sign Bulega to award the 26-year-old his MotoGP debut in an all-new line-up for Valentino Rossi’s team. Ducati are also set to place Fermin Aldeguer at VR46 for the 2027 season, which has seen Gresini sign Joan Mir along with Daniel Holgado.
VR46 have yet to confirm Bulega or Aldeguer’s transfers, but both are widely believed to be done deals. Ducati’s World Superbike team are already looking for a replacement for Bulega, as well, after locking Iker Lecuona in for another two years with the Spaniard’s new contract.
Which series will benefit more from Nicolo Bulega’s move: MotoGP or Superbikes?
Bulega has run away with this year's WSBK championship
Nicolo Bulega wants Ducati to replace him in World Superbikes with an Italian rider
According to a report from SPEEDWEEK, current VR46 MotoGP star Franco Morbidelli could replace Bulega in Ducati’s World Superbike team next season. But the Italian is not the only name on the Bologna Bullets’ radar, with Jack Miller, Maverick Vinales, Brad Binder and Alex Rins also in the mix, as they – like Morbidelli – all look for pastures new away from MotoGP.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Nicolo Bulega from height to career
Ducati WSBK team boss Stefano Cecconi would also be open to replacing Bulega with a less experienced rider. But while Moto2 ace Celestino Vietti would be the leading option in that regard, Ducati have not held talks with the Italian about a ride in the production bike class.
Bulega, for his part, would ideally like Ducati’s World Superbike team to sign a fellow Italian rider to replace him next year. The Montecchio Emilia native also feels it would make sense for Ducati’s WSBK team to shop in the MotoGP rider market, given that Michelin will replace Pirelli as the sole tyre provider to the World Superbike Championship from the 2027 season.
“It could be good for the team and the championship to take one of them [MotoGP riders],” Bulega told SPEEDWEEK.
“Especially considering that Michelin tyres will be used in the World Superbike Championship then. The people at Michelin know these riders and how they work. If I were Cecconi, I would take one of them.
“I got the Superbike opportunity because I was already part of the team – I grew with them – and I’m Italian. If I were Stefano Cecconi, it would be important for me to have an Italian on the team.”
How will Jack Miller be remembered as a MotoGP rider?
Bulega, then, seemingly disagrees with Ducati for having Miller, Binder, Vinales and Rins on their shortlist to replace the Italian in the World Superbike Championship next season. Only Morbidelli and Vietti would satisfy Bulega’s beliefs that Ducati ought to have an Italian rider.
Ducati could even lack an Italian rider across their factory teams in both MotoGP and World Superbikes next term, having now signed an all-Spanish line-up of Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta in MotoGP. Acosta will replace Italy’s Francesco Bagnaia as Marquez’s teammate.
The factory Ducati garages in the MotoGP and World Superbikes paddocks might even both become all-Spanish next season. Along with Acosta and Marquez in MotoGP, Ducati have a Spanish star in World Superbikes with Lecuona and now have eyes on Vinales and Rins, too.
Another report by SPEEDWEEK also puts another Spaniard in the mix, as it claims Ducati are rivalling BMW to coax Moto2 championship leader Manuel Gonzalez to World Superbikes in 2027. It is even now being suggested that BMW are prioritising signing Gonzalez over Binder and Miller, who would only gain more stock with the German brand if the Spaniard says no.
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