News Summary
- Nicolò Bulega secured the 2026 WorldSBK title at Cremona with two rounds and six races remaining
- The Ducati rider has 26 wins this season, one short of Álvaro Bautista’s all-time record of 27
- Winning all six remaining races would leave Bulega level with Troy Bayliss on 52 career WorldSBK victories
Nicolò Bulega no longer needs to worry about the WorldSBK championship. The title was secured at Cremona with two rounds remaining, leaving the Italian free to spend his final six races in the category chasing records before moving to MotoGP in 2027.
Estoril and Jerez offer Bulega several opportunities to extend a season that has already rewritten the WorldSBK record book. He has 26 victories in 2026, only one fewer than Álvaro Bautista’s single-season record of 27 from 2023, meaning two more wins would establish a new benchmark.
Bulega also carries a record streak of 43 consecutive podium finishes, 18 more than the previous benchmark shared by Colin Edwards and Toprak Razgatlioglu. His sequence of points finishes has also reached 43 races, five short of Jonathan Rea’s all-time record of 48.
Bulega needs two wins to break Bautista’s record
The most immediate target is the single-season victory record.
Bautista won 27 races in 2023, while Bulega arrives at Estoril on 26. One victory would equal the record; two across the remaining six races would put the Italian alone at the top.
The number becomes more remarkable when compared with Bulega’s entire WorldSBK career. He has 46 victories from 102 starts, meaning more than half of his career wins have come during 2026.
His dominance has already produced another record: Bulega won 25 consecutive races between Estoril 2025 and Misano 2026, surpassing the previous benchmark of 13 consecutive victories.
Six wins would put Bulega level with Bayliss
There is also a more difficult career milestone available.
Bulega currently has 46 WorldSBK victories. If he completes perfect weekends at both Estoril and Jerez, winning all six races, he would finish his Superbike career on 52 victories — level with Ducati legend Troy Bayliss for fifth on the all-time list.
That requires two consecutive hat-tricks, but Bulega has already demonstrated that such weekends are possible. He has recorded 11 WorldSBK hat-tricks, equalling Razgatlioglu’s all-time record, meaning one more would establish another outright benchmark.
Estoril also carries positive memories. Bulega has won twice at the Portuguese circuit and produced the closest finish in WorldSBK history there in 2024, beating Razgatlioglu by 0.003s in the Superpole Race.
Podium streak could reach 49 before MotoGP move
Bulega’s consistency has been just as remarkable as his victory total.
The Italian has finished on the podium in 43 consecutive races, already comfortably beyond the previous record of 25. If he reaches the rostrum in all six remaining races, he will leave WorldSBK with a 49-race podium streak.
That would also take his points-scoring run to 49 consecutive races, surpassing Rea’s record of 48 between Laguna Seca 2018 and Lusail 2019.
Bulega has already established the season record for Grand Slams — winning from pole while leading every lap and setting the fastest lap — with 16 in 2026. He has also led every lap in 17 races this year, another record since that statistic began being tracked in 1998.
Estoril begins Bulega’s WorldSBK farewell
The final two rounds now effectively form Bulega’s farewell tour before he moves to MotoGP with VR46 in 2027.
His championship is already secure after finishing runner-up in both 2024 and 2025. Bulega became only the second Italian WorldSBK champion after Max Biaggi and the first rider to win both the WorldSSP and WorldSBK titles.
The move to MotoGP will also create an unusual exchange between Ducati’s programmes. Franco Morbidelli will leave MotoGP to take Bulega’s factory Ducati WorldSBK seat in 2027, while Bulega heads in the opposite direction to VR46.
Before that happens, Estoril and Jerez offer six final opportunities to add to a season in which Bulega has already secured the championship and rewritten several WorldSBK records.
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FAQ
How many races has Nicolò Bulega won in 2026?
Bulega has won 26 WorldSBK races in 2026, one fewer than Álvaro Bautista’s single-season record of 27 victories from 2023.
How many WorldSBK victories does Bulega have?
Bulega has 46 career WorldSBK victories. Winning all six remaining races at Estoril and Jerez would take him to 52, level with Troy Bayliss.
When does Bulega move to MotoGP?
Bulega will leave WorldSBK after the 2026 season and join VR46 Ducati in MotoGP for 2027. Estoril and Jerez are therefore his final two WorldSBK rounds.
