World Superbike star Nicolo Bulega will replace Marc Marquez for the rest of the 2025 MotoGP campaign, Ducati has confirmed.
This year’s MotoGP champion has been sidelined since fracturing his shoulder at the Indonesian Grand Prix at the start of October and it was announced shortly afterwards that he would skip the rest of the season.
There have been two rounds since Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia, in which Marquez was replaced by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, who failed to score a point in either weekend.
Talk had been strife about the possibility of Bulega stepping up to the plate, but Ducati’s superbike rider wanted to test the dominant GP25 first and did so on Thursday in Jerez.
Deciding he is ready for the challenge, the 26-year-old will contest the final two rounds of this year, Portugal and Valencia, for what will be his MotoGP debut having moved to Supersport in 2022 after three years of Moto2.
“I’m very happy to be able to close out a season like this with a nice last-minute surprise,” said Bulega, who has finished runner-up in the last two World Superbike seasons.
Nicolo Bulega, Ducati Jerez test
Photo by: Ducati Corse
“Making my MotoGP debut is every kid’s dream who aspires to become a racer. Furthermore, being able to ride the world championship-winning bike in the last two races of 2025 makes it even more exciting.
“It will be quite a challenge; I don’t have any specific expectations. I’ll approach this experience with all the necessary calm, also because, for now, I’ve only been able to test the Desmosedici GP at Jerez. That said, I certainly have no shortage of motivation to do well and give my all.”
Bulega has been signed with Ducati since his Supersport debut and he completed two seasons of the championship. He dominated the 2023 campaign before moving to World Superbikes for 2024.
Ducati boss Gigi Dall’Igna said: “I’m very happy to see Bulega working on the Desmosedici GP. Nicolo has been part of the Ducati Corse family since 2022, when we chose him to ride in Supersport.
“We believed in him, and he has repaid that faith with two seasons as the undisputed star in Superbike, where he came close to the title and became our benchmark rider.”
Bulega will serve as Francesco Bagnaia’s team-mate at factory Ducati for the upcoming rounds and next year he will become the outfit’s test rider in MotoGP alongside Pirro. This is potentially in preparation for a jump into a full-time seat in the premier class from 2027.
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