Nicolò Bulega has won the race for the second seat in the factory Racing Ducati team in WorldSBK. Bulega won the favor of Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall'Igna after dominating in WorldSSP throughout the 2023 season, currently leading the championship by 46 points from Stefano Manzi.
Bulega faced fierce competition for the seat. Michael Ruben Rinaldi had been a solid teammate to Alvaro Bautista, and shown flashes of brilliance, but never been able to post consistent results. Axel Bassani had shown more raw talent, but had again failed to produce consistent results, week in, week out. Bulega had demonstrated both talent and consistency, and that is what won him the promotion to the WorldSBK class.
The press release from the Racing Ducati team appears below:
Nicolò Bulega aboard the Ducati Panigale V4R of the Racing - Ducati team in the 2024 WorldSBK season