Bulega, who was a one-man band with Aruba.it Ducati in WorldSSP last season, now has Bautista as his team-ma❀te as he gets set for his rookie WorldSBK campaign.

Bautista won a stunning 27 races out of 37 in 2023, mak😼ing it the most dominant s🦋eason ever by a rider.

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And Bulega now has the challenge of trying to not only match his team-matꦯe, but at times beat t🦄he Spaniard.

Of course, that won’t be expe🐓cted of him early on, but as his experience grows and he becomes more comfortable with Superbike machin🐬ery, Bulega will have pressure to perform, as Michael Ruben Rinaldi found out last year.

Part of Ducati’s official launch alongside Bautista and its MotoGP team, Bulega said: “Being here with these beautiful bikes is just amazing. Being here with incredi﷽ble teammates is wonderful. 

“This is a beautiful experience, seeing it from inside and outside. Last year, when I was called to join this presen💎tation, I was extremely happy. I’m enjoying it and I’ll do my best. 

“Having A🍒lvaro with me in the team will be tough because he’s such a good racer. I’ll be suffering because 🎃Alvaro will be fast all the time, throughout the season. 

“It’ll be my first year as an official rider, so I will have to learn so many things. Having Alvaro as a teammate will be 🤡paramount, will be crucial, for me. 

“I’ll try to copy and paste, steal some secrets from him, to be faꦇster. It’s an amazing motorcy♑cle. 

“In my opinion, this new livery is amaz🅠ing. Last year, it was already beautiful, but this is even better.”

Bulega, who was chosen as th🥀e replacement for Rinaldi, a five-time race winner in WorldSBK, was ‘not a bet’ said team principal Stefano Cecconi.

Discussing Bulega and the reason for signing him, Cecconi added: “Nicoဣlo was not a bet or a challenge because we relied on him for the WorldSSP project. 

“We were aware we😼’d found a magical combination because he’s very young, but he has a ꦗlot of experience. 

“We nee🌜ded someone like him, and♌ he proved to be great during the first year. During the second year, when we reached our goal."