Cremona Circuit, Italy
Sunday 27 September 2026, Cremona Circuit. As the Race 2 chequered flag drops and a second place is claimed with the head more than the hand, Nicolò Bulega is the 2026 Superbike World Champion. The title is mathematically wrapped up with two rounds and fifty points to spare, in front of the Italian home crowd, on the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Panigale V4R. A moment the paddock has been waiting for since the first race at Phillip Island — and that arrives, fittingly, under the Italian flag.
The historical weight of the moment goes far beyond the standings. Nicolò is the first Italian to win the Superbike World Championship since Max Biaggi in 2012: fourteen years of waiting, closed in a season that has given Italian motorcycling a reference point again. Not only that: he is the first Italian ever to win the WorldSBK title on a Ducati, a circle closing between Bologna and the paddock; and he becomes the first rider in the history of the championship to win both the Supersport (2023) and the Superbike world titles. Three historical firsts nested inside one another.
The Cremona weekend, however, delivered an unexpected narrative twist: after a crushing dominance stretching nine rounds, on his home track the centre of attention went to Iker Lecuona, who put together a perfect hat-trick. In Race 1 on Saturday the Spaniard launched from pole, took the lead immediately and won ahead of Bulega by 5.591 seconds, with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS) taking third. Nicolò accepted second place without pushing: the maths said the title could be sealed the following day, so no point in forcing the issue. "I decided that second was a very good position; I want to close the Championship here, so second here was a clever position", Bulega explained. "Iker was just very strong, faster than us, so I decided it made no sense to take risks and try something stupid."
On Sunday morning in the Superpole Race, Lecuona again in front from the start. On lap three Bulega tried a move at turn 11, but the Spaniard hit straight back at turn 13 and from there controlled to the flag, crossing the line 2.005 seconds ahead of his team-mate. The finest moment came from Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing), who by defending like a veteran in the final battle with Yari Montella secured his first career WorldSBK podium. Bulega set a new race lap record of 1'27.783.
In Race 2, the day of days. Lecuona again into turn 1 in the lead, the gap growing to a second by lap 6, then more than four by lap 16. Behind him Bulega managed the race: second place, controlled pace, and one eye on the flag. The race closed with Lecuona winning for the third time in the weekend — his first-ever WorldSBK hat-trick — ahead of Bulega by 8.590 seconds, with Montella third and Surra again fourth. But what mattered for the paddock was crossing that white line: the moment the number 11 Panigale swept under the chequered flag, Nicolò became World Champion.
"I'm incredibly happy", Bulega said afterwards. "After the chequered flag I started to cry, it was a very nice moment. It was difficult to manage all the pressure, but in the end we did it." And then the line that says more than any other: "I dedicate this to everyone who believed I had something more to give when I was in my bad moments."
Because Nicolò's story is, first of all, a story of redemption. The child prodigy who climbed onto a bike aged four, the talent picked up by the VR46 Riders Academy in 2014, the rider labelled the "next Rossi" after winning the CEV Moto3 Junior title in 2015. And then three tough seasons in Moto3, three in Moto2 that ended with a 26th-place finish: a career that looked destined to fade out. The 2022 switch to Supersport with Ducati was, in his own words, "the second chance of my life". The 2023 WSSP title (16 wins in 24 races) was the moment he "started to believe in myself again". Then two WSBK seasons as runner-up to Toprak Razgatlıoğlu — formative years, appetite for revenge growing sharper. 2026 has been the answer to all of it.
"To win here in Cremona is fantastic", Nicolò added. "In Italy, with Ducati, I'm the first Italian to win the title on a Ducati; and doing it in front of all the people who support me is fantastic."
The numbers of a season the paddock will remember for a long time: 26 wins in 30 races contested, 30 podiums from 30 races (100% podium rate), 9 pole positions. Along the way he set or broke: the all-time WorldSBK consecutive wins record (25, including the last 4 of 2025); Jonathan Rea's consecutive poles record, taken to 10; the record of 7 triple wins in a single season, never before achieved in the championship's history. In the standings 602 points, a 133-point lead over Lecuona.
The first official reactions confirm the scale of it. Gigi Dall'Igna, General Manager of Ducati Corse: "It's unbelievable. The job that Nicolo did all year was amazing, it's impossible to do better." Claudio Domenicali, Ducati CEO: "Nicolo did something fantastic. He came here in a complicated moment of his career." Stefano Cecconi (Aruba.it Racing Team Principal): "It's been an amazing journey from Phillip Island to here. Even including circuits where he had struggled, he has been perfect." Serafino Foti (Aruba.it Team Manager): "We started in 2022 with WorldSSP. We are so, so happy and proud of this."
And then there's the voice the Italian paddock had been waiting for. Max Biaggi, the last Italian to win WorldSBK before today, gave worldsbk.com a comment that says it all: "Finally, another Italian! After 14 years, my last one was in 2012 and it's now 2026, I'm very happy that he became World Champion. I was feeling really lonely. Now, with him, I'm feeling much happier." And on the venue: "You cannot ask for more when you win in your home country, in front of your fans. There's no better way to do it."
Two rounds remain in 2026 — Estoril and Jerez — and there's the appetite to close out the year with a few more numbers for the books: the win that would equal Álvaro Bautista's all-time single-season record (27, currently 26 for Nicolò) is well within reach, and it's not this team's style to leave points on the table. Then, in 2027, a new chapter opens: MotoGP with the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. But before looking ahead, tonight is for celebrating. In Italy. Home of Ducati. Under the tricolour.
