This weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix will mark Nicolo Bulega Ducati MotoGP debut after the team confirmed he will replace injured Marc Marquez for the final two rounds of the season.
The huge opportunity comes after the recently crowned 2025 MotoGP World Champion suffered a shoulder injury during the Indonesian Grand Prix earlier in the season, sidelining him for the remainder of the year.
Bulega, who doubles up as the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship runner-up and experienced Ducati test rider, will take over the factory Ducati Desmosedici GP25 for the Portimao and Valencia Grands Prix.
The Borgo Panigale outfit initially enlisted test rider Michele Pirro as Marquez’s replacement in the Australian and Malaysian GPs, but neither of those rounds yielded points for the team.
Bulega’s debut in the MotoGP premier class marks an important milestone in his racing career. He tested the Desmosedici GP for the first time recently at Jerez where he impressed Ducati with his readiness to step up.
Ducati’s choice to hand the reigning MotoGP champion’s bike to Bulega speaks volumes about the confidence they have in his abilities.
The 26-year-old Italian comes into this role with a wealth of racing experience, having competed in over 100 World Championship races across various classes, including Moto3 and Moto2, before moving on to World Supersport and World Superbike championships.
His track record includes winning the 2023 Supersport World Championship and consecutive runner-up positions in WorldSBK for 2024 and 2025.
Nicolo Bulega expressed his excitement about the opportunity, calling it a “last-minute surprise” that fulfills his dream of racing in MotoGP.
“I’m very happy to be able to end a season like this one with a last-minute surprise,” said Bulega. “Making the MotoGP debut is the dream of any kid who aspires to become a rider.
“Being able to ride the World Champion bike for the final two races of the 2025 makes everything even more exciting.“
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Riding the 2025 MotoGP championship winning Ducati is a daunting yet exhilarating challenge, and Bulega approaches it with a grounded mindset, acknowledging the limited preparation time and lack of prior race experience.
“It’ll be a big gamble; I have no expectations,” he added. “I’ll take this experience calmly especially because so far I’ve only been able to test the Desmosedici GP at Jerez.
“That said, I’m certainly motivated to do well and give my all. Thanks to Ducati and Ducati Corse for their trust, to Claudio, Gigi, Mauro, Davide, Stefano, and Serafino for making me feel their full support and to Team Aruba.it Racing with whom we finished a season as protagonists.”
His former rival, WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu has expressed confidence that Nicolo Bulega Ducati MotoGP debut will be a success.
“It is good for him. His career is improving year by year, and he has a very good chance in MotoGP,” the Turkish rider said. “We will see him in the last two races, the Ducati is very strong and I saw that he did not do badly in the test either.
“I hope he will have fun riding this weekend and also at Valencia. Can he aim for the top 10? I hope so, because he is very strong at Portimao and I think the Ducati is also doing very well on that track, as well as in general.
“I hope he will do a great job, because it is important for Superbike.”
Razgatlioglu will be switching to MotoGP with Pramac Yamaha next season as Bulega takes on Ducati test and development duties alongside his WorldSBK commitments.
