Author Archives: PressBox

Nicolo Bulega clinched the 2026 World Superbike title in Cremona with two rounds and six races still remaining, completing a season of overwhelming dominance that included 26 wins, a record 25 consecutive victories and a 43-race podium streak. He also set single-season World Superbike marks for eight hat-tricks, 10 straight poles and 25 fastest laps, and he leaves the series with 46 career wins, the sixth-most in history.

Bulega is set to move to MotoGP with VR46 next season, and he has already been placed as a contender for the 2027 crown with the team. The article said he would become the first World Superbike champion to also win a MotoGP world title if he succeeds, after serving as Ducati’s lead test rider for MotoGP’s new 850cc era and shaping Ducati’s bike and Pirelli tires more than anyone else. It also noted his earlier struggles in Moto3 and Moto2 before he moved to World Supersport in 2022, and said he could still break Álvaro Bautista’s season record of 27 World Superbike wins with six races left.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Bulega’s title rival in 2025 and now a MotoGP rider himself after leaving World Superbikes for the 2025 season, congratulated him on Instagram with the message, “Congratulations champ.” Bulega also received congratulations from Jonathan Rea, Phil Marron, Luca Marini, Manuel Gonzalez, Michele Pirro, Lorenzo Savadori, Kimi Antonelli and VR46, as the World Superbike season heads to its finale in Jerez on October 18.

Jorge Martin said an “extremely important stage” of the 2026 MotoGP title fight begins at Motegi, with the championship entering a demanding overseas stretch of five races in six weekends and seven rounds left in the season. The Aprilia rider leads reigning champion Marc Marquez by 12 points, Marco Bezzecchi by 42 and KTM’s Pedro Acosta by 72, and he said he was focused on consistency after beating Marquez in both Red Bull Ring races. Martin also arrives in Japan after a Sprint win and second place in Austria, while Marquez returns to the circuit where he clinched last year’s title and has built his season around Sprint pace and race wins. Aprilia will also try to avoid a repeat of last year’s Motegi Sprint crash, when Martin broke his collarbone after colliding with Bezzecchi.

The Japanese Grand Prix is scheduled for Oct. 2-4 and opens the five-race run across Asia and Oceania. Acosta arrives after his first MotoGP victory in Austria, and Ai Ogura returns home after back-to-back fourth-place finishes there. Riders including Fabio di Giannantonio, Raul Fernandez and Alex Marquez could also take points from the leaders, keeping the title battle under pressure as it moves through the overseas rounds.

Motegi also shapes up as a key test for manufacturers. The weekend was billed as a check on Ducati’s response to Aprilia, which has been strong in conditions and on a track different from recent rounds. Francesco Bagnaia won dominantly at Motegi last season, and Honda and Yamaha are expected to face pressure to deliver at their home race, with Luca Marini, Johann Zarco, Fabio Quartararo and Bagnaia among the riders looking to score strongly.

Pedro Acosta’s first MotoGP Grand Prix victory in Austria has intensified talk that the 22-year-old could become the first rider to beat Marc Marquez on equal machinery. Alex Criville called Acosta “exceptional” and “another Marc Marquez” after the Red Bull Ring win, and said Acosta would have a title chance if he can beat Marquez. Acosta is in his final KTM season and already has a factory Ducati deal for 2027, which would put him in position to take on Marquez from more comparable equipment.

Acosta earned that breakthrough by taking the lead on lap 9 of 28 at the Austrian Grand Prix after passing Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, then staying out of reach to the finish. The victory was his first MotoGP Grand Prix win, gave KTM their first victory in four years and their first dry-weather win since 2021. Criville praised Acosta’s extreme riding style in corner transitions.

KTM crew chief Paul Trevathan called Acosta’s progress after the win “unbelievable” and said he came back from the summer break “at another level.” Trevathan said Acosta had already shown a major step forward before KTM recovered from engine issues. Acosta began the season with a Sprint win and the early championship lead, but reliability and performance problems dropped him as low as seventh in the standings after he scored three points from a possible 74 between Balaton Park and the German Grand Prix. He goes into the Japanese MotoGP fourth in the world championship and 72 points behind leader Jorge Martin. Marquez, who is set to turn 34 before next season, has 78 MotoGP wins and has undergone multiple arm surgeries. The same article also pointed to 18-year-old Moto3 rider Maximo Quiles, who has won nine of his 14 starts this season, as a possible longer-term threat who could move up to MotoGP as soon as 2028.