Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) channeled his inner Johann Zarco and gave us a backflip backflip in Le Mans after a sensational last-lap victory in the Michelin Grand Prix of France.
The #99 played it smart throughout the race, gradually moving through the lead group to sit third as the final lap began—just in time for chaos to erupt ahead of him.
Photo Credit: Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Intact GP) launched a bold late attack on race leader Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA), the two colliding and running wide in the final corner complex. Rueda seized the moment, sweeping past both to snatch a dramatic win.
“I saw them go wide and just went for it,” he said. “You never know what can happen on the last lap in Moto3, so I stayed patient and it paid off. Winning at Le Mans like this feels incredible—this one is special.” – Jose Antonio Rueda
Muñoz was later penalized for the incident and dropped to third, promoting Kelso to second. It was a significant result for Rueda in the title fight too, as key championship rival Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) crashed out mid-race.
At lights out, rookie polesitter Max Quiles (CFMoto Gaviota Aspar Team) got the best launch, battling Kelso for early supremacy. The Australian eventually took control by the end of the opening lap and set the pace from the front, as the typical Moto3™ slipstream shuffle played out behind.
Photo Credit: Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
The lead group eventually narrowed to Kelso, Muñoz, rookie Guido Pini (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), and Rueda after Piqueras’ exit. Pini’s hopes ended in a sudden crash, leaving a three-way fight for the win, with Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in pursuit but just out of reach.
Kelso kept things tidy up front and seemed on course for victory—until Muñoz launched his final-corner lunge. The resulting contact pushed both riders wide, and Rueda needed no second invitation to sweep into the lead and take the flag.
Carpe came home fourth, narrowly missing out on the podium after the late drama, while David Almansa (Leopard Racing) led the second group to round out the top five. He was followed by Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), a fading Quiles, Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing), Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse), and Argentine rookie Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3), who secured a strong P10 finish for the French squad.
Just outside the top ten were Dennis Foggia (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) and Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power), with Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Cormac Buchanan (DENSSI Racing – BOE), and Nicola Carraro (Rivacold Snipers Team) all picking up points. Pini remounted to finish 17th, missing out on points but leaving France with plenty of attention after a standout qualifying and race showing.
Feature image photo credit: Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
Nicolo Bulega picked up where he left off the previous day to more-or-less ease to victory in the remaining 2 races at the Cremona Circuit in Italy, with an ardent home crowd and MotoGP figures from Ducati in attendance to witness his historic achievement.
TISSOT SUPERPOLE
The 10-lap Tissot Superople around the shortest circuit on the World Superbikes calendar was a rapid affair. The Sunday morning race took just under 15 minutes and was in many ways a repeat of Race 1 from the previous day.
Bulega led from pole position ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista while Sam Lowes once again fell back from the front row of the grid. Razgatlioglu tried his best to stick with Bulega but by as early as lap 3 it was evident that the latter was managing to pull away at the front.
While Bulega stretched out his lead, Razgatlioglu kept him in sight but was unable to close in while Bautista once again settled in 3rd. Andrea Iannone was hit with a double long-lap penalty for narrowly jumping the start and found himself in 9th after serving his punishment, having been in contention for 4th before it.
Sam Lowes held onto 4th ahead of an Xavi Vierge, with the two faster riders of Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci running out of time to make up more positions. Crucially for Petrucci he was able to secure 6th place in the race and the same spot on the grid for Race 2 to make up for his shambolic qualifying in the Superpole on Saturday.
As for Lecuona, he crashed out on lap 9 to make it 2 retirements in 2 races so far in Cremona despite having some scintillating pace. After the Honda rider crashed out, Andrea Locatelli, Iannone and Michael van der Mark were those who rounded out the top 9 and inherited those same places for Race 2.
Given how short the race was, the independent Ducati riders Scott Redding and Gabriele Ruiu gambled on running the qualifying tyre but were unable to make much progress. Redding fell short of the crucial 9th place require to get a better grid position for Race 2, coming home in 11th while Ruiu was 21st.
TISSOT SUPERPOLE RESULTS
Image Credit: WorldSBK
RACE 2
It became known that Lowes was suffering from illness this weekend and this was perhaps why he once again went backwards at the start of the 3rd race of the weekend. Despite Bautista starting on the front row, he was unable to challenge Bulega and Razgatlioglu who once again held 1st and 2nd places at the start.
Just as in Race 1, Razgatlioglu scythed up the inside of Bulega with a block pass at the final corner of the 1st lap. Bulega then stalked his rival for another 3 laps before an unsuccessful move at the end of the back straight on lap 4, which he converted successfully at the same spot a lap later to retake the lead.
Unsurprisingly, that was the last Razgatlioglu or anyone else saw of Bulega. In front of a 45,000 strong home crowd and senior figures from Ducati’s MotoGP management, the 25-year-old delivered while the pressure was on to secure an emotional hat-trick that will live long in the memory for him – and his stunned competitors.
Razgatlioglu nonetheless did well to bank three 2nd place finishes this weekend as he noted Bulega’s superior speed on corner exits, but even Bautista on the other factory Ducati was unable to get close to his teammate. At least Razgatlioglu was much closer to Bulega in Race 2 than he was in Race 1, with one mistake by Bulega probably enough to put himself under pressure from the BMW rider, however the Italian was peerless around Cremona.
After Bulega retook the lead the main action was taking place further down the order. Petrucci was able to take move from up from 6th into 4th after dispatching Lowes and Vierge. Of course it was still a disappointing weekend for the man who won all 3 races at Cremona last year, and the gap to Bautista in 3rdsuggests that 4th may have been the maximum that the Italian could have hoped for anyway.
The battle for 5th was a thrilling and borderline disastrous affair between the factory Honda duo and Lowes. Lecuona was again coming through from the midfield and after a tough battle with Locatelli he had around 6 laps to catch and pass his teammate and Lowes up ahead.
By the time Lecuona became a factor in the battle for 5th, time was running out. Some very aggressive racing between the two teammates saw them almost collide at the final corner, then Vierge made contact with Lowes coming onto the start-finish straight.
A thrilling final lap saw Lowes valiantly retake P5 with just 3 corners to go while Vierge had to settle for 7th behind his teammate – a damning result giving their grid positions. Locatelli was 8th on a difficult weekend for Yamaha, with Michael van der Mark and Remy Gardner rounding out the top 10.
A hat-trick of wins for Bulega and 3 straight 2nd places for Razgatlioglu sees the Italian rider stretch his lead in the World Championship to 34 points heading to Autodrom Most for Round 5 in a fortnight’s time. By then, it would not be a great surprise if Ducati has their fuel-flow slightly restricted to try and peg back Bulega in particular, but the concessions system in WorldSBK might not be enough to stop the 25-year-old from running away with this year’s title if the Acerbis Italian Round was anything to go by.
Nicolo Bulega enjoyed a thrilling battle with championship rival Toprak Razgatlioglu in Race 1 at Cremona before blasting off into the distance to win in front of his home fans and senior Ducati management.
After denying Sam Lowes back-to-back pole positions, Bulega launched away from pole position in the first WorldSBK race at Cremona but was pursued by Razgatlioglu. Come the final corner of lap 1 Razgatlioglu muscled his way past to herald the start of a titanic fight for the win, however things would peter out around one-third distance…
On Razgatlioglu’s first visit to the Cremona Circuit after injury ruled him out of last year’s event, the Turkish rider had a great opportunity to take advantage of the pressure that might have been affecting Bulega. Not only was the Italian rider racing for an Italian factory on home soil, but Ducati had some of its senior MotoGP personnel in attendance to keep an eye on the man that might bring the WorldSBK crown back to them this year if recent form is to be believed.
Everyone in attendance was treated to a great battle between the two that seemed to be going Razgatlioglu’s way in the first few laps before the two almost collided at the end of lap 3. The BMW rider’s defence proved successful but Bulega was never far behind and always able to quickly recover from his failed attempts to pass the Turk.
By the end of lap 6 of 23, Bulega finally made a move stick on Razgatlioglu. Despite a valiant attempt to retake in an unconventional spot for overtaking through turns 3 and 4, it would mark the end of Razgatlioglu’s time in the lead of the race as Bulega stretched his lead by around 0.3 seconds per lap.
At the start of the last lap, Bulega was so far ahead that by the time he swept through the notoriously fast turn 1 at Cremona, Razgatlioglu was not even in the same camera shot on the start-finish straight. Bulega declared this the most important win of his career thus far in World Superbikes and it is hard to see why with all eyes on him and such a crushing performance to rebound from the heartbreak of Assen.
Someone who was unfortunate not to feature in the fight at the front was Sam Lowes, whose P2 on the grid disappeared almost immediately once the race got underway. Lowes slipped down the top 10 in the early stages but after running wide on lap 6 he was consigned to 12th place at the chequered flag.
Alvaro Bautista was in a race of his own in Cremona as he had neither to pace to challenge the front two but more than enough to keep the chasing pack behind. Andrea Iannone spent the majority of the race in 4th but was passed by Iker Lecuona about halfway through.
By the time the Honda rider had made it into 4th following a frighteningly close battle with his teammate Xavi Vierge, the Spaniard was already 7 seconds by Bautista. Rather foolishly, Lecuona pushed too hard for too little of a chance to take 3rd and threw away valuable points for a guaranteed 4th in a self-induced crash on lap 15.
Iannone was left to fend off Vierge and Remy Gardner while Danilo Petrucci tried his best to make progress but could only manage 7th. The Italian rider was unable to repeat his 2024 feats around the Cremona Circuit and started outside the top 10 having been blocked by his compatriot Andrea Locatelli during qualifying (for which the Yamaha rider received a grid penalty and then had an underwhelming race of his own).
Michael van der Mark came home in 9th while Scott Redding split the Bimota duo, then came Lowes in 12th ahead of Dominque Aegeter, Yari Montella and Garrett Gerloff as the last of the points scorers. The Tissot Superpole and Race 2 at the Acerbis Italian Round get underway tomorrow and Bulega looks odds on to make it a hat-trick at home.
Winning at Jerez is the dream for every Spanish rider. This year, Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) turned that dream into reality, making the leap from passionate spectator to home hero. Dominating the Moto3™ race from start to finish, Rueda delivered an emotional victory in front of a raucous Andalusian crowd that was no doubt packed with his family, friends, and fans.
Starting from pole, Rueda wasted no time seizing the holeshot, leading the field into Turn 1 with the determination of a rider racing not just for points, but for pride. Early chaos, however, unfolded behind him: at Turn 6 on the opening lap, Ruche Moodley (DENSII Racing – BOE) clashed with David Almansa (Leopard Racing) and David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP), two separate incidents converging into one messy moment. Muñoz, already facing a back-of-the-grid penalty for riding slowly on the racing line during qualifying, remounted and rejoined but was left with a mountain to climb.
Image Credit: PirelliMoto press release
The drama didn’t stop there. Lap 2 saw more casualties as Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team), Vicente Perez (LEVELUP-MTA), and Cormac Buchanan (DENSII Racing – BOE) all crashed out separately — underlining just how dirty the track was offline. Buchanan was able to remount and continue, but the early attrition was already reshaping the race.
Out front, Rueda was untouchable. Setting a relentless pace, he began to edge away from the chasing duo of Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA) and Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI), the three riders creating a clear gap back to Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), who rode lonely races in fourth and fifth.
Just past the halfway mark, Rueda fired in the fastest lap of the race, daring his rivals to keep up. Piqueras responded, launching a move on Kelso into Turn 1 on Lap 13. However, in his haste to close the gap to the leader, the #36 ran wide, handing second place straight back to Kelso and allowing Rueda to extend his lead to over 1.5 seconds.
Image Credit: PirelliMoto Press release
From there, the race was Rueda’s to lose — and he showed no signs of cracking. Calm and composed, he ticked off the final laps and crossed the line to achieve a lifelong dream: a dominant, emotional victory on home soil at Jerez.
The battle for second wasn’t over, though. On the final lap, Piqueras made another attempt, attacking Kelso at Turns 5 and 6. This time he made it stick, securing a Spanish 1-2 and sending the home crowd into celebration. The pair enjoyed a special moment together on their slow-down lap, saluting the fans at Turns 9 and 10.
Kelso claimed third — his second podium of the season — while Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) produced a strong second half of the race to snatch fourth from Yamanaka. Furusato finished a solid sixth, followed by a career-best result for rookie Guido Pini (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) in seventh. Fellow JuniorGP™ graduate Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) finished eighth, while Jacob Roulstone and Valentin Perrone (both Red Bull KTM Tech3) completed the top ten, overcoming Long Lap penalties received for qualifying infractions.
Today’s sprint race in Jerez may not have been the most dramatic or exciting race, thanks to a lack of on-track action, but the attending crowd didn’t care. They made it known that their home hero had won, making it another Marquez 1-2.
Marc Marquez is used to accolades, awards and records. Today, he has added another one to the list as he becomes the first rider to win 5 consecutive sprint races. The adoring crowd were clearly thrilled with the result, and the noise of their support became deafening before the checkered flag had even fallen.
He was joined on the podium, which took place at the stadium section of the track, by his younger brother Alex Marquez. Alex had looked incredibly fast during practice sessions but a big crash on Friday afternoon left him needing to reset before Saturday’s action.
The two brothers were dancing together during the podium, and rousing the crowd as they soaked up their celebrations.
The final podium finisher was Pecco Bagnaia who, despite being all smiles during the podium, told media he “needed to improve”.
It has been a rollercoaster day for Fabio Quartararo. He took a stunning pole position earlier today and enjoyed the lead for the first lap. Sadly, when Marc Marquez put the pressure on him, he went out wide onto the dirty part of the track. The lack of grip sent the bike sliding out from underneath him and he ended his day early in the gravel.
Final kudos of the day go to Franco Morbidelli, who came back from a huge crash in warm-up to take 5th in the sprint, and Maverick Vinales, who dragged his KTM machine to an impressive 6th.
As It Happened
As the lights went out at the start, poleman Fabio Quartararo was instantly having to fight off home hero Marc Marquez, who overtook him to take 1st before they reached turn 1. Quartararo fought back at the first corner and reclaimed the lead. It was a beautiful battle between two class riders.
Alex Marquez had a great start and quickly claimed 3rd place from Pecco Bagnaia, who was quickly under pressure from Franco Morbidelli. Further back, rookie Fermin Aldguer claimed 6th from Maverick Vinales. A few corners later, Aldguer lost the rear of his bike at turn 11 – he somehow kept the bike upright, showing skills beyond his rookie experience. He lost time and fell back to Vinales and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who put him under pressure.
On the second lap, just as Quatartararo was looking comfortable, Marc Marquez came up alongside him showing the speed difference between the Ducati and Yamaha. As they entered turn 6, Fabio went wide as Marquez claimed the lead, putting him out on the dirty part of the track. This prematurely ended his race as he lost grip and the bike went down into the gravel.
With two laps completed, we now have Marc leading from his brother Alex with a 0.4s gap between them. Bagnaia was a further 0.8 seconds behind him, having fended off the challenge from Morbidelli. Di Giannantonio was now in 6th, ahead of Vinales, with Aldeguer still able to hold them off and keep 6th.
Alex Marquez, who had been very fast in practice sessions, was unable to bring the fight to his brother, and the whole field settled into their rhythm. The rest of the sprint race went on without drama.
The only action for the rest of the race came on lap 5, when Jack Miller went down at turn 6 and then Johann Zarco who went down at turn 2 on lap 6.
Everything was calm for the rest of the race and Marc Marquez was able to cruise on the final few laps, thanks to building a 1.3 second gap to 2nd place.
For the first time in two and a half years, Fabio Quartararo has taken pole position for a MotoGP race.
When Fabio Quartararo was last on pole, there were no sprint races, Pecco Bagnaia hadn’t won a world championship, and Marco Bezzcchi and Fabio DiGiannantonio were a fresh-faced rookie. It may feel like a long time ago to us, but it’s likely felt even longer for Quartararo!
Today, he is back on top in a qualifying session, surprising everyone with his pole lap. He set a blistering time of 1:25.610, which was 0.033s faster than the next best rider.
That rider, who will line up second tomorrow, is Marc Marquez. He looked somewhat dejected when speaking to the media, potentially as he was unable to treat his home fans to a Spanish pole. It was the final sector that stopped Marquez from taking pole today, but he looked blisteringly fast round the rest of the lap.
Both the Marquez brothers started their Q2 adventure with a costly error – both Marc and Alex Marquez exited the pitlane while the red light was still on, landing them a €2,000 fine. Marc noticed their mistake, quickly grabbing the breaks, but Alex did not. That meant the younger Marquez also had his first lap of the session cancelled, as he was deemed to have gained an advantage.
Rounding out the front row is Pecco Bagnaia, who was 0.145s away from pole and still yet to get his title fight really up and running. However, having won the last 3 races here, his weekend is by no means over. When speaking to the media, he told them he felt he was at “85%”, so the Italian clearly still has pace he is eager to find.
Coming off the back of a stunning performance in Qatar, with a 5th place, rookie Fermin Aldeguer was on top form again today. He was setting fastest sectors again and again, but couldn’t quite put them together into one fast lap. He lines up in a still-impressive 7th.
Pedro Acosta, the newest home hero for Spain, almost lost the bike on the final sector of his final flying lap. He, somehow, managed to keep the bike upright but will have to settle for 12th place on the starting grid.
There were, as is normal this year, some big names in Q1 and our progressors were Maverick Vinales and Marco Bezecchi – Vinales put in a strong Q2 performance to take 6th place.
Angel Piqueras pinched the win across the line in a last lap thriller that sees him clinch the lead of the Moto3 world championship.
Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) takes the lead of the Moto3 Championship after edging out Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) in a nail-biting drag to the line in Doha, winning by just 0.009 seconds. Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) completed the podium from a maiden pole position. Meanwhile, drama struck late for Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who dropped out of the lead battle due to a mechanical issue with only a couple of laps remaining, turning the championship on its head heading to Jerez.
Two penalties were handed out pre race: Alvero Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) had received a double long lap penalty for riding slow online and causing a crash (Scott Ogden, CIP Green Power) during qualifying. Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) was handed a Long Lap penalty for causing a crash in practice.
Image Credit: Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
Yamanaka grabbed the holeshot and led the early charge as the usual Moto3 freight train formed almost instantly. Then came the first major shake-up — Dennis Foggia (CFMoto Gaviota Aspar Team) tangled with David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP), ending Foggia’s day early and knocking Muñoz out of the leading group.
Up front, a leading quartet of Yamanaka, Joel Kelso (LEVELUP – MTA), Rueda, and Piqueras began to break away, with a small gap back to David Almansa (Leopard Racing) in fifth. As the laps wound down, the group bunched up again before Almansa crashed out (later rejoining), and Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team) faded from contention—leaving five riders in the fight.
Image Credit: Pirelli press release
The pivotal moment came just before the final lap when Rueda abruptly sat up, smoke seen coming out of his machine – a mechanical problem ending his podium and victory hopes . That left Piqueras, Furusato, Yamanaka, and Kelso in a last-lap brawl for the win.
In classic Lusail fashion, it came down to the final stages of the race – across the line, as final as you can get. Furusato made his move at Turn 14 and led onto the straight, defending tightly on the inside. But Piqueras timed his run to perfection, using the slipstream to snatch victory by the narrowest of margins—0.009 seconds—denying Furusato a first Grand Prix win. Piqueras’ triumph sees him top Rueda and the lead in the standings.
Yamanaka held off Kelso to secure third, celebrating a strong weekend from pole to podium. Kelso had to settle for fourth, followed by Rossi, and a spirited recovery from Muñoz—who clawed his way back after being forced wide in the early chaos. He edged out SIC58 Squadra Corse teammates Luca Lunetta and Stefano Nepa, while Nicola Carraro (Rivacold Snipers Team) just beat top Guido Pini (LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP) to ninth.
Andrea Locatelli inherited a first WorldSBK victory in Assen after the frighteningly fast Nicolo Bulega suffered mechanical problems in both the Tissot Superpole and Race 2 to leave the championship leader pointless on Sunday at the Pirelli Dutch Round.
TISSOT SUPERPOLE RACE
Rain was falling as expected on Sunday morning at the TT Circuit Assen, with the warmup and Tissot Superpole being a wet affair for the WorldSBK riders. With the qualifying session on Saturday also setting the grid for the Superpole race, Sam Lowes had a second shot at converting his maiden pole position while Razgatiloglu and Axel Bassani were not affected by any grid penalties unlike in Race 1 yesterday.
As the sun started to break through the clouds by the 11am race start time, Bulega once again shot from second into the race lead ahead of Lowes as he had done in the first race on the previous day. Lowes fell to ninth by running wide at turn 1 in the tricky conditions, which left Razgatlioglu to chase Bulega for the race lead.
Andrea Iannone did well at the start to jump into third, a place that he eventually lost to his fellow Andrea – Locatelli – who had taken an impressive second place the day before. Things only got worse for Iannone, who ran wide then later crashed his satellite Go Eleven Ducati bike.
Razgatlioglu made a move on Bulega for the lead at turn 5 on the 2nd lap. The gap between the top two in the race and the championship ballooned to almost one second by the end of the lap as the BMW rider best adapted to the tricky conditions.
Lowes began to recover from his off at the start and made it back to the podium by the end of the 10-lap affair. The marcVDS Ducati rider had to try twice on the same lap to get past Alvaro Bautista’s factory bike, and then easily inherited second when Bulega ran wide at turn 1.
As it transpired, Bulega had an issue with his Ducati Panigale V4R that dropped him out of contention. The results from the top nine in the Tissot Superpole Race determine the starting grid for Race 2, from which the championship leader would have to start from 10th place.
With Razgatlioglu, Lowes and Bautista coming home on the podium, home hero Michael van der Mark tried valiantly to take P4 from Locatelli but came up short. Scott Redding had a respectable ride to 6th after passing Remy Gardner in the closing stages.
Yari Montella and Tarran McKenzie also did well in the wet to start race 2 from row 3. With Bulega mired on row 4 and Razgatlioglu taking a chunk of points from his rival with his 12 points for the win, it set up a fascinating final race in the afternoon.
TISSOT SUPERPOLE RACE RESULTS
Image Credit: WorldSBK
RACE 2
With Bulega stuck in 10th place for the start of the 21-lap Sunday afternoon race, his rivals ahead knew that there was a real chance to capitalise on the championship leader coming from so far back. Razgatlioglu and his BMW team opted to use hard tyres to give himself more grip for the end of the race when the inevitable pace of Bulega would come to haunt him, or at least that was the thinking…
The hard tyres simply never worked for Razgatlioglu as Bulega predictably deployed his superior pace to methodically work his way towards the front of the grid. Once again Sam Lowes had a difficult start from the front row, while Bautista passed Razgatlioglu for the initial lead.
The race developed into a train of the top 7 bikes by about ¼ distance, with Bulega at the back of the pack having risen calmly from 10th. Locatelli had swooped past Razgatlioglu on the 2nd lap, while Remy Gardner had a thrilling start to run as high as 2nd himself.
As Locatelli and Gardner fought tooth and nail for P2, Razgatlioglu continued to fall down the order. After Locatelli had finally dealt with Gardner to cement 2nd on lap 7, the Yamaha rider had enough pace to reel in Bautista for the race lead.
Once Locatelli had passed Bautista, Bulega was ready to seize on his teammate and then overtook Locatelli for the lead at the halfway point. That was the last anyone saw of Bulega until it all went wrong for the second time in one day.
While Bulega stretched his lead the race settled down with Locatelli, Bautista, Gardner, Lowes, Bassani and Razgatlioglu the order. Then Bulega tragically retired once again with just 2 laps to go after such a stunning ride in Assen that went unrewarded.
Locatelli was left to inherit his first victory in the Superbike World Championship after a record 154 winless attempts. Meanwhile, a frustrated Razgatlioglu lost a further two spots at the end to Alex Lowes and Iker Lecuona to fall to eighth in a race where he could have taken up to 25 points out of the championship leader.
Nicolo Bulega rode off into the distance in Assen to take a dominant victory in the first race of the weekend. There was a tragic result for shock first-time polesitter Sam Lowes while Toprak Razgatlioglu was only fourth despite running as high as second.
Ahead of Race 1 in the Netherlands, 3-place grid penalties were dished out to Razgatlioglu and Axel Bassani. With his main championship rival demoted to sixth, Bulega knew that if he could ace the start and build a big enough gap out front he would be unchallenged for the win… and this is exactly what transpired.
The pressure that Bulega put onto his rivals by seizing the lead at the start is what may have led to so much chaos behind him. At the end of the first lap, polesitter Lowes had fallen behind Andrea Locatelli.
There were faster riders stuck in the middle of the top 10 – notably Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista. Razagatlioglu was busy fending off a charging Bassani on the first lap but by lap 2 he began to move forward from his grid spot of 6th.
By the end of lap 2, the reigning World Champion passed Bautista then moved past Petrucci on the next tour. This left the factory Ducati of Bautista to engage in a thrilling battle with the satellite bike of Petrucci for fifth.
Once Bautista eventually dealt with the defiant Barni Ducati rider, he seized upon Razgatlioglu’s inability to pass Lowes for third to scythe through on his old rival for fourth. However, Razgatlioglu got back past them both as they began lap 6 in a brilliant piece of racecraft , then in his haste to make amends Bautista made a clumsy move halfway round the same lap to knock himself and Lowes out of the race.
While Bulega disappeared into the distance with fastest lap and pace that was sometimes as much as half a second better than Locatelli and the others behind, the focus switched to the battle for second. Razgatlioglu reeled in his old Yamaha teammate with 13 laps still to go, but instead of eating into Bulega’s near 5 second lead he was unable to keep Locatelli out of striking distance.
As the factory BMW and Yamaha riders duelled for second, Petrucci began to reel them in, while Razgatlioglu’s teammate and home hero Michael van der Mark was fifth. Yari Montella, Bahattin Sofuoglu, Alex Lowes (who rejoined) and Andrea Iannone all crashed out in that order to promote Garrett Gerloff and the Honda duo to 6th, 7th and 8th and all began to catch the second factory BMW rider.
Locatelli moved Razgatlioglu up and out of the way through the hairpin on lap 12 before Petrucci also took the BMW rider two laps later with a great move through the fast chicane at the end of the back straight. Despite Razgatlioglu getting back past the Italian at turn 1 on the next lap, Petrucci sealed the deal with three laps to go to take the final spot on the podium.
Behind the top four, all hell broke loose in the battle for fifth as van der Mark’s pace disappeared as the race wore on and Lecuona asserted himself as the best of the rest. As van der Mark and Gerloff fell down the order, the Honda’s battled Bassani, Dominque Aegerter and Remy Gardner as the race reached its climax.
Bassani made it two crashes for the Bimota Kawasaki team with a self-inflicted crash on the final lap, while Lecuona held off his teammate for fifth in a strong result for Honda. With rain possibly on its way for tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole and Race 2, Lowes, Bautista and Razgatlioglu in particular will all be hoping they can take the fight to Bulega in better circumstances in the remainder of the Pirelli Dutch Round.
Toprak Razgatlioglu added victories in the Tissot Superpole and Race 2 in Portimao to become the 2nd rider this season to secure a treble of victories in one round. However, much like in Race 1 Nicolo Bulega ran him incredibly close after the Turkish rider didn’t do himself any favours with his race starts.
TISSOT SUPERPOLE RACE
As with Race 1 on Saturday, Bulega got the hole shot into turn 1, powering ahead of Razgatlioglu who this time slipped to 3rd. Danilo Petrucci spent exactly one lap ahead of Razgatlioglu, passing him at the first corner on lap 1 and losing the position at the same spot on lap 2.
On lap 5, Bulega lost the lead to Razgatlioglu at turn 3 in a move that the Turkish rider had visibly been setting up for some time. Just after the lead changed hands, just outside the top three Bulega’s teammate Alvaro Bautista passed Andrea Locatelli for fourth.
As the 10-lap race entered its second half Bulega tried his best to keep pace with Razgatlioglu as Bautista hunted down Petrucci for 3rd. The factory Ducati rider passed the satellite one with 2 laps to go, after which there was no time for the two-time World Champion to catch the leaders.
At least Bautista was able to demonstrate the pace that he could not show on Saturday after contact with Scott Redding in Race 1. Another rider on the back foot from the previous day – Alex Lowes – did a great job to scythe through from the back of the field but could not make it into the top 10 within 10 laps, thus leaving him unable to change his grid position for Race 2.
Meanwhile, behind Locatelli in fifth the other BMW of Michael van der Mark was able to despatch the Honda pair of Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge towards the end. Despite this, the Japanese manufacturer was enjoying a decent turn of pace, with its recent switch of suspension supplier possibly helping with their upturn in form.
Up front, the only time Bulega looked genuinely threatening against Razgatlioglu in the second half of the race was right at the very end. Coming through turn 14 and the long turn 15 onto the start-finish straight Bulega rapidly closed on Razgatlioglu but had to change from the outside to the inside as they approached the chequered flag.
The positioning of his BMW on the final blast to the line have secured Razgatlioglu his first Tissot Superpole Race victory of the year by just 0.055 seconds. Much like Race 1, it was clear that Bulega was capable of taking the fight to Razgatlioglu on the circuit that is notorious for being a favourite of the Turk, and hopes were high for another close tussle in Race 2.
TISSOT SUPERPOLE RACE RESULTS
Image Credit: WorldSBK
RACE 2
This time around, Razgatlioglu only lost one position from pole by turn 1. Bulega led from his BMW rival and Aruba.it Racing teammate Bautista.
Locatelli held off Razgatlioglu’s teammate van der Mark for fourth while an entertaining battle for positions six through nine kicked off between Andrea Iannone, Remy Gardner and the Honda duo. However, this action was thwarted after Iannone received a double long-lap penalty for jumping the start, with the Italian taking the first of these on lap 5.
Shortly after Vierge crashed out, as did Tito Rabat further down the order. Up front, Bulega continued to lead from Razgatlioglu and they began to put as much as 0.7 seconds a lap between themselves and Bautista who simply had to settle for third best.
The laptimes of the top two as the race edged towards halfway were as quick as the pole position laps from last year, which illustrates both how dominant the two were around the Algarve International Circuit and how much the speed of their respective superbikes increases year-on-year. Inevitably, as the race reached halfway Razgatlioglu began to close in on his Bulega as he sought to take the treble in Portimao but with 11 laps to go his charge was halted.
Jason O’Halloran (in for the injured Jonathan Rea) went down at turn 1 and was seemingly OK after the impact. However, his Pata Maxus Yamaha careered into the air fence on the outside of the run-off area and the race was halted with a red flag.
This created opportunities for a couple of riders, most notably Scott Redding and Alex Lowes. Just before the red flag Redding had trundled into the pits with a technical problem but just made it back onto the grid before the restart after the issue with his MGM Bonovo Ducati was solved, while Lowes finally started a race from a better position this weekend having made his way to 13th by the time of the stoppage.
The WorldSBK stewards announced a quick-restart procedure after the air-fence was inspected and repaired after not too long of a delay, but there was pandemonium at the Team Pata Go Eleven pits.
Iannone had not served his second long-lap penalty, which can be taken with six laps of the punishment being awarded. His team tried to argue for their rider’s sake and Iannone avoided disqualification the regulations demanded he serve a double ride-through penalty for failing to observe the double long-lap.
Four penalties for jumping the start put paid to Iannone’s race and his gesticulations as he came through the pits shortly after his passing his main independent rival Petrucci clearly demonstrated his frustration with the decision. After barely accelerating after coming out of the pits, the Italian rider eventually came back in and retired in a slightly selfish move considering that he could have collected some data for his engineers in clear air over the remaining few laps, but his anger got the better of him.
The remaining laps of the restarted race essentially represented a full points-paying event but constrained to the length of a Superpole race. Razgatlioglu – for the fourth time this weekend – lost out to Bulega on the run to turn 1 and also slipped behind a fast-starting Locatelli who powered through from fourth on the grid.
Naturally Razgatlioglu made short work of Locatelli who – like Petrucci at the first start – stayed ahead of the BMW for precisely one lap. By the following lap, Razgatlioglu made a sensational move on Bulega into turn 1, forcing his rival to sit up as he went through the apex of the corner as the BMW bulldozed him off his line.
At the same time, Locatelli fell back to fourth after Bautista passed him and quickly resettled into his own comfortable gap between the top two and the Yamaha behind. There was a brief moment in the following lap where Bulega returned the favour on Razgatlioglu and allowed Bautista to close up, but the two-time WorldSBK title winner had no real answer for his teammate or the reigning champion’s race pace.
Razgatlioglu was back through on lap 15 of 20, after which the lead changed four times over the next three laps. Further down the order, Tarran MacKenzie and Remy Gardner both crashed out while Axel Bassani engaged in a thrilling battle with Danilo Petrucci for 6th place – the latter securing the position right on the finish line on the final lap.
The fight between the top two remained on a knife-edge until the very end although Razgatlioglu just held on to take his first triple victory of the season after Bulega did so at the 1st round in Phillip Island. The Ducati rider still holds a comfortable championship lea thanks to three wins and three second places from six races across the first two rounds of 2025 as WorldSBK next heads to Assen in the Netherlands in two weeks’ time.
Razgatlioglu may have felt like World Superbikes had become the ‘Ducati Cup’ after the drubbing he suffered in Australia, but his performance in Portugal reignited his and everyone else’s hope that this will be a tight contest between the BMW rider and the two Aruba Ducati’s this season. However, Bulega might feel that he lost the battle but is winning the war, given how close he could run his rival on a track that has always been a particularly strong venue for Razgatlioglu.
