Iker Lecuona wishes “much faster” Nicolo Bulega stayed in WorldSBK

Despite his team-mate winning a record-breaking 32 out of 36 WorldSBK races this season, Iker Lecuona wishes Nicolo Bulega remained in the championship next season.

Bulega, who completed yet another hat-trick at this weekend’s Jerez WorldSBK round, will now move to MotoGP with VR46. 

Meanwhile, Lecuona will be challenged with trying to beat Franco Morbidelli to the 2027 WorldSBK title, with the MotoGP race winner replacing Bulega at Aruba.it Ducati. 

Bulega was the faster of the two riders across much of the season, although Lecuona did manage to find success at Donington Park and Cremona, winning a total of four races.

Had Bulega stayed in WorldSBK, Lecuona would have gone up against a rider that set new win and podium totals this season.

But when asked by WorldSBK.com whether he is pleased that Bulega is leaving the series, Lecuona said: “Honestly, no. On one side maybe, yes, but if someone is better than you then I want to race with him.

Lecuona also spoke about the relationship he had with Bulega this season, saying: “I feel sad that he is leaving because he pushed me so hard. I’m happy for him, like I said many times. He did an amazing season. 

“It’s not like we are very [close] friends, but we have a nice relationship. We always fight when we need to fight. 

“We’re always aggressive but with that small gap so we don’t [end] up on the ground.”

While Lecuona failed to win at Jerez this weekend, the Spaniard did manage to turn a very difficult Saturday around, after he was surprisingly bettered by Sam Lowes in Race 1.

Speaking about the adjustments made to bring him closer to Bulega, Lecuona added: “Yesterday I struggled a lot. I said I was not very happy with my performance, but this morning I felt good. 

“I changed some details with my riding, also the bike changed a bit to help me on that point. 

“In the sprint I felt fast and recovered some time to Nicolo, and [I thought], maybe in the race we are not very far, but in any case, Nicolo deserved it. He’s much faster. 

“Then, in one moment I started to catch him and the rain arrived, but the wind was stronger and colder, so the rear dropped a lot. 

“In the end, I said ‘okay, let’s finish the year in that position. I was close to Nicolo, so I’m happy.”