The worst-kept secret in the MotoGP and World Superbike paddock was finally revealed in September, with Nicolo Bulega confirmed to move from World Superbikes to MotoGP in 2027. The 26-year-old from Montecchio Emilia, Italy, will join the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, partnering Fermin Aldeguer, who’s moving across from Gresini Racing Ducati.
Bulega will make a return to the Grand Prix paddock after six years away. From 2016 to 2021, the Italian was active in Moto3 and Moto2, with his best result a second-place in the 2016 Spanish Moto3 race. After a poor 2021 Moto2 season, Bulega signed with Ducati in the Supersport World Championship (WorldSSP).
Winless, but on the podium multiple times in his debut WorldSSP season, Bulega would dominate in 2023, winning 16 of 24 races. That performance earned Bulega a graduation to the Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) with the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati factory team in 2024.
Bulega finished the 2024 WorldSBK season as runner-up, then again in a 2025 championship that went down to the final race. This year, with his nemesis Toprak Razgatlioglu switching to MotoGP, Bulega has been virtually unstoppable. Undefeated across the first seven rounds, the Italian’s winning streak was finally broken in Round 8.
Three weeks after announcing on 9 September that he’d be going back to the Grand Prix paddock, Bulega wrapped up the 2026 WorldSBK title with two rounds in hand.
“Making it to MotoGP is a dream, because I will make my debut with the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team,” Bulega explained. “I chose this team because I’ve always been linked to them: I was in the VR46 Riders Academy when I was a child, so I know everyone very well.
“When I started to race, I had the dream of arriving to MotoGP. Then, for many reasons, my career took a different path: I moved to WorldSBK, but these years have gone far beyond my expectations, so we thought about making this step to the premier class. I’m happy to reach this goal, even if it took me a little longer and I did a different journey compared to the usual one.”
