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Tag: Ducati

  • WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu withstands Bulega pressure to seal 2025 WSBK Championship in Jerez

    WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu withstands Bulega pressure to seal 2025 WSBK Championship in Jerez

    A controversial crash in the Tissot Superpole Race in Jerez that led to borderline violent scenes from the Turkish fans coupled with a crushing treble of race wins from Nicolo Bulega was not enough to prevent Toprak Razgatlioglu from wrapping up his third WorldSBK title at the Pirelli Spanish Round.

    Tissot Superpole Race

    All Razgatlioglu had to do to wrap up the championship was finish in the top 7 of the morning’s 10-lap race.  This should not have been difficult and it was fully expected that ‘El Turco’ would seal the deal before the final full-distance race of the year in the afternoon.

    A promising start that left him challenging Bulega on the first lap saw Razgatlioglu pushed wide by Bulega at turn 5 in a similar but more consequential move to the one that occurred at the start of Race 1 yesterday.  Razgatlioglu was unable to rejoin and thankfully his BMW was not too damaged, although there were obvious concerns about reliability for Race 2.

    Razgatlioglu’s exit meant that BMW’s efforts to clinch the Manufacturers’ Championship had taken a serious blow with them being left 19 points down on Ducati with one race to go.  Bulega was immediately placed under investigation and was docked with a single long-lap penalty, but he was so far out front and so fast that his lead was barely compromised.

    Bulega’s dominant win cut the gap to 22 points and although the only way he could win the championship was victory in Race 2 with Razgatlioglu lower than 13th, the anger towards the Ducati rider was palpable as many expected things to have been wrapped up in the morning.  Loud boos and jeers were directed towards Bulega when he arrived in the paddock and there were rumours of the ardent Turkish support getting particularly aggressive towards anyone trying to calm them down.

    Additional security was deployed and social media went mental demanding justice for Razgatlioglu.  The BMW team shielded Razgatlioglu from any press intrusion until after Race 2 as the WorldSBK paddock geared up for its first final race showdown since 2014.

    Well behind Bulega came Alvaro Bautista who dispatched Andrea Iannone for 2nd on lap 4 at turn 6.  The Italian was able to hold on to 3rd place ahead of a squabbling Xavi Vierge and Alex Lowes, the latter running wide on the last lap to cost him 4th place.

    Andrea Locatelli passed an impressive Tarran Mackenzie for 6th place on the penultimate lap while Iker Lecuona and Micheal van der Mark rounded out the crucial top 9 spots that set the grid for Race 2, with Razgatlioglu trapped down in 10th.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Race 2

    Amidst the fallout of the Bulega/Razgatlioglu incident, some hugely unfortunate news broke from the medical centre.  Jonathan Rea crashed out at high speed with Remy Gardner at turn 3 and unlike his accident at turn 4 yesterday, this one left him with an injured knee and he was declared unfit for Race 2.

    Rea was therefore left unable to contest his final WorldSBK race in which Yamaha were running a celebratory livery.  A despondent Rea was caught on camera watching the race with his family from their garage following a huge outpouring of support and appreciation in the paddock towards the Northern Irish 6-time World Champion, who may be seen testing next year in plans that are yet to be revealed.

    Starting in 10th, the only real fear for Razgatlioglu was if his bike broke down or he was caught up in a melee in the midfield.  The Turk methodically made his way up to 3rd place and settled there to win the championship by 13 points as Bulega clinched a treble of race victories.

    Bulega first had to ignore the pressure by the critical fans and even some of his fellow riders, and he lost the initial lead to his teammate Bautista who was obviously determined to repeat Chaz Davies past feat of winning his last race with the aruba.it Ducati team.  Through his strong point of turn 5 that let him set up a move into turn 6, once Bulega was past Bautista it was a done deal and all the focus switched to Razgatlioglu.

    With 12 laps to go Razgatlioglu was already up to 3rd, having dealt with Locatelli, Vierge, Lowes and Iannone who had been battling all weekend in Jerez for positions just below the rostrum.  It was a fairly underwhelming race overall once Razgatlioglu settled into his rhythm and the laps wound down to confirm him as a 3-time WorldSBK Champion ahead of his blockbuster move to MotoGP next season.

    Iannone had slipped back while running in 7th to fend off Mackenzie and Lecuona, who swapped places by the end of the race.  Michael van der Mark was a lowly 13th in his final WorldSBK race as BMW lost out on the Manufacturers’ Championship to Ducati.

    Bautista did more than enough to secure 3rd place overall in the World Championship which arguably should have gone to the Independent Champion Danilo Petrucci, who was ruled out of the last 2 rounds (6 races).  The only retirements from the race were Lukas Tulovic through a crash and Garrett Gerloff brought his underwhelming season with Kawasaki to close by retiring into the pitlane.

    In any other year, Bulega would have been World Championship, but the critical retirement while leading Race 2 in Assen for example when Razgatlioglu was further down the order will be a painful pill to swallow.  As for Razgatlioglu, he heads to MotoGP having left his mark on a championship that will simply never be the same without him, or indeed Jonathan Rea…

     

    Race 2 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    2025 WorldSBK Riders’ Championship Standings

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    2025 WorldSBK Manufacturers’ Championship Standings

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • WorldSBK: Bulega bounces back on Sunday in Aragon

    WorldSBK: Bulega bounces back on Sunday in Aragon

    Nicolo Bulega bounced back on Sunday at the Tissot Aragon Round to keep the Superbike World Championship battle rolling on into the last two rounds after a pair of hard-fought victories against Toprak Razgatlioglu, whose record-breaking winning streak he has finally ended.

     

    Tissot Superpole Race

    As with Race 1 yesterday, Razgatlioglu established a pattern of passing into turn 15 but Bulega would retaliate through the long final corner of turn 16.  This first occurred at the end of lap 1 then again on laps 2, 4, 5 and 9.

    When both realised they would have to get a little more creative to pass each other, turns 7 and 12 became passing hotspots.  Razgatlioglu preferred the former and Bulega the latter.

    Behind them was Alvaro Bautista who made it into 3rd place but still had Sam Lowes sticking with him.  Dominique Aegerter, Yari Montella and Tito Rabat collided at turn 5 on the opening lap but it was an otherwise clean 10-lap affair.

    The TV direction had no chance to much of the action further down the grid as the titanic battle constantly played out at the front.  With 3 laps to go, Bautista had broken free of Sam Lowes after the Brit made a small mistake and it looked as if the Spaniard could possibly make it a 3-way fight for the win or at least try and take some points off Razgatlioglu to help his teammate.

    The other notable thing to happen on lap 8 was that there was no overtakes between the top 2.  Razgatlioglu was preparing himself for a late lunge and it came at turn 7 on the penultimate lap.

    However, Bulega was back ahead at turn 12 before Razgatlioglu slid through at turn 15 and lost the lead again at the end of the straight going through turn 16.  It was all so predictable but heading onto the last lap through the last two corners but going into the last lap it was all to play for.

    Razgatlioglu surprised Bulega with a move into the corkscrew halfway around the final lap.  The BMW rider held the lead right up until the last corner, when the inevitable happened…

    Bulega slingshot his way underneath his rival and took victory by    to avenge his narrow defeat yesterday and ended Razgatlioglu’s winning streak of 13 races to seal his first victory since back in May at Most.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    Race 2

    The whole grid made it cleanly around the opening corners of Race 2 as Bautista fell down to 5th behind Andrea Iannone and Jonathan Rea.  Then came the inevitable Razgatlioglu pass on Bulega at turn 15 before the Ducati’s retaliation at turn 16.

    Razgatlioglu had to try something different and one lap later bullied his rival out of the way at turn 14 instead of 15, but again Bulega was far superior through the long left of the last corner.  When Razgatlioglu passed into turn 16 himself on lap 3, by the exit of the corner Bulega was immediately back ahead.

    Thankfully for Razgatlioglu he carried enough speed to retake the lead at turn 1 as it became clear that we were once again in for an absolute classic World Superbikes race.  Bulega was back ahead by turn 16 next time around.

    Meanwhile, Bautista had gotten back up to 3rd place and began to slowly reel in the leaders.  Ultimately, he lost too much time to catch Razgatlioglu and try to take some points off him to help his teammate Bulega.

    At the end of lap 7 Razgatliolgu was again briefly ahead through turn 16 but was close enough to scythe through on Bulega at turn 7 on the following lap.  Bulega struck back at turn 12 and held on until turn 1 on lap 10.

    The defining moment of the race sadly did not come right at the end as it had yesterday or in the Tissot Superpole Race.  After a successful move at turn 7 again on lap 11, the next time around at the same corner Razgatlioglu uncharacteristically ran wide to let Bulega through easily.

    That was it as far as the race was concerned and Razgatlioglu had to focus on repelling Bautista behind to bank the points for 2nd place.  Meanwhile, Bahattin Sofuoglu and Zaqhwan Zaidi crashed out further down the order.

    The next most interesting fight to develop was over 4th place.  With 4 laps to go the battle intensified between Iannone, Rea and Sam Lowes but the latter slid out at turn 14 on the penultimate lap.

    Alex Lowes was around 3 seconds further back and trying to keep Andrea Locatelli at bay with Michael van der Mark close behind.  The latter rider on the second BMW crashed out at high speed at turn 16 on the penultimate lap but thankfully was not too badly hurt.

    The late accidents promoted Garrett Gerloff and Ryan Vickers to the points.  Bulega eased to the line 3.2 seconds clear of his title rival with Razgatlioglu just over a second clear of Bautista so that the championship lead comes down from 39 to 36 points with 2 rounds (6 races) to go in 2025.

    Race 2 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • WorldSBK: 0.030s separate top 2 in titanic Aragon Race 1 battle

    WorldSBK: 0.030s separate top 2 in titanic Aragon Race 1 battle

    Having never won at this circuit before, Toprak Razgatlioglu extended his winning run to 13 races in the Superbike World Championship after an incredible duel with resurgent polesitter Nicolo Bulega in Race 1 at the Tissot Aragon Round.

    With Bulega starting on pole position with a new lap record and Ducati historically holding the upper hand in Aragon, hopes were high that Razgatlioglu would finally be denied as he steamrolls his way to a third WorldSBK title.  What ensued under the Spanish sunshine was a thrilling battle that lasted the entire length of the race as 2025’s main protagonists chopped and changed positions throughout and were never more than 1 second apart for the entire 18 laps.

    The general pattern was that Bulega would get a much better exit from the long final corner of turn 16 to get close to Razgatlioglu by turn 1, then the latter would be stronger through the middle of the lap.  While the top-2 in the championship did battle, Sam Lowes was in close attendance right behind the pair.

    This pattern first occurred at the end of the 1st and start of the 2nd lap after Razgatlioglu had stolen the lead on lap 1.  Then it happened again at the end of the 2nd lap and the start of the 3rd.  Two laps later and again, Bulega slingshotted into the lead at turn 1 before he ran wide at the tight chicane at turns 14/15 to allow Razgatlioglu back through – then Bulega was ahead again by the next time they reached turn 1.

    By the halfway stage of the race Razgatlioglu had edged ever so slightly clear of Bulega while it looked as if Danilo Petrucci, Alvaro Bautista and Alex Lowes were starting to close up to the top 3.  Ultimately, home hero Bautista crashed out with 6 laps to go from 5th place while Petrucci and Alex Lowes stabilised their respective positions of 4th for the former and an inherited 5th for the latter.

    Behind them, the two Andrea’s were battling over 6th with Iannone passing Locatelli in the 2nd half of the race.  Behind them came Axel Bassani from 23rd on the grid after being penalised earlier, with the Bimota rider making up 15 places and settling into 8th in the closing laps while Jonathan Rea faded after to 13th after his own promising start.

    With 5 laps to go, Bulega began to pick up his pace and stretch a small gap to Sam Lowes.  However, Sam was saving himself for the last couple of laps and closed back in to the top 2 to finish less than 1 second off the winner.

    The MarcVDS rider was so close but just not quite by enough to get involved in the scrap for the lead as Bulega very nearly made it past Razgatlioglu into turn 1 on the final lap.  Once again, a superb ride through the long last corner let the Ducati rider close right up to the BMW as they blasted towards the chequered flag and were separated by just 0.030s in Razgatlioglu’s favour.

    The win meant a lot to Razgatlioglu and was devastating for Bulega after such a defiant ride.  Not only was it the Turk’s first win at Aragon but it matched his record of 13 consecutive wins from last season and was of course another hammer blow in the championship for his Italian rival – but tomorrow’s pair of races should hopefully be another close fought affair with the BMW and Ducati neck-and-neck.

    Race 1 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu wins Balaton Park opener marred by early pile-up

    WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu wins Balaton Park opener marred by early pile-up

    Toprak Razgatlioglu extended his lead in the championship with a win from pole at the inaugural WorldSBK race at Balaton Park in Hungary that required a restart after 1/3 of the field went down together at turn 2 on the opening lap.

    The maiden race at the techincal anti-clockwise circuit in Balaton – which will play host to the 1000th Superbike World Championship race tomorrow – led to a concertina effect through the first 2 corners on the opening lap.  Andrea Iannone made a mistake that took himself and six – and nearly seven – others into the gravel trap at turn 2.

    Iannone was slapped a double long-lap penalty for triggering the pile-up in what is far from his first such punishment this year.  The Italian’s mistake led to a violent chain reaction that took out Garrett Gerloff, Remy Gardner, Iker Lecuona, Ryan Vickers and the Barni Ducati teammates Danilo Petrucci and Yari Montella.

    Amazingly, all bar 3 riders took the restarted 20-lap race but 3 have been declared unfit for action in tomorrow’s pair of races. Gardner, Lecuona and Vickers missed the restart and although the latter is fit to ride again, Gerloff has been grounded after a valiant effort under duress that saw him salvage 9th.

    On the thankfully clean restart Razgatlioglu was challenged by Andrea Locatelli but the BMW rider quickly cemented his lead.  Locatelli had stolen the lead on the original start but in the 2nd running was immediately pressured by Sam Lowes.

    Having qualified off the front-row of the grid for the 1st time this year and after losing the championship lead to Razgatlioglu last time out in Donington Park, Nicolo Bulega had his work cut out but swiftly made his way forwards.  As has happened before this year, by the time Bulega cemented 2nd place, his title rival was several seconds clear and the Ducati frontman had to bank the points for runner-up spot.

    The Ducati that arguably could have finished 2nd was Sam Lowes.  The MarcVDS rider had passed Locatelli for 2nd after 5 laps but promptly lost the front-end at turn 2 just as he began to lap slightly quicker than Razgatlioglu.

    Just like a fortnight ago in Donington Park, a solid result went begging for the despondent Brit but his front-row qualifying and leading pace has at least been promising to see.  His exit undoubtedly made Bulega’s rise to 2nd place easier.

    Despite Locatelli’s best efforts in another race where he was clearly the best Yamaha, the Italian fell behind Bautista into 4th just before the halfway point.  The factory Ducati duo had shown pace to move forward from their starting positions of 4th and 7th respectively but there was not enough pace to catch Razgatlioglu and the order was clearly settled by half-distance barring any disasters.

    Locatelli finished ahead of Petrucci and the latter still holds 3rd in the championship ahead of Bautista thanks to a great recovery drive having been caught in the turn 2 melee.  Alex Lowes ran Petrucci close before a crucial mistake in the closing laps saw him cede position while Rea slipped back into the frenetic battle for 7th.

    There was contact and frequent position changes in the duel over 7th between Montella, Gerloff and Xavi Vierge but Rea took himself out at turn 1 with 6 laps to go.  To add insult to injury, the Yamaha rider then slid out at the fast turn 4 after rejoining to continue his nightmare 2025 season.

    Axel Bassani joined the fight at the bottom of the top-10 as Iannone recovered to 13th after falling out of the points-paying positions following his long-laps.  Tomorrow will be a historic day for the championship as it celebrates a millennium of races at the Hungarian Round that has so far gone all Razgatlioglu’s way.

    Race 1 Results

      Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • MotoGP Summer Break: Championship Check In

    MotoGP Summer Break: Championship Check In

    Marc Marquez may be running away with the 2025 title, but behind him, the championship standings reveal a fascinating mix of factory form, rising stars, and the impact of MotoGP’s concession system. From Ducati’s dominance to Honda and Yamaha’s quiet resurgence, here’s how the grid stacks up after the Czech Grand Prix weekend — and what it means for each manufacturer’s development path.

    Manufacturer Key Points

    Ducati

    • Five riders in the top 6 shows immense depth.
    • Marc Marquez [Ducati Lenovo Team] dominance + consistent support from Alex Marquez [BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP], Pecco Bagnaia [Ducati Lenovo Team], and the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team.
    • No surprise they continue to lock out Rank A in the Concession system.

    Aprilia

    • Marco Bezzecchi flying the flag solo in the Aprilia Racing team with 156 points (P4).
    • Jorge Martin’s [Aprilia Racing] injury and Aleix’s switch to Honda have hurt the overall tally.
    • Still comfortably Rank C, but lacking strength in numbers.
    Photo credit: Aprilia Factory Racing

    KTM

    • Pedro Acosta [Red Bull KTM Factory Racing] (P7) leads their charge with 124 pts.
    • Brad Binder [Red Bull KTM Factory Racing] in P12 (68 pts) and Maverick Viñales [Red Bull KTM Tech3] in P11 (69 pts) highlight some inconsistency.
    • Solid mid-pack presence keeping them in Rank C.

    Honda

    • Joan Zarco [CASTROL Honda LCR] (P8, 109 pts) is the clear standout.
    • Joan Mir [Honda HRC Castrol] is having the unluckiest season, only 36.36% of his crashes in Sprints and Grand Prix this year have been self inflicted, the rest have been contact with another rider.
    • Signs of progress, but still deep in Rank D.

    Yamaha

    • Fabio Quartararo [Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team] (P9) leads with 102 pts.
    • Like Honda, visible gains, but still Rank D.
    Photo Credit: Yamaha MotoGP

    🏆 Top 10 Riders – Championship Standings

    Pos Rider Team Points Gap to P1
    1 Marc Marquez Ducati Lenovo Team 381 –
    2 Alex Marquez BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP 261 -120
    3 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team 213 -168
    4 Marco Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing 156 -225
    5 Fabio Di Giannantonio VR46 Ducati 142 -239
    6 Franco Morbidelli VR46 Ducati 139 -242
    7 Pedro Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 124 -257
    8 Johann Zarco CASTROL Honda LCR 109 -272
    9 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha 102 -279
    10 Fermin Aldeguer BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP 97 -284
  • WorldSBK: Bulega completes hat-trick at home in Cremona

    WorldSBK: Bulega completes hat-trick at home in Cremona

    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 3rd suggests 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.

    RACE 2 RESULTS

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • WorldSBK: Bulega repels early Razgatliogu challenge in Cremona Race 1

    WorldSBK: Bulega repels early Razgatliogu challenge in Cremona Race 1

    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.

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • MotoGP: Marc Marquez Wins Jerez Sprint In Front of Deafening Crowd

    MotoGP: Marc Marquez Wins Jerez Sprint In Front of Deafening Crowd

    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. 

     

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    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.

    Result: Top 10

    Image Credit: MotoGP

    Feature Image Credit: Ducati

  • WorldSBK: Locatelli takes maiden win amid double Bulega retirement

    WorldSBK: Locatelli takes maiden win amid double Bulega retirement

    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.

    RACE 2 RESULTS

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: Ducati

  • WorldSBK: Bulega dominates as chaos reigns behind in Assen Race 1

    WorldSBK: Bulega dominates as chaos reigns behind in Assen Race 1

    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.

    The crash meant Bautista has eliminated himself from Race 1 at both of the last two rounds and trails his teammate Bulega by almost 80 points after just 7 of 36 races this year.  As for Lowes, his maiden WSBK pole for MarcVDS would perhaps have been rewarded with a podium finish but it was sadly not to be.

    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.

    Race 1 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK