Toprak Razgatlioglu has found himself back on the top of the podium after having fallen back as a result of an injury hiatus and recovery getting back up to full race pace. Despite mix conditions throughout the race Razgatlioglu navigated the changing track conditions to take home the win. While Razgatlioglu was not available for comment post race the story of the day was the ascension of Iker Lecuona who secured the first podium of the season for Team HRC.
After multiple struggles plagued the Honda side they’ve finally captured a glimpse of what the future could hold. Lecuona’s P3 finish in race one was the result of a calculated run to the top 3 after mixed conditions prevent him from logging as many laps as he had hoped in qualifying and practice. Lecuona said, “A crazy race! I made a good start and was able to pass some riders through the first turns to move in behind Xavi. I almost crashed coming into contact with Rinaldi which caused me to lose ground, but I recovered and was able to pass many riders.
I felt very strong and knew I had a good level of performance today, but I still didn’t expect a podium as we didn’t have much dry track time to be able to understand the tire life. So I tried to save the tires in some places but also keep the pace. At the end, I thought let’s see if I can catch Locatelli and Bulega and then Andrea made a mistake and I was into P3.”
Lecuona Continued
I couldn’t relax because I knew Alex (Lowes) was close behind me, but I worked hard to maintain my pace as I really wanted the podium. I’m so happy to have done it; when I got onto pit lane, I started to cry. It’s been a very hard year for me, with many injuries, and at times, I’ve even questioned whether I’m good enough to be here, to be honest. But I’ve worked hard, listened to all the people around me who are important to me, and race by race, we’ve been improving and building on our results. I knew the podium was within reach and we’ve finally done it today. I’m so happy and want to thank everyone on HRC and on the Team, my family, my girlfriend, my friends, including my manager, and all those who support me. I’m very happy.”
Nicolo Bulega finished P2. While his title race is not over he certainly needs to find his early season form if he wants to bring the fight back to Razgatlioglu who seemingly is showing no signs of slowing down this weekend.
Race 1 Results from Esotril
World Superbike has released the provisional 2025 season calendar. The season will feature 12 rounds with one new venue to debut with the series next year. Check out next years scheduled below.
2025 FIM World Superbike Championship Schedule
21st-23rd February: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Australia
28th-30th March: Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal
11th-13th April: TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands
2nd-4th May: Cremona Circuit, Italy
16th-18th May: Autodrom Most, Czechia
13th-15th June: Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, Italy
11th-13th July: Donington Park, UK
25th-27th July: Balaton Park Circuit, Hungary*
5th-7th September: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
26th-28th September: MotorLand Aragon, Spain
10th-12th October: Circuito Estoril, Portugal
17th-19th October: Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, Spain**
*Subject to homologation
** Subject to contract
The World Superbike grid was shaken up quite a bit today with Andrea Iannone winning the race and throwing a wrench in the World Superbike championship race for the front runners. Race 1 was full of drama with Nicolo Bulega having to sit out due to an issue on the warm up lap and Sam Lowes experiencing a major failure that resulted in a high side crash.
It had been 2967 days since Andrea Iannone had last stepped foot on the podium. 8 years had passed and today he stood on the top of the podium; a poetic finish nonetheless. Iannone said “I am very happy with this victory, which has a very important meaning for me, it is a personal satisfaction, a revenge after the difficult moments we have gone through.
I owe a lot to all the people who have been close to me and who have welcomed me. I thank Gigi Dall’Igna, Claudio Domenicali, Paolo Ciabatti, Marco Zambenedetti, Mauro Grassilli, the whole Go Eleven team and the WorldSBK family. Having won both in MotoGP and WorldSBK is incredible. It is a special moment. This year I have achieved 4 podiums, with this 5, and 1 victory. As a first year back it was difficult to ask for more than this. Now we look with confidence and optimism to tomorrow’s races.”
Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager, Go Eleven): “I still can’t describe today, I don’t have the words, it was an incredible race, which Andrea managed and won with great intelligence. Seeing him ride here in Aragon is amazing, and today even in the garage a perfect job was done, the bike was fast and Iannone rode it perfectly. It was great to see him fight with Danilo and Toprak, I can’t wait for the races to start tomorrow. On the last lap my eyes were shining, because after everything Andrea has been through in the last 4 years, today he took a satisfaction that is worth more than anything in the world, and I was excited for both him and me. I want to thank all the people who support us, our staff, the sponsors and Ducati for this Saturday!”
Razgatlioglu Returns to Podium After Injury Hiatus
Toprak Razgatlioglu got right back to business by securing a P2 finished. Despite his time away missing two rounds Razgatliglu still holds the championship lead over Nicolo Bulega who had a technical failure that removed him from race 1.
Full results
Garrett Gerloff held off Toprak Razgatlioglu in FP2 to finish on top of the table by 0.004s in the combined practice results on day 1 at Aragon. This weekend marks Razgatlioglu’s return after missing two rounds due to injuries he sustained after colliding with a track barrier three rounds ago. However, in the FP2 behind Gerloff it was an all Ducati caravan with Nicolo Bulega leading the rest ahead of Alvaro Bautista and last round’s hat trick winner Danilo Petrucci.
FP2 Results
Danilo Petrucci dominated the weekend winning all three races on his home turf. The triple win marked his first hat trick in World Superbike and the first for his Barni Spark Racing side. Petrucci was big on celebration and short on words. He said, “After last weekend at Magny-Cours with three podiums I didn’t think I could do better, now I can say it out loud: you can’t do better in a weekend! Doing it in a race that for the team is really an hour from home was incredible. I’m very happy to have been able to give Marco Barnabò and his entire team such joy in front of thousands of people and so many sponsors and friends who support us. What else can I say?! It couldn’t have gone better.”
Ducati dominated the top of the table all weekend. With Toprak Razgatlioglu still out with injury the championship race has tightened with Razgatlioglu now only holding a 13 point lead after two weekends of no points. Alvaro Bautista secured himself two podiums this weekend which brought hime back into the championship fight. “It was an intense weekend,” Baustisa said.”When I arrived in Cremona, I wondered if I could race, and today, I closed the round having finished on the podium twice. The feeling was excellent. I hope to replicate this feeling at Aragon and ride with less pain”. Bautista marked his 100th podium in world superbike after finishing P2 in race 2.
Championship Standings
The day has finally come for Danilo Petrucci as he topped the tables in race 1 at Cremona today after a having previously been on the podium 10 times with the win being his 11th. Petrucci has had ups and downs with his Ducati V4R after making the transition form the American MotoAmerica Superbike Championship Series. However, 2024 seems to be the first year where he and the bike have found some positive chemistry. Petrucci as not available for comment after the race.
Ducati dominated the field on day one of racing with Nicolo Bulega and Alvaro Bautista rounding out the top 3 for an all Ducati podium. Most impressive was Bautista’s charge form P13 to P3. He said, “It was a difficult Saturday,” began Bautista. “When I pushed more, I felt I was missing some strength in my ribs. In the first few laps I felt pain so could not fight other riders and just tried to stay on bike. So I said after 5 or 6 laps if I still have this feeling I have to retire.
Lap after lap, I started to feel less pain and felt I could move better so could be more aggressive, improve my pace. I could start overtaking. I didn’t expect to finish on the podium, so am really happy. I didn’t even know if I could race this weekend, so to finish on the podium after starting at the back is a really nice feeling. Now I have to recover for tomorrow.”
Full Race 1 Results from Cremona
Nicolo Bulega was the man to beat on Sunday after bagging wins in both the Superpole race and Race 2. Unfortunately his teammate Alvaro Bautista who saw early success in Race 1; crashed in the Superpole race and was deemed unfit to continue racing for the remainder of the weekend. Bulega came out on fire from the start of Race 2 to double double and mark two wins after crashing out of race 1 on Saturday. Bulega was clearly happy with the results. “I’m really happy with these results also because last night, after the crash, I was down in the dumps,” he said. “This morning, however, I woke up with a strong determination to recover what I had lost. The feeling with the bike was extraordinary and allowed me to ride at my best despite the pain. See you at Cremona”.
Danilo Petrucci Secures Three Podiums
After what seemed to be a surprise finish for Danilo Petrucci. Petrucci solidified himself as a contender for the top spot this weekend with three podium finishes; his best full weekend result of the season. Petrucci commented, “In race 2 I wasn’t able to follow Niccolo in the first laps and he took that advantage that was then decisive, but I didn’t even think I would be alone, I expected to have to fight with the others for second place. When I tried to push to go and catch Bulega, he had something more. In any case I can only be happy because I had never made three podiums in one weekend. Today we made a good comeback in the Superpole Race and a second place in the long race. If we had been in motocross I would have won the grand prix because I’m the one who scored the most points of all the weekend (laughs), for this I want to thank the team that did a great job and all the people who help me at home.”
With Toprak Razgatlioglu deemed unfit to compete this weekend his championship lead dropped to 55 points. Nicolo Bulega gained some ground but the impact won’t be known until we get more information on Razgatlioglu’s return. Unfortunately, Razgatliolglu’s win streak record was broked due to his inability to compete.
Superpole Race Results
Race 2 Race Results
World Superbike race 1 through the field for a whirl. The race occurred in wet conditions which allowed early weekend practice leader Michael van der Mark to take advantage of Toprak Razgatlioglu’s absence and secure the win. The race was in full wet conditions with only 12 rider finishing the race. Full wet tires was the correct choice for those that came in for new tires. The race was mixed condition but the wet tire had much better pace in the corners than those who opted for intermediates or slicks. On lap 4 of the race the rain started pouring which handed the advantage over to van der Mark.
Surprise Podium for Baustisa
After starting race 1 in P17 Alvaro took advantage of those who failed to respond to the changing track conditions. Bautista said, “It was a crazy race. Right after the start, as soon as I saw the first drop of rain on the fairing, I immediately returned to the pits, and my team did an amazing job getting me out of the pit lane without losing a second. It’s clear that the conditions were extreme, so I just tried to make it to the end without making any mistakes.” Bautista’s teammate Nicolo Bulega high sided on the first lap of the race.
Fellow Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci finished in P3 24 seconds behind van der Mark.
Race 1 Results from Magny Cours
After making it through FP1 FP2 held a more grim outcome for the World Superbike championship leader. Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed during FP2 which resulted in him being transported to the hospital. Currently there is no update on whether he will be fit for FP3 tomorrow. If he is unable to compete this weekend his record setting win streak will come to an end but he has a comfortable lead in the championship which he will retain regardless of if he competes this weekend or not. We will keep you update on these developments as more information is released. Michael van der Mark finished the session on top of the table 1 and a half tenths ahead of Nico Bulega in P2.
Alvaro Bautista also crashed during FP2 but his crash appears to be less severe. He was able to get up and continue back to the pits. Conditions were dry for both crashes and both were the result of low side crashes. Despite the crash Bautista still found positives in the session. After the session Baustista said, “‘It was a positive day when we worked well in different directions, especially on tire choice. Even in the afternoon I found a good feeling, concentrating on the race pace as we do every Friday”. FP3 kicks off tomorrow.
FP2 Results
It was another dominant day for Toprak Razgatlioglu at Autodrom Most with the Turkish rider taking home his 10th win of the season. Razgatlioglu finished 5.740s ahead of Danilo Petrucci. Despite the gap, Petrucci seems to have found some harmony with his Ducati V4R this year. With the finish Petrucci secured his second podium finish this year with the first occurring during the season opening round. Petrucci was able to hold off a charging Andrea Iannone who finished one tenth behind for P3.
Bautista Charges After P10 Start
Alvaro Bautista made a sensational recovery after having a less than stellar Superpole outing leving him down in 10th place for the start of the race. He said, “The fourth place is a good result in light of the starting position. I have to say, though, that the feeling with the bike was slightly less than I felt during free practice. I don’t know if losing the left wing due to contact with Petrucci (Ducati) at the first chicane had an effect but we’ll certainly have to study the data well to take a step forward tomorrow.”
Race 1 Results from Autodrom Most