Nicolo Bulega sparks controversy with Marquez-Ducati comments: 'only a great bike'

Photo: Ducati Media House

15:30, 17 Jul

Andrew McLarney is an accredited MotoGP reporter with four years experience as a professional writer across the sports and video game industries. His experience as a K1 Premier League competitor evolved into a fascination with all forms of combat sport and eventually motorsport — with MotoGP becoming his primary focus. On top of that he is also an avid follower of MXGP and AMA Supercross/Motocross.

Nicolo Bulega has made the bold statement that Marc Marquez could ‘only’ win his latest MotoGP championship thanks to Ducati’s ‘great bike’. Whether he is trying to impress his employers or play mind-games with Marquez remains to be seen, but every indication is that Bulega will be joining the MotoGP grid next year as part of the VR46 team.

Bulega, who is currently dominating the World SuperBike Championship for the factory Ducati team, has been very vocal about his wish to test his skills on the MotoGP grid. Last year, he briefly joined as a stand-in when Marquez was injured in Indonesia, but only scored a single point in each of the two races he participated in.

If a bike wins two consecutive titles, it can only be a great bike.

- Nicolo Bulega

This year, Bulega went head-to-head with Marquez, Bagnaia and several other MotoGP riders in Ducati’s “Race of Champions”, which he won comfortably at the Misano Circuit. While it was clear that the MotoGP men were taking it easy, the win was yet another feather in the cap of the Italian.

However, Bulega doesn’t appear to be too concerned about making friends. Earlier this week, he made a statement which is likely to cause some controversy among Ducati and Marquez fans:

“If a bike wins two consecutive titles, it can only be a great bike.” said Bulega “Márquez also proved it: without a great bike, he couldn't win again.”

The comments, made to Motosan, certainly contain a grain of truth. While injuries certainly played a big role in Marquez’s short decline between 2020-2023, Honda’s uncompetitive machinery certainly didn’t help. Fabio Quartararo is another example. A rider with undeniable talent, now painfully limited by the machinery he is on.

Marc Marquez celebrates his 10th victory at the Sachsenring (Photo: Ducati Media House)

Bulega wasn’t intending to discredit Marquez’s achievements. In fact, he went on to admire Marquez’s strategic long-term thinking when it comes to winning championships - a mindset the number 93 has had to develop with age and experience.

“To win a championship you have to be able to accept difficult days, we are seeing it now with Marc, Martín and Ogura.“ said Bulega.

So, consistency is key, according to Bulega, and in fairness to him, not many riders on planet earth have been as consistent as he has of late. Out of 24 races in WSBK this year, Bulega has won 23 of them - the only exception coming at Donnington last weekend.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	179
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	154
3	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	147
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	108
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	97
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	82
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	76
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	52
9	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	42
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	39
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	20
12	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
13	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	18
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	6
15	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
16	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
17	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Nicolo Bulega sparks controversy with Marquez-Ducati comments: 'only a great bike'

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