Race of Champions: Bulega Beats the MotoGP Stars in Misano

• Bulega won by a margin of 1.437 seconds, with the podium going entirely to Superbike riders
• Francesco Bagnaia was the best MotoGP rider in fifth, while Marc Márquez finished twelfth
• The race was held on identical Panigale V4s to mark Ducati’s 100th anniversary at World Ducati Week

At the high point of World Ducati Week 2026, the fastest Ducati-backed riders from MotoGP, the Superbike World Championship and selected national championships went head to head. The occasion was the 100th anniversary of the manufacturer from Borgo Panigale, celebrated throughout the weekend in Misano. Because all participants rode largely identical machines, riding ability alone decided the outcome. In the end, the podium – Bulega, Surra and Baldassarri – came entirely from the Superbike world.

Who won the 2026 Race of Champions?

The 2026 Race of Champions was won by Nicolò Bulega ahead of Alberto Surra and Lorenzo Baldassarri. The Aruba.it Racing rider had already secured pole position on Saturday and took the lead immediately in the race, never relinquishing it over the full distance.

Behind the winner, things stayed tense for a long time: Surra and Baldassarri fought a duel for second place, which the Motocorsa rider won despite mounting pressure. Yari Montella finished a clear fourth. The best MotoGP representative was Francesco Bagnaia, crossing the line in fifth, around seven seconds behind the winner. Tommy Bridewell, Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Lukas Tulovic and Hafizh Syahrin rounded out the top ten.

Full result:

1. Nicolò Bulega
2. Alberto Surra (+1.437)
3. Lorenzo Baldassarri (+1.729)
4. Yari Montella (+6.878)
5. Francesco Bagnaia (+7.128)
6. Tommy Bridewell (+11.822)
7. Franco Morbidelli (+14.738)
8. Fabio Di Giannantonio (+16.831)
9. Lukas Tulovic (+22.195)
10. Hafizh Syahrin (+23.617)
11. Tarran Mackenzie (+23.922)
12. Marc Márquez (+24.197)
13. PJ Jacobsen (+35.549)
14. Josh Waters (+39.244)

DNF: Michele Pirro, Álvaro Bautista

How did the race in Misano unfold?

The race turned into a demonstration by Bulega at the front early on. Right after the start he moved ahead of Surra, Baldassarri, Montella and Bagnaia and began to extend his gap in controlled fashion.

On lap two, Surra was still around half a second behind and towing Baldassarri along, while further back Di Giannantonio snatched seventh place from Morbidelli. On laps three and four, Bulega pushed the times further, including a 1:34.545, stretching his lead to more than a second. At half distance he led by around 1.4 seconds. In the closing stages, Baldassarri closed to within four tenths of Surra and tried one more attack on second place on the final lap, but could not get past the Motocorsa rider. Out front, Bulega managed his lead comfortably to the chequered flag.

Why did the MotoGP riders hold back?

The MotoGP riders clearly approached the race with restraint, saving themselves for the upcoming German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. The premier class’s next championship round takes place as soon as the following weekend, from 10 to 12 July.

This was most obvious with Marc Márquez, who took a cautious approach to the Race of Champions and focused on a safe finish. By his own assessment, the Spaniard was not at a hundred percent physically and finished the race in twelfth. Bagnaia, too, rode with caution, even though he crossed the line as the best rider of the premier class. A fair gesture before the start stood out: in qualifying he had initially secured third place on the grid, but then admitted to cutting the first sector and subsequently had himself moved back in the starting order.

Michele Pirro and Álvaro Bautista did not finish. Both returned to the pits early. Pirro, who celebrated his 40th birthday that day, was likewise not at his best but wanted to be on the grid for the fans and to mark the anniversary.

What does the win mean for Bulega’s MotoGP future?

The win underlines Bulega’s ambitions of a step up to MotoGP. As the current leader of the 2026 Superbike World Championship, he showed on largely equal machinery that he need not hide from Ducati’s established Grand Prix line-up.

Media reports have raised the possibility of a move to MotoGP for the coming season, with a swap with VR46 rider Franco Morbidelli reportedly among the scenarios discussed. Such a step has not been confirmed so far. What is clear, however, is that the Race of Champions, as a non-championship exhibition race, carried no real sporting weight. Still, the performance serves as a pointer for personnel planning within the Ducati camp, especially since Bulega is considered the rider in the field most familiar with the Superbike set-up.

After the race, Bulega summed up the weekend in his own words: “It has been a fantastic weekend, ended with this victory on my Panigale V4, which is an incredible bike. Thank you to everyone. It was wonderful to see so many people in the grandstands over these days, and especially today—it felt like a real race. Congratulations to Ducati on its centenary and, above all, on this World Ducati Week. It is not easy to organize an event of this scale, with so many people and so many activities, and it has been truly spectacular.”

The new format of World Ducati Week

For the anniversary edition, the Race of Champions was given a format modelled on a classic race weekend. Saturday featured free practice and qualifying, while Sunday brought warm-up and the actual ten-lap race.

The appeal of the event has for years lain in a direct, level playing-field comparison: the machines used are one-off bikes built specially for the event, each carrying the racing livery of the rider’s own championship. The starting field included Ducati’s factory and customer riders from MotoGP and the Superbike World Championship as well as representatives of national series, including IDM champion Lukas Tulovic as the sole German-speaking participant. The race was embedded in a weekend full of activities around the brand’s 100th anniversary, held in Misano from 3 to 5 July.

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