Ducati toward a possible turnaround: Nicolò Bulega is being considered for Portimao

Ducati in colossal difficulty at Phillip Island, where the Sprint Race ended with Pecco Bagnaia and Michele Pirro (replacement for the injured Marc Marquez) even in the last two places in the final standings. This fact, combined with the fact that the Grand Prix of Australia will be the first without any Desmosedici on the front row after no less than 98 rainbow rounds, could give rise to a big news: the recourse to Nicolò Bulega already in view of the next round of the world championship in Portimao.

This was admitted by Mauro Grassilli, sporting director of Ducati Corse, who to ‘Sky Sport‘ revealed that the rider currently engaged in Superbike could be chosen instead of Pirro to run the Portuguese Grand Prix. Choice, however, not automatic, since Bulega does not know the Desmosedici or even the Michelin MotoGP tires. For this reason, first, he would have to perform a test. And he would do so at the Jerez de la Frontera track.

The recourse to Bulega would be made possible by the fact that this very weekend the Superbike season will end, in which Bulega still has an arithmetic chance of overtaking Toprak Razgatlioglu by becoming champion. However, his move to MotoGP is already on the agenda for 2026, when he will be the one to join Pirro in the development work of the Ducati 2027.

At any rate, a solution is needed to make up for the absence of Marc Marquez, who will not return before Valencia but may well have already concluded his season that has already made him world champion anyway. “Our priority is his 100 percent recovery – explained Davide Tardozzi to ‘DAZN’ -If he can get on track in Valencia it will be very good, otherwise he will be back in 2026 at the Sepang test in Malaysia”.