Twice WorldSBK nearly-was, Nicolo Bulega, is set to strut into the MotoGP paddock for the final two races wearing Marc Marquez’s factory Ducati as a stolen superhero cape. Having slid under Toprak and sent him crashing out last month Nicolo is now looking to slide onto Marc Marquez’s bike to send Pecco Bagnaia crashing out of finishing the season with some respect.
With Bulega’s WSBK season now over the big Linguines at Ducati thought it would be a great idea to test the Italian as a future replacement for either Marquez (if his body falls to bits even more) or Bagnaia (if his head falls to bits even more).
But with just one test and two races can the World Superbike rider realistically be expected to impress on the notoriously finicky GP25?
And the big question: Will Nicolo Bulega embarrass Pecco?
Yes, yes he will
There are two favourable aspects going Bulega’s way – and for once we’re not talking about his girlfriend Camilla.
Firstly Pecco has been, on many occasions, absolutely god-awful. Like an abandoned love child of Romano Fenati and a village idiot left to survive in a skip. Should this version of Bagnaia turn up to either of the final races then Nicolo, and every other rider on the grid (possibly including Chantra and/or a discarded crisp packet left to blow around the circuit), has a chance of beating the once-rated ex-champion.
Secondly Bulega has nothing to lose. Should the WorldSBK rider try hard but throw his Ducati towards the fence he’ll get commended for “giving it a go”. Should he not crash but get beaten he’ll still also get commended for “showing Ducati he can bring it home.” Indeed if Nicolo was to punch a homeless guy on the way to the track he’d probably still get commended for “bringing some much needed personality to the paddock”.
He simply can’t lose.
No, no he won’t
It’s a really boring but true fact that switching from a WorldSBK machine to MotoGP isn’t easy. For all us none racers (and fat journalists) it would seem easy – twist the throttle and cane it around for 45 mins having a laugh. Many of us have ridden our mate’s bike (unless you’re an aforementioned fat journalist that can’t ride) and had no problem so how hard can it be?
Sadly the truth is ‘very hard’. And it’s annoyingly dull. Electronics, ride heights, launch controls and sticky-out-bits are just some of the woes heading Bulega’s way – and that’s even before we mention the tyre brand switch…which in itself is an entirely new level of monotony.
Nicolo foresaw these issues and demanded (and completed) a pre-race test on the Desmosedici – but will that be enough?
Bulega’s real problem, however, will be if the GP24-Bagnaia turns up. This season stella Pecco performances have been witnessed less often than the glass octopus but of late the ‘tide of embarrassment’ appears to be ebbing. Should the Pecco of Japan turn up then Bulega (and the rest of the field) will have absolutely no chance.
