Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team has announced the arrival of Nicolò Bulega from the 2027, completing their line-up for the new era of MotoGP. The Italian, who is currently putting together a record-breaking season in WorldSBK, will make his debut in MotoGP with the Tavullia-based Team on a Ducati Desmosedici GP alongside Fermín Aldeguer.
For Bulega, this will mark his debut in the premier class as a full-time rider. However, he has already experienced the feeling of MotoGP as a Ducati MotoGP test rider, and he raced the final two races of the last season as a replacement rider in the Ducati Lenovo Team.
Bulega took his first steps on the world stage in the MotoGP paddock, making his debut in Moto3 in 2015 as a wild card with the VR46 Racing Team after winning the then FIM CEV Moto3 Junior Championship in the same year. Together with the Tavullia-based team, he completed the next three seasons in the lightweight class and his first year in Moto2 in 2019.
Bulega embarked on his journey in the production bikes, making his debut in WorldSSP in 2022 with Ducati. He won the world title the following year with ten pole positions and sixteen victories. The 2023 world title earned him the promotion to WorldSBK from 2024 with the factory team. He immediately made his mark, ending his debut season as a runner-up, confirming that result the following year. He currently leads the World Standing after a dominant campaign with 26 victories on 27 races contested so far.
From 2027, Bulega and the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will work together with the goal of growing and achieving great results in MotoGP.
Nicolò Bulega: “Making it to MotoGP is a dream, because I will make my debut with the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. I chose this team because I’ve always been linked to them: I was in the VR46 Riders Academy when I was a child, so I know everyone very well. So, making this step with people I know is easier from a human perspective. Moreover, they are all extremely professional. When I started to race, I had the dream of arriving to MotoGP. Then, for many reasons, my career took a different path: I moved to WorldSBK, when I focused build a successful career. But these years have gone far beyond my expectations, so we thought about making this step up to the premier class. I’m happy to reach this goal, even if it took me a little longer and I did a different journey compared to the usual one. For sure, it’s amazing and I’m very proud. Now, I don’t want to set any goals, I want to try to do well, take it one race at a time, especially at the beginning, and do the best job possible. I want to thank the entire VR46 Racing Team, Ducati Corse and Aruba for making this possible.”
Alessio Salucci, Team Director: “We are very happy to welcome Nicolò to the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. We’ve been knowing him for many years, he started his career with us, and we achieved great results together. Over the years, both him and the team have been growing a lot, and now we are here to make great things together. We know he is a very talented rider since he was younger, and he proved that both in the past and currently, by dominating WorldSBK. I think he is ready to embark this new journey with maturity and awareness. We are very proud to have him in our Team, and we will give him the maximum support possible to help him achieve all his goals together.”
Gigi Dall’Igna, Direttore Generale Ducati Corse: “We are very happy to renew our agreement with Nicolò and to welcome him to the MotoGP Ducati project from next season. During these years, he proved to be a very talented rider, capable of growing consistently, making the most of our bikes and reaching an extremely high level of competitiveness. His journey confirms he is a rider with a solid and successful present, but at the same time, with a very promising future. We think the right moment to embark this new challenge has arrived. The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team is the ideal environment to support him during his adaptation to MotoGP, and we are convinced that he will have all the tools he needs to express his potential at his maximum. The new challenge will have to wait: for now, the focus is still the WorldSBK Championship. Nicolò is making a great season and now it’s time to focus all the work on just one goal: fighting together for the World Championship title. Finally, I would like to thank the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Team for all the work they did together with Nicolò during these seasons. They were the first to believe in him, and the growing path that brought him to be ready for the MotoGP is the result of a shared commitment, the hard work of the team and the determination that Nicolò could show year by year.”
Pablo Nieto, Team Manager: “We complete next year’s line-up with Nicolò Bulega, a rider who always proved to be very talented and determined. His journey has not been always easy, but he is dominating the WorldSBK: he proved to deserve a place in MotoGP. Next year the regulation will change, and we will all start from zero. For sure, his experience with the WorldSBK tyres and the test with the new Ducati Desmosedici GP as a Ducati test rider will help him adapting well to the new category and making this journey as easy as possible. We trust him and we know he will be able to fight for the most important goals.”