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Tag: Toprak Razgatlioglu

  • WorldSBK: Bulega keeps championship alive with Estoril Race 2 rebound

    WorldSBK: Bulega keeps championship alive with Estoril Race 2 rebound

    Nicolo Bulega bounced back with a dominant Race 2 victory at the EICMA Estoril Round to take the 2025 WorldSBK title down to the final round in Jerez next weekend, although Toprak Razgatlioglu still holds the upper hand after a victory in the Tissot Superpole Race.

     

    Tissot Superpole Race

    The start of the 10-lap Sunday morning race saw Bulega snatch the lead, with teammate Alvaro Bautista in 2nd and Razgatlioglu down to 3rd.  Xavi Vierge mounted a brief attack for 3rd, but the top 3 settled after the first corner.

    When Razgatlioglu fell down the order in yesterday’s race, it did not stop him coming back through to the front.  This time he had only fallen to 3rd so predictably the BMW rider was still in contention for the win despite another poor start.

    Within half a lap, Bautista had succumbed to the pressure from Razgatlioglu.  By the start of the 2nd lap, Razgatlioglu made a successful move for the lead however he then ran wide at turn 6.

    This began a half-lap scrap where the positions changed at turns 8, 10 and then turn 1 on the following lap. Ultimately, Razgatliolgu prevailed and after this entertaining battle it was a done deal for the win, although Bulega at least kept him honest and under pressure for the remainder of the 10 laps.

    Bautista had slipped back and was locked in a battle with Jonathan Rea.  Rea, his teammate Andrea Locatelli and Vierge were stuck behind Bautista after the former very briefly ran in 3rd in the early stages only to crash out at turn 7 on lap 6.

    Yari Montella also crashed out at turn 7 but was able to rejoin while Michael Ruben Rinaldi pulled into the pits of his own volition and Tito Rabat was eliminated late on.

    Andrea Iannone made the most of Rea’s exit as he moved past Remy Gardner and a fading Vierge to seal 5th.  He was also aided by Alex Lowes eliminating himself when he lost the front of the bike at the first corner on the last lap, securing 4th for Locatelli with Bautista broken clear up the road for 3rd with Axel Bassani and Michael van der Mark being promoted into the crucial top 9 that sets grid spots for Race 2.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    Race 2

    Thanks to 2 consecutive runner-up spots, Bulega put himself in a position of near certainty going into the final race of the weekend to prolong the championship battle into Jerez.  However, what the Italian pulled off on Sunday afternoon in Estoril was a real warning shot to his rival ahead of next week’s showdown.

    Once again, Bulega made the hole shot to turn 1 and was followed by Locatelli from 4th on the grid.  Bautista was 3rd, a jump-starting Iannone 4th and Razgatlioglu down to 5th from pole position.

    Predictably, Razgatlioglu’s fightback began on lap 2, passing Bautista for 4th at turn 1.  He did not really need to pass Iannone on-track who would soon be docked with a double long-lap penalty (far from his first this year) but did so anyway at the penultimate chicane of the Estoril track later on lap 2.

    There followed a forceful move on Locatelli by Razgatlioglu at the final chicane, which Iannone also took advantage of.  It was not long before the Italian departed the fight but Bautista and Locatelli had passed him before he dived off the racing line for his penalty.

    By this stage, Bulega was already 1.5 seconds clear of Razgatlioglu.  Surprisingly, the gap did not come down and later in the race Razgatlioglu was caught by the trackside cameras shaking his head as he came out of the last 2 corners.

    It appeared that the hot conditions were causing Razgatlioglu to struggle for rear grip and he had to settle for 2nd place 5 seconds down on a jubilant Bulega.  The race was hardly a classic, but it reignited hope that Bulega was not yet down and out in 2025 as he and Bautista sealed the Teams’ Championship for aruba.it Racing – Ducati.

    Rinaldi and Tarran Mackenzie both crashed out while Lecuona slid out with 8 laps to go.  The fight for the final podium spot was a more muted affair once Alex Lowes (who started 10th) passed Locatelli for 4th on lap 5 but was unable to catch Bautista, as Rea faded to 9th after another promising race start.

    Vierge settled in 6th while Gardner and Axel Bassani fought with Rea for 7th.  van der Mark was 3 seconds back in 10th and was being caught by Garrett Gerloff and a resurgent Iannone.

    The gap now stands at 36 points between Razgatlioglu and Bulega (with BMW and Ducati even closer in the Manufacturers’ Standings) ahead of the Jerez showdown in a week’s time.  Should Bulega prevail in Race 1, the championship will go down to the final day, and the battle for 3rd overall has intensified as Danilo Petrucci’s absence this weekend saw him lose positions to Bautista and Locatelli in the standings.

    Race 2 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

  • WorldSBK: Match point to Razgatlioglu after Estoril Race 1 win

    WorldSBK: Match point to Razgatlioglu after Estoril Race 1 win

    Toprak Razgatlioglu put one hand on the 2025 Superbike World Championship trophy after winning race 1 at the EICMA Estoril Round, with there now being a possibility that the Turkish rider can win his third title in the class tomorrow if he outscores Nicolo Bulega by 21 more points – ahead of the Jerez finale next weekend.

    Starting from pole position with a new lap record around Estoril, Razgatlioglu was pipped to turn 1 by his title rival Nicolo Bulega.  However, five riders crashed and left a chaotic scene at the first corner that necessitated a red flag being flown by the end of the 1st lap.

    The race was interrupted after Tetshuta Nagashima, Bahattin Sofuoglu, Axel Bassani and Michael van der Mark went down together at turn 1 without any serious injuries, while Tarran Mackenzie narrowly avoided going down after also being hit.  Nagashima is a wildcard for Honda HRC this weekend, while Danilo Petrucci, Sam Lowes and Michael Ruben Rinaldi had all been declared unfit prior to the race.

    All of the riders were thankfully able to restart the now 20-lap race.  Razgatlioglu had a nightmare getaway dropping to 5th while Alvaro Bautista shot into the lead ahead of his teammate Bulega.

    For Razgatlioglu, it was imperative that he passed the Yamaha duo Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea in case the Ducati duo escaped up front.  However, the BMW rider made it back into the lead by as early as lap 3…

    When Razgatlioglu moved clear of the Yamahas, Bulega and then Bautista by turn 1 on lap 3, he was able to immediately stretch his lead.  Bulega had to battle past his teammate to stop Razgatlioglu blasting off into the distance, but the consequence of his move at turn 6 left Bautista vulnerable to Rea.

    As has so often been the case in 2025, Razgatlioglu was able to control the pace and came home 2 seconds clear of Bulega.  The gap had been stretched in the first half of the race and steadily came down in the second, but this may have been down to a tyre offset from a swtich made during the red-flag period and Razgatlioglu had enough in hand over the closing laps to respond to Bulega’s pace to give himself a narrow shot at wrapping up the championship after Race 2 tomorrow.

    There was at least plenty of action in the battle for the final podium spot which eventually went to Bautista.  On lap 8, Rea made a mistake by running wide at the first corner but was able to close right back up to Bautista, with the latter then slipping up on lap 12.

    Bautista’s error just after half distance allowed Alex Lowes to close in for the podium battle.  Thankfully for the Ducati rider Lowes slowed down Rea’s assault and Bautista was able to come home 2 seconds clear for 3rd place but a whopping 15 seconds down on the race leader.

    Sadly for the outgoing Rea, there was to be no podium result as he slipped behind both Lowes and Locatelli on lap 15 of 20.  On the following tour an impressive Locatelli got past Lowes into turn 1 to seal 4th while Bautista had gotten clear of the battle behind.

    Xavi Vierge (who replaces the retiring Rea next season) nearly caught the bike that will soon be his and Andrea Iannone was right behind at the chequered flag.  In 9th came Remy Gardner ahead of a charging Garrett Gerloff with Tito Rabat the other big mover from his starting spot.

     

    Race 1 Results

    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 masters Magny-Cours to seal 12 consecutive wins

    WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu masters Magny-Cours to seal 12 consecutive wins

    After a dominant display in qualifying and Race 1, Toprak Razgatlioglu unsurprisingly rode off into the distance on the Sunday of the French Round to take a 4th consecutive hat-trick and 12th win in a row in 2025 ahead of a demoralised Nicolo Bulega.

     

    Tissot Superpole Race

    Bulega very briefly led the Sunday morning 10-lap race in Magny-Cours before Razgatlioglu secured the win with a clinical move at the tight hairpin halfway round the opening lap to ease home for another victory.  A mistake for Bulega at turn 15 at the end of lap 3 left the Italian behind the Lowes’ brothers, which sealed the deal for any hopes of a battle for the race win.

    Alex Lowes once again came home in 3rd despite running behind his brother Sam in the early stages.  Sam was cycled back to 4th when Bulega came past him and Alex a lap and a half after his mistake, but the MarcVDS rider then crashed out with 4 laps to go with much bigger consequences than yesterday to leave him stranded down the grid for Race 2.

    The best-of-the-rest fight for 4th place became a battle between Danilo Petrucci and Michael van der Mark.  Clearly van der Mark’s contusions from yesterday’s crashes were not slowing him down as he came home a solid 5th behind Petrucci.  Andrea Iannone meanwhile just held off Jonathan Rea, Axel Bassani and Xavi Vierge for 6th.

    Rea was fortunate to even make it to the finish after he had to take avoiding action at the hairpin at one point which led to Alvaro Bautista slamming into the back of him.  Bautista ended up on the floor and – like Sam Lowes – one of the quick riders stuck outside of the top 3 rows for Race 2 in the afternoon.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Race 2

    Razgatlioglu defended his lead at the start of Race 2, Bulega held onto 2nd, and Alex Lowes settled into 3rd to seal the exact same podium for all three events this weekend in Magny Cours.  It was another dominant display from the BMW rider who sealed a 12th consecutive victory and leaves him with a 39-point lead in the championship with just 3 rounds (and 12 races) to go in 2025.

    The action at the start of Race 2 was provided by a fast-starting Rea who shot up to 4th place from 7th on the grid.  Bautista was also riding like a man possessed from a lowly 14th on the grid after another pair of unfortunate crashes in the previous 2 races.

    By the end of the race Bautista was so rapid that he almost caught Alex Lowes for the final podium spot.  It was thrilling to watch the Ducati rider scythe away through the order, particularly against a rejuvenated Michael van der Mark who came home a solid 5th place behind Bautista.

    Alex Lowes had been battling Danilo Petrucci for 4th initially before the Barni Ducati rider lost his pace, while Rea also fell into 6th ahead of Vierge – who himself had initially squabbled with van der Mark.  Rea had challenged Alex Lowes for 3rd for as long as he could, but the Bimota, factory BMW and factory Ducati’s were just a little too quick for the retiring legend to stay in the podium battle for long.

    Behind Petrucci in 7th came Locatelli, Aegerter and Gerloff rounding out the top 10, with only 2 seconds separating those 4.  Tarran MacKenzie and substitute HRC rider Sergio Garcia rounded out the points scorers after solid rides to 14th and 15th places respectively.

    Razgatlioglu was 8 seconds clear of Bulega at the flag and enjoyed a symbolic celebration at the same corner where he crashed at high-speed last year which ruled him out of action for that particular round.  With a 39-point gap at the top of the standings and Bulega seemingly unable to thwart his BMW nemesis like he could do earlier in the campaign, Razgatlioglu is well on his way to a 3rd WorldSBK title ahead of his much-awaited MotoGP move in 2026.

    Race 2 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • WorldSBK: Attritional Race 1 at Magny-Cours sees Razgatlioglu make history

    WorldSBK: Attritional Race 1 at Magny-Cours sees Razgatlioglu make history

    Toprak Razgatliolu became the first rider since Troy Corser to win at the same circuit on three different makes of bike in the Superbike World Championship in the opening race of the 2025 French Round, which saw another hectic lap 1 mix up the field.

    From pole position sealed with an all-time lap record around the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Razgatlioglu led the field and never looked back at a track that he has already notched up wins on for Kawasaki and Yamaha.  Of course, had it not been for a nightmare crash last season here at Magny-Cours then the record of winning for 3 manufacturers would almost certainly already have been his and Corser’s to share this time last year.

    The man who leapt up to 2nd was Alex Lowes on the Bimota machine, while Nicolo Bulega fell back to 4th also behind Sam Lowes.  Predictably, Bulega would be back into 2nd place after a couple of laps and as usual Razgatlioglu was already comfortably clear by this point while Alex Lowes settled into the final podium spot.

    At turn 9 on what appeared to be quite a clean opening lap of the race, Yari Montella came into the right-hand corner and eliminated both Andrea Iannone and Jonathan Rea.  Rea was able to continue but later retired, while later in the same corner both Xavi Vierge and Alvaro Bautista bizarrely went down themselves (and were at least able to rejoin) to leave 5 bikes on the floor at one point.

    Michael van der Mark avoided the chaos and was finally showing some strong race pace in his morbid 2025 campaign but 2 crashes left him with injured with contusions, just like Iannone from the incident on lap 1.  Garrett Gerloff also slid out at high speed by himself as the race reached the closing stages while Tarran MacKenzie was also forced to retire early on.

    The 15 riders who scored world championship points were the only 15 to have a clean race.  That is except for Sam Lowes, who threw away 4th place with a clumsy crash at turn 13 late on but he was at least able to bring the bike back home in 9th place ahead of an unlikely duo of Bahattin Sofuoglu in 10th and Iker Lecuona replacement rider Sergio Garcia in 11th.

    The attrition meant that Andrea Locatelli was able to come from the pitlane after a crash in quaifying to finish a remarkable 5th place.  Nonetheless, it was Razgatlioglu up front who stole the headlines with a dominant victory that left no one in doubt who was the favourite for Sunday’s pair of races with a 4th consecutive hattrick/treble looking ominous.

     

    Race 1 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

     

  • WorldSBK: Another treble for Razgatliolgu at Balaton Park

    WorldSBK: Another treble for Razgatliolgu at Balaton Park

    The man who won the 800th and 900th WorldSBK races also won the 1000th as Toprak Razgatlioglu triumped in the Tissot Superpole Race in changeable conditions before dominating Race 2 to take back-to-back trebles following his Donington Park success a fortnight ago.

    Tissot Superpole Race

    On late Sunday morning at Balaton Park, conditions were mixed.  The rain had subsided in time for the race start but there was a split of riders risking it on slicks and others on intermediate rubber.

    As it turns out, the slick tyres were not as much of a risk as the intermediate rubber overheated in the drying conditions.  Despite only being a 10-lap affair, there were several passes for position throughout the grid as some of the riders on intermediates went forward before falling back and others could not find any performance at all while the slicks improved as the race progressed.

    Nicolo Bulega was one of the riders to run intermediates and had a nightmare 10 laps that saw him come home 13th and starting in 10th for Race 2 as his championship rival Razgatlioglu kept his cool to pick up another victory.  Although he held the lead from pole position at the start, by lap 3 the Turkish rider had fallen to 3rd and had to contend with Alvaro Bautista coming from 4th but by the halfway point was back at the front and never looked back as his slick tyres got up to temperature.

    The two riders to pass Razgatlioglu for 1st and 2nd were Danilo Petrucci and then Sam Lowes.  The intermediate tyres were working well for those such as Petrucci, his teammate Yari Montella and Alex Lowes but as the race wore on their advantage disappeared.

    Montella crashed out after making up 6 places at the start and Andrea Locatelli lost 3 places with a trip through the gravel trap on lap 4.  Locatelli at least remained clear of the thrilling battle for the final points positions down to 9th that set the grid for Race 2.

    Tarron MacKenzie has replaced Scott Redding on the MGM Bonovo Ducati for this round and at one point the Scotsman attempted to pass Ryan Vickers and a fading Petrucci into turn 1.  Ultimately, Vickers came home 7th ahead of MacKenzie and Jonathan Rea disposed Petrucci of 9th for an all-British row 3 in Race 2.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    Race 2

    Razgatlioglu was briefly overtaken for the lead by Bautista at the start of Race 2 before the Turkish rider reasserted the lead at the end of the back straight on the 1st lap.  From there, the BMW rider rode off into the distance helped by the squabbling for 2nd place that delayed his rivals.

    Bautista, Sam Lowes and Locatelli began fighting for 2nd but it was not long before Bulega blasted up the order from 10th to join in.  The runner-up in the championship was up to 5th by the end of lap 2 and so began a 4-way fight for 2nd place as Razgatlioglu disappeared up front.

    Sam Lowes bullied Bautista out of 2nd place but the Spaniard was defiant and repassed the satellite bike as his teammate Bulega made it into 4th past Locatelli then the two factory Ducati’s swapped places.  With 16 laps still to go, Bautista then ran wide at the same spot that Tito Rabat had a crash in qualifying earlier in the weekend that destroyed his biike but thankfully left the Spaniard unhurt.

    To rub salt into Bautista’s wounds, his rival for 3rd in the championship – Petrucci – made it past Locatelli for 4th.  Bulega and Sam Lowes (minus his fairing on one side) settled into 2nd and 3rd while Razgatlioglu continued to lap slightly quicker way out front.

    Vickers was having his best WorldSBK race to date but was dealt a long-lap penalty for course cutting through a chicane then not losing at least 1 second through the sector not long after he passed Xavi Vierge for 6th.  When Vickers went to serve the penalty, he braked too late and went off into the gravel, had to retake his long-lap, then crashed out of 14th.

    Alex Lowes was the big mover in the closing stages as he made up a place when Vickers went down, another when he overtook his teammate, then made it around Vierge for 6th.  MacKenzie lost 10th at the end to Yari Montella, while Rea was a lowly 12th.

    Razgatlioglu’s 15th win of the season stretched his lead to 26 points over Bulega as the championship goes into its summer break.  Bulega will be worried after back-to-back trebles for his BMW rival but the title battle will race on with 4 rounds left to go starting in September.

     

    Race 2 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

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    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • WorldSBK: Championship lead finally changes as Razgatlioglu dominates Donington

    WorldSBK: Championship lead finally changes as Razgatlioglu dominates Donington

    Toprak Razgatlioglu has finally knocked Nicolo Bulega off the top of the World Superbikes championship lead in 2025 after a comfortable treble victory around Donington Park – a circuit he has now secured 12 victories at – as his Ducati nemesis had to settle for consecutive runner-up spots.

     

    Tissot Superpole Race

    Alex Lowes was declared unfit for Sunday’s action after his crash from the lead yesterday in Race 1.  In the slightly cooler conditions, the World Superbikes grid was hoping for a much cleaner race than yesterdays and things immediately went smoother as they all made it through turn 1 safely.

    Once again, Jonathan Rea shot through from the 2nd row of the grid to take 2nd place behind polesitter Razgatliolgu into Redgate on lap 1.  Bulega slid to 4th while Andrea Locatelli ran in 3rd.

    The only casualty on the 1st lap was Michael van der Mark, whose miserable season continues.  By the 2nd lap, Locatelli was back down to 5th as Bulega moved ahead to challenge Rea for 2nd and Sam Lowes then passed him for 4th.

    The battle between Rea and Bulega over allowed Razgatlioglu to stretch his lead out front as the Yamaha and Ducati ran the latter half of the Donington Park lap side-by-side on the 2nd lap.   The entertaining battle came to an end as Bulega prevailed and it became clear that Rea’s ultimate pace was not enough for him to secure a podium.

    Another great piece of racing occurred between Ryan Vickers and Yari Montella.  The latter made a mistake that lost him positions and the former had enough pace to fight within the crucial top-9 positions in the Tissot Superpole Race – which sets the grid for Race 2.

    Alvaro Bautista – like Sam Lowes – was making up for lost time from the previous day’s crash.  The Ducati rider passed Locatelli for 4th and secured a much better grid spot for Race 2 later in the day.

    Behind the top 6 and starting Race 2 where they finished were Danilo Petrucci, Garrett Gerloff and Andrea Iannone.  It seemed as if Vickers would be in the top 9, but on the 8th out of 10 laps he ran wide at the final corner.

    Iker Lecuona and Scott Redding both had technical issues that forced them out near the end while Locatelli made it past his teammate Rea at the chicane on the last lap.  Razgatlioglu’s 11th win around Donington Park cut the gap to Bulega to just 1 point ahead of the full distance race in the afternoon where he looked all set to snatch the lead in the championship.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Race 2

    For the third time this weekend, Razgatlioglu made the hole shot to Redgate as Bulega suffered another sluggish getaway.  It was Sam Lowes, fresh from a home podium in the Tissot Superpole Race, who inherited 2nd place at the start.

    Bulega again fell as low as 5th and had to repass Locatelli, then set about his teammate Bautista who had also passed him in the early stages.  The Ducati teammates fight over 3rd then became a battle over 2nd as Sam Lowes crashed out at high speed at the start of lap 4 but thankfully without any obvious injuries like his brother Alex had a day earlier.

    After Bulega made it past Bautista the battles at the front of the grid settled down as Razgatlioglu had covered off any vulnerability by acing the start and settling into a comfortable rhythm.  There was however a battle for 4th featuring Locatelli, Petrucci, Iannone and Gerloff.

    Locatelli held a gap of just under a second to stay out of range from Petrucci as Iannone made a mistake at the chicane that dropped him out of the fight and behind Dominique Aegerter with 8 laps to go.  Vickers was a couple of seconds behind holding Remy Gardner at bay for 9th, both of whom had made up several spots since the start.

    Meanwhile, van der Mark had yet more mechanical trouble as his nightmare weekend in Donington continued with another retirement on Sunday as his teammate romped to a triple victory.  The only threat to Razgatlioglu was a track limits warning but it did not advance into a penalty.

    Bulega was in bigger trouble than the leader as his teammate Bautista put on a charge to close right up to him on the final lap.  Bulega just held on from Bautista as Razgatlioglu came home 3 seconds clear of the Ducatis and took the championship lead for the first time this year with a record 12th victory at the Prosecco DOC UK Round.

    Further down, Iannone made it back past Aegerter for 7th but Vickers fell backwards once again and came home 11th.  Scott Redding was behind in 12th, completely unable to replicate the pace he had shown in Race 1 the previous day while British wildcard Tommy Bridewell retired.

    Lecuona’s Honda finally held together for a race distance at the 3rd attempt this weekend to take 10th behind Gardner, then came the two Brits.  Vickers and Redding were the meat in a Honda sandwich as Montella and Rea trundled home as the last of the points scorers.

    Race 2 Results

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    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • WorldSBK: Brits impress on home soil as Razgatlioglu wins Donington Race 1

    WorldSBK: Brits impress on home soil as Razgatlioglu wins Donington Race 1

    Toprak Razgatlioglu took a historic 10th victory at Donington Park to slash the championship deficit to Nicolo Bulega to just 4 points under sizzling Leicestershire sunshine as the home heroes did their best to put on a show for the British crowd.

    Having started on pole position at a track that is amongst his favourites on the World Superbikes calendar, Razgatlioglu took a comfortable 10th victory around Donington in Race 1 at the Prosecco DOC UK Round.  However, the Turkish rider had a couple of unlikely challengers in the opening stages.

    Starting in 4th place – his best of the season – Jonathan Rea shot through into 2nd place and very nearly took the lead into Redgate on the 1st lap.  Halfway around the lap, Rea’s dream start was thwarted by Alex Lowes and halfway round lap 2, Lowes snatched 1st place from Razgatlioglu on his Bimota.

    Sadly, Lowes time in the lead was cut short when he crashed going through the fast Craner Curves at the start of lap 4.  Lowes was far from the only fast rider to exit the race early on as three Ducatis from three different teams went down in a scary accident at the first corner on lap 1.

    Yari Montella and Sam Lowes came together, collecting Alvaro Bautista on the outside of Redgate corner.  This is far from the only time Bautista has been caught in a crash in the midfield after the start of a race this year as the Spaniard’s poor qualifying form keeps leaving him vulnerable.

    By one quarter distance in the race, one quarter of the field was already out. Only 16 riders made it to the finish, while it was not just crashes but mechanical problems probably onset by the heat that led to Iker Lecuona’s Honda gearbox giving up.

    As some unfortunate riders dropped out, others rose to the fore.  Scott Redding had leapt up 8 spots after the 1st lap but his compatriot Ryan Vickers, who like Rea was enjoying his best qualifying of the year at home in Donington fell down 7 spots.

    After Alex Lowes took himself out of the lead, Razgatliolgu had enough pace in hand to increase the gap to Bulega behind each lap.  Bulega had fallen as low as 5th but was back into 2nd place fairly quickly as Rea started to fade, but had no answer to his BMW rival who won by 6 and a half seconds.

    Rea settled at the back of a four-way fight for 3rd behind Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Locatelli and Redding.  Behind them came Dominique Aegerter and Garrett Gerloff both running comfortably in their respective positions while another four-way battle ensued over 9th place.

    Although Redding appeared to have the most pace and made it into 4th before Petrucci started to pull clear a little, a mistake at the Melbourne Hairpin towards the end dropped him to 6th place at the flag but it was still a positive race for the Brit who had been back racing in the British Superbike Championship just 6 days earlier at Knockhill.  In the battle for 9th, Vickers and Michael van der Mark tripped over each other too much and slipped behind Andrea Iannone and Xavi Vierge.

    Race 1 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK