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Nicolò Bulega poses beside the Ducati Panigale in Aruba.it team colors and smiles. In his eyes he has a new maturity and awareness derived from his achievements in 2024. In his debut season in SBK he picked up 24 podiums and 6 wins, 2nd place in the World Championship, everything he needed to find confidence and gain the certainty of fighting among the big boys. This 2025 season, in a way, starts downhill for him.
"I feel less pressure this year," he says confidently, "Last season I was debuting in a new category for me, I didn't know the bike, I had to adapt to the new riding style and many different situations. Now I start with the knowledge that I got on the podium in every round last season, so I'm confident in our potential, I know we can do well. In 2024 I had the pressure to show that I was able to adapt to SBK, now I don't have that anymore and in my opinion I will have less pressure."
Did you feel you had to prove you deserved that seat?
"Also. When I signed for SBK many people said it would be better if I had done a year's apprenticeship in an independent team, so in my head I wanted to prove that it was the right choice. It was probably something that also gave me a good charge, but now I've gotten those rumors out of my head."
What is the next step?
"I definitely still have everything to prove. I just said I will have less pressure because I am confident in our package and our potential."
The man to beat is Toprak, what have you learned in duels against him?
"I've done a few, unfortunately (laughs). I've learned that passing him on braking is almost impossible because he tends to do his lap times on braking, because in other areas, like cornering, I can be more effective. But he has this monster braking that allows him to make a big difference in many tracks. If we can close that gap a little bit in braking, maintaining cornering speed, maybe we can battle a little bit more."
Without superconcessions for BMW, will it be a fairer challenge?
"I've read these things, but last year I didn't care as much about which chassis it had, these issues. I focused on doing the best I could. I don't actually know how much of an advantage he could have with that chassis, it probably doesn't change anything for him. I don't like to look at others, even in Supersport I used to say that those who complained because I was racing with the V2 should have focused more on themselves instead of thinking about how to penalize their opponents. Since it happened to me in Supersport, I want to be consistent and I'd rather improve than go crazy trying to figure out how to penalize others."
Winter testing so far has been characterized by rain....
"Unfortunately there has been horrible weather this winter, meteorologically speaking it is the worst since I have been racing because we have done 20 laps in four days of testing. Also, having by regulation the tests counted, in order not to waste days we didn't even run in the wet. We are going to Australia a bit with our eyes closed, but it will be the same for everyone, however I feel we have a good package in general."
Some rivals put you as the favorite at Phillip Island.
"It's always hard to say, not only for me but for anyone. Especially thinking about Australia, where last year we saw that so many people can go strong, even outsiders that in the season you wouldn't expect. I don't know why, whether because of the characteristics of the track or maybe because it's the first race and you have to break in. Last year was one of the few races with a bunch and you didn't know who could win until the last corner."
