Nicolò Bulega

Nicolò Jarod Bulega (born 16 October 1999) is an Italian motorcycle racer. Bulega has also been a competitor in the CEV Moto3 Championship in 2014 and 2015, becoming Moto3 Junior World Champion in 2015. Prior to competing in the CEV, Bulega won the Italian and European MiniGP 50 championships, and was Italian champion in the PreGP 125 and PreGP 250 classes.

Nicolò Bulega
Bulega at the 2016 Qatar Grand Prix
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1999-10-16) 16 October 1999 Montecchio Emilia, Italy
Current team	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2
Bike number	11
Website	nicolobulega.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics Moto2 World Championship Active years 2019– Manufacturers Kalex 2019 championship position 17th (48 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 19 0 0 0 0 48 Moto3 World Championship Active years 2015–2018 Manufacturers KTM Championships 0 2018 championship position 26th (18 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 50 0 2 2 2 232

He is the son of the Grand Prix motorcycle racer, Davide Bulega.[1]

Career

Early career

Born in Montecchio Emilia, Bulega started his career aged 8 in the Italian Minimoto Championship. In 2010 he made his debut in MiniGP 50, in both the Italian and European championships, winning both in 2011. In 2012 he won the Italian Championship 125 PreGP and the following year he won the Italian Championship Pre GP 250. As a result, he moved into the CEV Moto3 Championship for the 2014 season, he finished 6th overall in his rookie season with two podium finishes.[2]

He also won the 2015 FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship.

Moto3 World Championship

2015

In 2015, Bulega made his Grand Prix début with Sky Racing Team VR46 riding a KTM in the Valencian Grand Prix. Bulega finished the race at twelfth place. He was ranked 31st for the 2015 Moto3 World Championship with 4 points to his name.

2016

In 2016, Bulega started competing full-time in the Moto3 World Championship with Sky Racing Team by VR46. Bulega started the 2016 season with sixth place at Qatar. At his fifth race in Moto3, Bulega achieved his first Grand Prix podium at Jerez with 2nd-place finish having started from pole position, which was his first pole position in Grand Prix. Bulega's first fastest lap came at the British Grand Prix in the last lap. Followed by a crash in Aragon, On his birthday Bulega finished the Japanese grand Prix at fourth place and set the fastest lap. But after the third place holder Hiroki Ono was disqualified Bulega was awarded third place. Both in Australia and Malaysia Bulega crashed in the opening lap. His last three crashes in Aragon,Australia and Malaysia was because of the fellow riders. Despite qualifying 4th Bulega started the final race at Valencia in 16th place due to 12 grid penalty and finished the race at 17th losing the Rookie of the year title to Joan Mir. Bulega finished the championship at 7th place with 129 points.

2017

In a year where formed Rookie of the Year rival Joan Mir won the Moto3 championship, Bulega struggled to follow up his debut season, his difficulties being bad qualifying strategies and bad starts (mainly due to his height). His best result in the year is a 4th place on Germany, one of the few times he was able to qualify on the top 6, and some 5th places, including one in his "home" race in the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini race (and in Argentina). He finished the disappointing year only in 12th place, with 81 points.

2018

Bulega's first five 2018 races were even worse than last year's. He retired in the first four races and finished only on the fifth race, with a 17th place in Spain, being one of the two regular drivers to never score points in the first five races of the year.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
2015	Moto3	KTM	SKY Racing Team VR46	1	0	0	0	0	4	31st
2016	Moto3	KTM	SKY Racing Team VR46	18	0	2	1	2	129	7th
2017	Moto3	KTM	SKY Racing Team VR46	17	0	0	1	0	81	12th
2018	Moto3	KTM	SKY Racing Team VR46	14	0	0	0	0	18	26th
2019	Moto2	Kalex	SKY Racing Team VR46	18	0	0	0	0	48	17th
2020	Moto2	Kalex	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	4	0	0	0	0	8*	18th*
Total				72	0	2	2	2	288

 * Season still in progress.

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
Moto3	2015–2018	2015 Valencia	2016 Spain		50	0	2	2	2	232	0
Moto2	2019–2020*	2019 Qatar			19	0	0	0	0	48	0
Total	2015–Present				69	0	2	2	2	280	0

 * Season still in progress.

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Pos	Pts
2015	Moto3	KTM	QAT	AME	ARG	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL 12		31st	4
2016	Moto3	KTM	QAT 6	ARG 18	AME 10	SPA 2	FRA 5	ITA 8	CAT 5	NED 7	GER Ret	AUT 9	CZE 9	GBR 5	RSM 4	ARA Ret	JPN 3	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL 17		7th	129
2017	Moto3	KTM	QAT 14	ARG 16	AME 5	SPA 7	FRA 17	ITA 10	CAT 9	NED 10	GER 4	CZE 23	AUT 11	GBR 20	RSM 5	ARA 14	JPN 12	AUS 11	MAL Ret	VAL DNS		12th	81
2018	Moto3	KTM	QAT Ret	ARG Ret	AME Ret	SPA 17	FRA Ret	ITA 21	CAT Ret	NED 11	GER 14	CZE 19	AUT 23	GBR C	RSM Ret	ARA 14	THA 7	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	26th	18
2019	Moto2	Kalex	QAT Ret	ARG Ret	AME	SPA 9	FRA 10	ITA Ret	CAT 13	NED Ret	GER 18	CZE 7	AUT 13	GBR 20	RSM Ret	ARA 12	THA 8	JPN Ret	AUS 12	MAL 12	VAL 22	17th	48
2020	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 18	SPA 14	AND 12	CZE 14	AUT	STY	RSM	EMI	CAT	FRA	ARA	TER	EUR	VAL	THA	MAL	ARG			18th*	8*

 * Season still in progress.

References

1. "Moto3: Bulega in Moto3 2016". Motoblog.it. Moto Blog Italia. 23 September 2015.
2. "La penúltima, en Jerez". Diariojerez.es. Diario Jerez Espana. 28 October 2015.

External links

• Official website
• Nicolò Bulega at MotoGP.com