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Nicolò Bulega

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Nicolò Bulega
Bulega at Donington Park, 2024
NationalityItalian
Born (1999-10-16) 16 October 1999 (age 25)
Montecchio Emilia, Italy
Current teamAruba.it Racing – Ducati
Bike number11
Websitenicolobulega.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Moto2 World Championship
Active years20192021
ManufacturersKalex
Championships0
2021 championship position26th (12 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
49 0 0 0 0 92
Moto3 World Championship
Active years20152018
ManufacturersKTM
Championships0
2018 championship position26th (18 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
50 0 2 2 2 232
Superbike World Championship
Active years2024
ManufacturersDucati
Championships0
2024 championship position2nd (484 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
36 6 24 4 11 484
Supersport World Championship
Active years20222023
ManufacturersDucati
Championships1 (2023)
2023 championship position1st (503 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
48 16 30 10 14 745

Nicolò Jarod Bulega (born 16 October 1999) is an Italian motorcycle racer, competing in the Superbike World Championship for the Ducati factory team, having won the 2023 Supersport World Championship with Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team by Feel Racing.[1] He has also been a competitor in the CEV Moto3 Championship in 2014 and 2015, becoming Moto3 Junior World Champion in 2015. Prior to competing in the CEV, Bulega won the Italian and European MiniGP 50 championships, and was Italian champion in the PreGP 125 and PreGP 250 classes.

He is the son of former Grand Prix motorcycle racer, Davide Bulega.[2]

Career

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Early career

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Born in Montecchio Emilia, Bulega started his career aged 8 in the Italian Minimoto Championship. In 2010 he made his debut in MiniGP 50, in both the Italian and European championships, winning both in 2011. In 2012 he won the Italian Championship 125 PreGP and the following year he won the Italian Championship Pre GP 250. As a result, he moved into the CEV Moto3 Championship for the 2014 season, he finished 6th overall in his rookie season with two podium finishes.[3]

He also won the 2015 FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship.

Moto3 World Championship

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Sky Racing Team VR46 (2015–2018)

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2015
[edit]

In 2015, Bulega made his Grand Prix debut with Sky Racing Team VR46 riding a KTM in the Valencian Grand Prix, and finished the race in twelfth place, scoring four points.

2016
[edit]

In 2016, Bulega started competing full-time in the Moto3 World Championship with Sky Racing Team VR46. He started the 2016 season with a sixth place at Qatar. At his fifth race in Moto3, Bulega achieved his first Grand Prix podium at Jerez with 2nd-place finish having started from pole position, which was his first pole position in Grand Prix racing. Bulega's first fastest lap came at the British Grand Prix in the last lap. Followed by a crash in Aragon, on his birthday Bulega finished the Japanese grand Prix at fourth place, and again set the fastest lap. However, after the third place holder Hiroki Ono was disqualified, Bulega was awarded third place. Both in Australia and Malaysia, Bulega crashed in the opening lap. Despite qualifying 4th, Bulega started the final race at Valencia in 16th place due to a 12 place grid penalty, and finished the race at 17th, thus losing the 'Rookie of the year' title to Joan Mir. Bulega finished the championship in 7th place with 129 points.

2017
[edit]

In a year where former Rookie of the Year rival Joan Mir won the 2017 Moto3 World Championship, Bulega struggled to replicate his debut season. His difficulties included bad qualifying strategies and bad starts (mainly due to his height), and his best results of the year were a 4th place on Germany, one of the few times he was able to qualify on the top 6, and two 5th places, in his "home" race in Rimini, and in the USA. He finished the disappointing season in 12th place, with 81 points.

2018
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Bulega's 2018 season was even worse than 2017. He retired in the first four races, and finished the fifth race, only 17th in Spain, being one of the two regular drivers to not score points in the first five races of the year. His only top 10 finish came in Thailand, where he finished 7th. He ended the season with mere 18 points, and 26th in the standings.

Moto2 World Championship

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Sky Racing Team VR46 (2019)

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2019
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For the 2019 Moto2 World Championship, despite his poor results, and mainly due to his height and weight on smaller bikes, Bulega was given an opportunity in Moto2 by Sky Racing Team VR46, partnering Luca Marini. He performed somewhat better, with 4 top-10 finishes in the Spanish, French, Czech, and Thai Grand Prixs, but finished 17th in the standings with 48 points. Marini ended in 6th, with 190 points, and 4 podiums (two victories), and Sky VR46 decided not to keep Bulega for a second season.

Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 (2020–2021)

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2020
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In the 2020 Moto2 World Championship, Bulega was partnered by Edgar Pons at Gresini. Bulega once again had a bad year, only finishing in the top 10 twice, ending the season 20th in the standings, with 32 points. Luckily for him, Pons had an even worse season, finishing with points in just two races.

2021
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For the 2021 season, Bulega's teammate was Fabio Di Giannantonio. Di Giannantonio finished on the podium three times, winning a race in Jerez, while Bulega only finished in a point scoring position three times throughout the season. His 12 points of the season were Bulega's lowest ever of a full season in his career, and due to his bad performance, Gresini elected not to keep him for the 2022 season.

Supersport World Championship

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On September 22, 2021, it was announced that Bulega would join Aruba.it Racing for their first season of the 2022 Supersport World Championship.[4] Finishing in fourth place in the standings at the end of his first season in this category.

On Saturday, 30 September 2023 he was crowned the 2023 World Champion with three races to spare after taking 14 wins and 18 podiums up to and including Race 1 at the Portuguese Round.
His future was secure after he was announced as Alvaro Bautista's 2024 teammate at the factory Ducati squad in WorldSBK.

Career statistics

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FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship

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Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts
2014 KTM JER1
16
JER2
7
LMS
13
ARA
7
CAT1
16
CAT2
10
ALB
6
NAV
3
ALG
2
VAL1
4
VAL2
7
6th 95
2015 KTM ALG
3
LMS
6
CAT1
3
CAT2
4
ARA1
7
ARA2
5
ALB
2
NAV
2
JER1
2
JER2
1
VAL1
4
VAL2
3
1st 189

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

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By season

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Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd
2015 Moto3 KTM Sky Racing Team VR46 1 0 0 0 0 4 31st
2016 Moto3 KTM Sky Racing Team VR46 18 0 2 1 2 129 7th
2017 Moto3 KTM Sky Racing Team VR46 17 0 0 1 0 81 12th
2018 Moto3 KTM Sky Racing Team VR46 14 0 0 0 0 18 26th
2019 Moto2 Kalex Sky Racing Team VR46 18 0 0 0 0 48 17th
2020 Moto2 Kalex Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 15 0 0 0 0 32 20th
2021 Moto2 Kalex Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 16 0 0 0 0 12 26th
Total 99 0 2 2 2 324

By class

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Class Seasons 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp
Moto3 2015–2018 2015 Valencia 2016 Spain 50 0 2 2 2 232 0
Moto2 2019–2021 2019 Qatar 49 0 0 0 0 92 0
Total 2015–2021 99 0 2 2 2 324 0

Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Pos Pts
2015 Moto3 KTM QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER IND CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL
12
31st 4
2016 Moto3 KTM QAT
6
ARG
18
AME
10
SPA
2
FRA
5
ITA
8
CAT
5
NED
7
GER
Ret
AUT
9
CZE
9
GBR
5
RSM
4
ARA
Ret
JPN
3
AUS
Ret
MAL
Ret
VAL
17
7th 129
2017 Moto3 KTM QAT
14
ARG
16
AME
5
SPA
7
FRA
17
ITA
10
CAT
9
NED
10
GER
4
CZE
23
AUT
11
GBR
20
RSM
5
ARA
14
JPN
12
AUS
11
MAL
Ret
VAL
DNS
12th 81
2018 Moto3 KTM QAT
Ret
ARG
Ret
AME
Ret
SPA
17
FRA
Ret
ITA
21
CAT
Ret
NED
11
GER
14
CZE
19
AUT
23
GBR
C
RSM
Ret
ARA
14
THA
7
JPN AUS MAL VAL 26th 18
2019 Moto2 Kalex QAT
Ret
ARG
Ret
AME SPA
9
FRA
10
ITA
Ret
CAT
13
NED
Ret
GER
18
CZE
7
AUT
13
GBR
20
RSM
Ret
ARA
12
THA
8
JPN
Ret
AUS
12
MAL
12
VAL
22
17th 48
2020 Moto2 Kalex QAT
18
SPA
14
ANC
12
CZE
14
AUT
16
STY
13
RSM
15
EMI
11
CAT
Ret
FRA
Ret
ARA
18
TER
17
EUR
8
VAL
9
POR
Ret
20th 32
2021 Moto2 Kalex QAT
22
DOH
17
POR
Ret
SPA
Ret
FRA
11
ITA
DNS
CAT
17
GER
11
NED
19
STY
22
AUT
22
GBR
14
ARA
Ret
RSM
17
AME
DNS
EMI
18
ALR
22
VAL
24
26th 12

Supersport World Championship

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Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos Pts
2022 Ducati SPA
5
SPA
3
NED
3
NED
4
POR
3
POR
Ret
ITA
3
ITA
3
GBR
Ret
GBR
3
CZE
9
CZE
2
FRA
11
FRA
3
SPA
Ret
SPA
14
POR
15
POR
10
ARG
11
ARG
8
INA
6
INA
6
AUS
2
AUS
4
4th 242
2023 Ducati AUS
1
AUS
1
INA
5
INA
3
NED
1
NED
1
SPA
1
SPA
Ret
ITA
1
ITA
2
GBR
1
GBR
1
ITA
3
ITA
2
CZE
1
CZE
16
FRA
1
FRA
1
SPA
1
SPA
1
POR
1
POR
2
SPA
1
SPA
1
1st 503

Superbike World Championship

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By season

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Season Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd
2024 Ducati Panigale V4 R Aruba.it Racing – Ducati 36 6 24 4 11 484 2nd
Total 36 6 24 4 11 484

Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts
R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2 R1 SR R2
2024 Ducati AUS
1
AUS
5
AUS
5
SPA
2
SPA
4
SPA
2
NED
11
NED
2
NED
8
EMI
2
EMI
2
EMI
2
GBR
4
GBR
2
GBR
2
CZE
6
CZE
2
CZE
2
POR
7
POR
5
POR
2
FRA
Ret
FRA
1
FRA
1
ITA
2
ITA
4
ITA
3
SPA
Ret
SPA
3
SPA
3
EST
2
EST
1
EST
2
SPA
1
SPA
1
SPA
2
2nd 484

* Season still in progress.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Aruba.it Ducati to participate in 2022 WorldSSP with Nicolo Bulega". 23 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Moto3: Bulega in Moto3 2016". Motoblog.it. Moto Blog Italia. 23 September 2015.
  3. ^ "La penúltima, en Jerez". Diariojerez.es. Diario Jerez Espana. 28 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Bulega and Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP team up for 2022 WorldSSP charge".
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