Nicolò Bulega made Ducati’s centenary showpiece feel like something more serious than a festival race.
The WorldSBK leader won the Lenovo Race of Champions at Misano on Sunday, beating a mixed Ducati field drawn from MotoGP, WorldSBK and other international series during World Ducati Week.
Ducati billed the event as a one-make Panigale V4 contest bringing its leading riders together at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Bulega had already underlined the point on Saturday by taking pole with a 1’34.386, ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri and Francesco Bagnaia.
Bulega turns party pace into pressure
The context matters. Bulega has been the dominant WorldSBK rider of 2026, and another composed Misano win only sharpens the question of how long Ducati can keep him outside MotoGP.
Bagnaia’s presence, Marc Márquez’s lower-key weekend and the VR46 speculation around Ducati’s 2027 plans gave the result a political edge. The race may not carry championship points, but it offered a clean comparison between Ducati’s production-based benchmark and several grand prix names on matching machinery.
For Read Motorsport’s recent Ducati coverage, the line from Bulega’s Misano pole and WorldSBK control is becoming hard to ignore: he is no longer just dominating his own paddock. He is now winning in front of the MotoGP decision-makers who may soon have to find him a seat.
