Nicolo Bulega has described victory on his WorldSBK debut at Phillip Island as ‘maybe the best day’ of his life after belying his experience with a gritty, yet dominant performance in the opening race of the 2024 WorldSBK season.

The Italian produced a consummate ride by winning from pole position, but only after mounting a determined fight-back to the front in the wake of a poor getaway that had him running as low as sixth at one stage.

However, it would take Bulega just seven laps to power his way back to the front before Aruba.it Racing kept its cool to ensure he incurred no penalties when taking his mandatory pit-stop. He’d go on to cross the line just over two seconds clear of Andrea Locatelli.

A perfect day for Bulega - whose Superpole was a lap record and he’d set the fastest lap en route to victory - the Italian’s success makes him only the second rider to win from pole position on their debut, together with Doug Polen.

“Maybe it’s the best day of my life! It’s difficult to already believe it but it is something incredible; I was dreaming about this for many months but now it’s reality. I took pole position, I won my first race and got the lap record. It’s something special that I’ll never forget.”

“I started to cry a little bit and then, there were good emotions as I saw all my guys on the finish line and all my guys with a big, incredible smile. It was so nice for me. It’s incredible because this team is like my second family and they always believed in me.”

Bulega’s rise to prominence in WorldSBK comes after fearing his career had derailed following a difficult period competing in the grand prix class.

A former member of Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy, Bulega made waves in Moto3 with a podium-winning turn in his rookie season of 2016. However, he’d struggle to match that form in the coming years - both in Moto3 and Moto2 - leading to him being dropped by VR46 and ultimately depart for WorldSSP in 2022.

Going on to dominate the class in 2023 with Aruba.it Racing, it motivated the manufacturer to promote him straight into the factory team in WorldSBK for 2024 against expectations, a risk that already appears to have paid off.

“When I came here from Moto2, I was in a bad moment but they kept believing. This is my third year with them and we started in a very good way. I’ll try to continue giving them a lot of smiles. I’m ready for my first Tissot Superpole Race and I’ll try to do my best.”