Nicolo Bulega in Superbike as a champion
The words of Nicolà Bulega
Nicolò Bulega winning Race 1 at’Autodromo Internacional do Algarve clinched the FIM Supersport World Championship 2023 title. The Emilian talked about the moment of difficulty he was in when he è landed in the Aruba Ducati team in the WorldSSP, the feelings related to’having got the better of his opponents and feeling the team ‘like a home’: many topics touched in this interview.
Bulega è landed in the WorldSSP in 2022 when Ducati è returned to the Championship fielding a Panigale V2: in the last year the rookie took nine podiums but è at the beginning of 2023 that he scored his first victory: since then he has collected a total of 16, closing the games with three races to spare by beating Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha).
Bulega said: “My team did an incredible job. They worked so much on the bike. I have enjoyed these two years a lot. The’goal was to win the Championship with me and the team and in the end we did it. We are world champions, not ‘I am world champion’. Being world champion does not happen every day. È something special. È a season that I will remember’ forever. I am very happy”.
“Until Jerez I won 14 races and Ducati 15. It means that my team and I made a difference. People canò think what they want but in the end we are world champions and thatè the most important thing. I think I had an incredible package but maybe we are the only ones who get the best out of this bike. Thanks to my whole team since they provided me with an incredible package. They gave me everything to become world champion”.
In 2015 Bulega won the title in the CEV Moto3 Championship while in three seasons in Moto3 he has collected two podiums, both in 2016, in Jerez and Motegi. In 2019 è he switched to Moto2 and then è landed in the WorldSSP, a category that saw him graduate as world champion.
The 24-year-old said: “When I won the Junior World Championship in 2015 everyone was talking about me as a future world champion in MotoGP. Too many things I didn’t want to hear. They put more pressure on me and at that time I didn’t need it, I was too young. I was 16 years old, it was my first season in the World Championship. I was having fun riding the bike. Maybe I wasn’t ready to handle that much pressure. When you get to a point where you don’t enjoy riding motorcycles or going to circuits… that è what è happened to me. The last two years in Moto2 have not been good for me. I arrived in this Championship not put well also as a mentalityà since I was not ready to race”.
“When I arrived in this paddock, in the WorldSSP, I knew inside that it was my last chanceà to be a professional rider. For me maybe è it was the second chance of my life. When I came to this team, I felt at home from the very first test. I remember the first test done in November 2021 and the first time I entered the pit box to see the new faces and the guys I would be working with. I remember very well, when I went to sleep that same night, I thought, ‘today è it was very nice and I think there are a lot of people I like’. È it was very important. They welcomed me as if I were at home. Whenever I needed something they tried to help me; not only on the track but also at home. I think for a racer, when in the course of the year you are away from home for so long, it is important to feel like home inside the box with your team”.
In 2024 at Bulega’s side as a boxmate will be two-time world champion Alvaro Bautista, inside the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team’s box. The world champion in the WorldSSP è already climbed aboard the Panigale V4 R, during several tests, including the post-season test held in Jerez.
Bulega said: “I expect a difficult 2024. The DNA of the V4 R è similar to that of my V2. I hope to be fast with that bike. I am happy since I will be racing in WorldSBK with the best team and the best boxmate. I think I can learn a lot from Alvaro since he is doing an incredible job with the Panigale V4 R. I hope I can learn a lot from him, checking his telemetry and tryò to understand a lot of things and then maybe in 2025 we will go fast”.
