Aruba.it Racing – Ducati is pleased to announce the agreement with Nicolò Bulega: the current Supersport World Championship leader (9 wins and 13 podiums in the season so far) will defend the colors of the official Team in the 2024 WorldSBK season aboard the Ducati Panigale V4R.
At the same time, the Team would like to thank Michael Ruben Rinaldi for what they have done together in these years: from the SuperStock 1000 championship win achieved in 2017, to the successes (3 victories and 16 podiums total) obtained with Aruba.it Racing – Ducati in WorldSBK, with the certainty of celebrating other podiums in the next rounds of the current championship.
Stefano Cecconi (Team Principal Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“Nicolò is a choice that makes us proud because it confirms the quality of the project we undertook two years ago in the SuperSport World Championship. His growth has been steady and we expect him to continue on this path riding a Panigale V4R, as he has proven he can be very fast with this bike during testing. From the beginning, we have believed in the talent of Nicolò who, moreover, in this year and a half has shown great professionalism and attachment to the colors of the Team. I would also like to address a big thank you to Michael Ruben Rinaldi with whom the professional and human relationship has always been very strong. Even if our paths separate he will always be part of our family. Good luck Michael!”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager).
“We are pleased to welcome Nicolò Bulega to the official Superbike team. Since last season, Nicolò has been able to give us immense delight. He is a very talented rider, and his experience (despite his young age) could be a determining factor in facing this fascinating and demanding challenge. During the test held with the Ducati Panigale V4R machine, he has shown that he has the potential to compete with the best riders in the WorldSBK Championship, and sharing the garage with Alvaro Bautista will only help him grow. However, it will be important for him to stay focused on his WorldSSP season. The Aruba.it Racing team had the merit last year to think about Bulega and involve him in a completely new project that Ducati cares so much about. We hope he can wrap up his last season in Supersport in the best possible way”.
Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP #11)
“I want to be honest: this is a dream coming true. Racing for an official team is the desire of every rider. Therefore, before I talk about my emotions and expectations, I want to thank Ducati and Aruba.it Racing. And I am also extremely grateful for the opportunity I was given already last season by Aruba.it and Feel Racing and especially by Stefano Cecconi, Serafino Foti and Daniele Casolari. They chose me to ride a fantastic Ducati Panigale V2, on which I felt immediately comfortable. I know how important this opportunity is and I will always give my best to improve myself, day after day, with the only goal of getting the best possible results. I say it again: thank you for the trust. Thinking about the history of this Team, where great champions have always raced, I feel proud to be able to defend the same colors. Also, I am very happy to be able to share the box with Alvaro Bautista. Having him as a teammate will be a big plus: I will try to absorb every information I can learn from him.”
Nicolò Bulega was born in Montecchio Emilia on October 16, 1999, and began racing in 2007 in the Italian Minibike Championship. In 2011 he was the Italian and European MiniGP Junior 50 champion, in the following season, he became the Italian PreGP 125 champion, while in 2013 he won the PreGP 250 category championship. In 2014 he took part to the Spanish championship (CEV), Moto3 category, finishing the season in sixth place; the same year he also participated in several CIV Moto3 races. In the 2015 CEV season, he got three third places, three-second places, and a victory, conquering the title in the last race in Valencia. His debut in the Moto3 class of MotoGP came in 2015, in the Grand Prix of the Valencian Community with the SKY Racing Team VR46: it is with this team that he will conquer the first podium in 2016, at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix. From the 2019 season, Bulega participated in the Moto2 championship obtaining as best result seventh place in the Czech Republic Grand Prix. In the 2022 season, the moved to the World Supersport Championship with the Aruba.it Racing team and the Ducati Panigale V2 with which he achieved 9 podiums finishing fourth in the standings.
