With Toprak Razgatlioglu’s departure to MotoGP, Nicolò Bulega was considered the main favorite to claim the Superbike title. Thanks to his first two seasons in the category, marked by 20 victories, he managed to become vice world champion in both 2024 and 2025.
The records already set
Few, however, could have imagined such an explosive start to 2026, during which Bulega has already broken some historic records: in 2019, Alvaro Bautista had won the first 11 races of the season, while this year Bulega has claimed victory in the first 12 rounds, achieving a triple win in Australia, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Hungary.
This streak, combined with his triumph in the last 4 races of 2025, allowed him to shatter the record of Toprak Razgatlioglu, who on two separate occasions had strung together 13 consecutive wins in the Superbike World Championship. Bulega has now reached 16 consecutive victories and does not seem inclined to stop.
Not content with that, Bulega has also equaled the record for consecutive podium finishes in the Superbike World Championship: thanks to the 13 at the end of the 2025 season and the 12 at the start of this year, the Ducati rider has reached 25, matching the record set in 2002 by Colin Edwards and in 2025 by Toprak Razgatlioglu.
If he continues at this pace, even allowing for a partial slowdown on some occasions, Bulega could break a whole series of seasonal records in the Superbike World Championship, taking them away from three riders who have made history in production-based racing.
Bulega's Brakes
In this season, on his Ducati Panigale V4 R, Nicolò Bulega uses Brembo steel discs with a diameter of 338.5 mm and a thickness of 6.5 mm. The Ducati rider prefers finned discs over traditional ones because they enhance the cooling of the system, thus preventing dangerous performance drops at the end of the race.
The discs are operated by Brembo monobloc aluminum calipers with four pistons, each with a diameter of 34 mm. The calipers also feature cooling fins on the outer body, which increase the surface area of the pistons exposed to air by 30 percent compared to calipers without fins.
The Brembo calipers also include an amplification system that generates additional force to that created by the hydraulic pressure of the brake fluid on the pistons. With the same force applied by the rider, the braking is therefore greater compared to those using non-amplified calipers.
Additionally, the Brembo calipers feature an anti-drag system that, through a spring device, significantly reduces the phenomenon of residual torque. In other words, it prevents the pads from coming into contact with the disc when there is no pressure in the system, avoiding unwanted slowdowns.
For the inside of the calipers, Bulega always chooses High Mass pads, which, as the name suggests, have a greater mass than standard pads. These pads have a length of 90 mm and a weight of 155 grams, infinitesimal values that help reduce unsprung masses.
Completing Bulega's braking system is the Brembo index pump, with which he controls the rear brake, both during braking and acceleration, through a control located on the handlebar, and the HTC 64 brake fluid, which offers the lowest compressibility available while also providing a high boiling point.
The records in sight
After thoroughly analyzing all the brakes that Bulega uses in 2026 in the Superbike World Championship, which are decidedly different from those he uses as a Ducati tester for MotoGP, let’s see what seasonal records he can aim for and where he currently stands:
1 - Wins in a season: record holder Alvaro Bautista
For the second year in a row, Bulega has surpassed 10 seasonal victories, a feat achieved only by Jonathan Rea, Alvaro Bautista, and Toprak Razgatlioglu. So far, only two riders have reached 20 wins in a championship: Toprak Razgatlioglu won 21 races in 2025, but the record belongs to Alvaro Bautista with 27 wins in 2023 with the Ducati Panigale V4R equipped with Brembo braking system. Nicolò Bulega is already at 12 and still has 24 races available, barring any race cancellations.
2 - Podiums in a season: record holder Jonathan Rea
To win the World Championship, since the introduction of the Superpole Race in 2019, which increased the number of races by 50 percent, at least 25 podiums are necessary. However, there are also cases like Bulega himself in 2025, who collected 32 podiums without winning the title. In 2023, Toprak Razgatlioglu stood on the podium 33 times, but in 2019 Jonathan Rea managed it in 34 races. Bulega’s journey is still long despite already having 12 podiums, as to break the record, he can afford only one absence in the remaining 24 races.
3 - Poles in a season: record holder Ben Spies
This year, Bulega has taken all the poles awarded in the first 4 rounds, matching what Jonathan Rea achieved in 2021. Only 2 riders have achieved at least 10 poles in a Superbike World Championship season, both Americans: in 1991, Doug Polen started on pole in 10 of the 13 rounds, but in 2009 Ben Spies managed it 11 times, thanks also to the 14 rounds. Bulega, however, faces the disadvantage of this championship’s 12 rounds and therefore cannot afford to fail more than once.
4 - Points in a season: record holder Jonathan Rea
Thanks to the 62 points obtained at Phillip Island, Portimao, Assen, and Balaton Park, in 2026 Bulega already has 248 points, over 80 more than the closest competitor. The first to surpass 500 points were Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss in 2002, followed by Carlos Checa in 2011. Jonathan Rea, with the Kawasaki equipped with Brembo brakes, was the first to exceed 600 points in 2019: he achieved 663 points that year, an unmatched record. If Bulega continues to score maximum points, he could reach 744 points, but even 700 seems like science fiction.
5 - Fastest laps in a race in a season: record holder Alvaro Bautista
At the moment, the first seasonal record that Bulega could break is that of fastest laps in a race, having already achieved 11. The only one he missed was in Race 2 in Portugal, claimed by his teammate Iker Lecuona. In the history of the Superbike World Championship, only two riders have surpassed 16 fastest laps in a season: in 2023, Alvaro Bautista reached 23, while last year Toprak Razgatlioglu achieved 20. Bulega is therefore almost halfway to the record.
6 - Laps led in a season: record holder Alvaro Bautista
Winning races is one thing, but leading from start to finish is another: it requires an excellent qualifying performance, a flawless start, and the speed to immediately pull away. It is no coincidence that only two riders have led more than 300 laps in a season: Toprak Razgatlioglu led 323 laps in 2024, and Alvaro Bautista led 347 laps in 2023. Bulega is not far behind, having allowed his rivals only a handful of laps in the lead during the first 4 rounds: 196 for him, the remaining 10 for his competitors.
To find out if Nicolò Bulega will rewrite the Superbike World Championship's roll of honour, we just have to enjoy the rest of the season. Although it seems that the only thing that could stop him this year are Brembo brakes.