Sunday WorldSBK/SSP Results/Reports/Quotes/Notes

WorldSBK 2025

Round One – Phillip Island – Sunday

WorldSBK Riders Reflect on Phillip Island

In points scoring order

Nicolo Bulega – 62 points

“I’m really happy because this is my first hat-trick in WorldSBK. It feels incredible to do this it at my favourite track. I want to go home and celebrate! I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished this weekend. My bike was perfect from Monday’s test to the last lap of Race 2. I enjoyed every lap this week. We can be competitive again in Portimao, though it won’t be easy. Toprak will be very fast there as will Alvaro and other riders. I’ll try to maintain this level even though it will be difficult.”

Alvaro Bautista – 36 points

“This Sunday didn’t start in the best way in the Superpole Race. However, the feeling was good, allowing me to stay focused and ride in Race 2 as I liked. I am satisfied because my goal for this weekend was to get a good feeling again. We go to Portimao with good feelings”.

Andrea Iannone – 35 points

“It was a good Sunday for us in Australia; this morning I got a good start and tried to follow Bulega in the Superpole Race, but we were missing a couple of tenths per lap. For Race 2 we made some changes to the bike and my feeling improved further. In the first stint I had a good advantage over third place, then Alvaro managed to take me. We brought home a second and a third place, we are third in the championship and, above all, we scored more points than last year, which is important for us. Being close to the reference team and getting on the podium means we can be satisfied with the result. I thank Ducati and the whole team for all the work done!”

Danilo Petrucci – 31 points

“It was overall a good weekend, although in Race 2, the incidents with Toprak affected the result. Unfortunately, he touched me, making me lose contact with Redding, Iannone, and Bautista. I’m happy, but not fully satisfied, because I wanted to be closer and fight for the podium, but I had to settle for fifth place. We scored a lot of points and improved our performance compared to last year, always staying in the top 5. Now we have the tests in Portimão before the race, where finding a good setup and effective solutions will be crucial.”

Scott Redding – 30 points

“Today was good. Honestly, I really wanted that podium so bad! In the Superpole race, I battled with Danilo and learned a few things with the used tyres, electronics and setup. This test was the first time we made real progress with the bike. The race weekend was tough but it’s fantastic to be back fighting at the front, overtaking guys, and being where I should be. In Race 2 I told myself that I had to find a red or yellow bike and not let go! I made a great start but they were just faster than me. I was riding at the limit and they looked comfortable. I came away with three top-fives, which I’m happy with. I fought for the podium—I just didn’t end up on it. But I gave it everything. We’re still learning with Ducati, but the team has been amazing.”

Andrea Locatelli – 22 points

“Today, we made a good Superpole Race and we gained some positions for the Race 2 grid. I was quite happy after these 10 laps, I made some good passes and we tried to take a step forward to improve also in Race 2. I was a bit in trouble in the beginning of the long race, fighting especially with the front, but in the second part of the race I recovered well, was able to push harder and I was fast until the end. P7 today, same as yesterday but we need to take the positives, look forward and try to make another step. Now we have the opportunity to ride the bike in Portimao test in less than one month. Let’s recover, bring home all the data because it was a different situation here in Phillip Island compared to last year. I would have liked to be on the podium honestly, I really gave 100% – but this was for us the maximum result today. Anyway, I did my best and my confidence is good, so let’s try again on the next one.”

Sam Lowes – 21 points

“That was a really good Sunday for me and the team. I said we had the potential to perform better than Race 1 yesterday and that’s exactly what we did and today showed how much we have improved throughout the weekend. I really enjoyed the Superpole race with some good overtakes and it just felt good to be battling close to the front again. It would have been nice to hold off Petrucci in Race 2, but a double top six is a strong way to kick off the new season. I feel we’ve already made a massive step forward compared to last year with my feeling on the bike. The whole team is working better with more experience together and these results give us a strong platform to build on as the season moves on. It’s always good to leave the opening round with solid points and especially at a track like Phillip Island where it is never easy. Now we need to make sure we continue this momentum in Portimao.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu – 20 points

“I am never very happy after the first races of the season which has been the case in the past years – the season opener is always strange. To get the podium in race one was not easy; thanks to my team as in every session they improved the bike. I felt a bit better on the bike in that race and we did a very good job. At the start of the Superpole race, I had a big problem and was lucky not to hit someone and to avoid a big crash. For race two we said it would be better to ride yesterday’s bike because I felt that we had been really improving and the grip was much better than before but during the race there was a problem and I could not continue. But I now only focus on the next race. Finally we are going to Europe and I’m just starting to fight with all the Ducatis because this is almost like a Ducati Cup. Nicolò Bulega was strong here last year, so I was not surprised that he was fast. Congratulations to him, he did a very good job and deserves it. I think that we will fight more this year. Álvaro Bautista is also strong, but this year, all Ducatis were in front. This is not normal and I hope that it will not continue like this. Now we have a long break of almost one month and we will work hard and try to come back stronger. We have a test at Portimão and these two test days are really important because we try to improve the bike. We are still not at hundred percent but I know that everyone is pushing hard.”

Alex Lowes – 19 points

“It was good on Sunday and I think we improved the bike a little bit as the weekend went on. The races were solid. We finished in the positions we thought we might finish in – seventh and eighth today – but I did not have the confidence in the bike to really fight and was missing the ability to pass. I was stuck for the whole second race behind Andrea Locatelli. Respect to him because he made no mistakes, but I was in the position that if he went quicker I went quicker, but I couldn’t get past him. If I step back, and assess the whole week of official testing and then the first race weekend, it was a good week. We got a lot of information, this was our first time trying the bike in hotter conditions, the first time every trying the bike with an SC1 tyre in the back, and there are only two bimota KB998 Rimini race bikes in the world – Axel’s and mine. We finished all three races and we will take a lot of information back to Europe. We have to be happy with the solid job we did.”

Axel Bassani – 14 points

“Race Two was a hard one as we are struggling on the straight against some other riders. The start was not really good but afterwards I gained some positions and after a few laps we also recovered track position towards Alex and Andrea Locatelli, who were riding in front. The pace was not bad and I was feeling better than yesterday on the bike. We improved a lot. We were always there, nearly ready to make an overtake but never from a ‘safe’ position. We were always top ten in Australia, and both bimota KB998 Rimini bikes were together, near each other at the end of the races, so we have to be happy. But, at the same time, we have to understand that we have a lot of work to do.”

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Xavi Vierge – 10 points

“The first race of the year is done. Of course, we were expecting more, but the reality is what it is. The high temperatures didn’t help us either. But anyway, I want to say thanks to the team, they’ve worked really well, even with the extra challenge of two flag-to-flag races. They were just perfect, and this is very important, especially since we have a newly formed crew this year. I can say the same for the work done with my crew chief and electronics engineers. Together, we exploited the full potential of the bike at this moment, and it’s very clear to us where we need to improve. Today, unfortunately, during the Superpole race, when I was ninth and fighting to improve our grid position, I received a long lap penalty, which was undeserved, and I lost every opportunity I had to fight for a top-nine finish. In the end, it made the difference between a possible third-row start and an actual fifth-row start. Anyway, that aside, we need to stay focused on the job ahead. We have a lot of data to look at, as well as a two-day test planned ahead of Round 2. Let’s see if we can turn things around quickly this season.”

Yari Montella – 9 points

“I’m very happy with today’s results, it was exactly what we needed after yesterday’s crash. We made another step forward, and I’m happy to have finished in the top 10 in both races. In the long race, we managed to stay with the second group, racing alongside more experienced riders from whom I was able to gather valuable information.”

Dominique Aegerter – 8 points

“We pushed as much as we could, but it wasn’t an easy weekend. In the sprint race, we were fighting for a top nine position, which would have been a big help for the final feature race, but unfortunately, we couldn’t quite make it. I had to start Race 2 from 15th, doing my best to stay close to the riders ahead. Once again, we showed consistent speed, battling for a top ten finish before ultimately crossing the line in 12th. We’ll analyse the data and use it to improve our performance moving forward.”

Ryan Vickers – 4 points

“Race Two and we are happy with a P15, so more points on the board. Overall, we improved in the race. My pace was better, and my feeling was better. One mistake at turn one was when I was in P13, the  wind nearly blew me off the track, and I dropped to P15.  This was my first time at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit WorldSBK, and I am leaving Australia feeling happy. As the rookie with the least amount of experience here, I think I have done a decent job. The next group is only a couple of tenths faster, and we just need to find that last little bit, but we are getting there. Thanks to the team, they worked hard to get us in the mix.”

Garrett Gerloff – 3 points

“Honestly it was a kind of horrible weekend and I feel really bad for the team and everyone. We are all giving our best but sometimes if you just don’t have luck on your side, let’s say, it doesn’t matter how hard you work. It was unfortunate that I had Nagashima crash into me in the Superpole Race and I couldn’t finish. Then, I just had no speed in Race Two. We finished in the points, but far from the win. I am giving everything. Thanks to the team for all their hard work and we will try again next time.”

Michael van der Mark – 2 points

“Honestly, this week has been a bit disappointing. We’ve been testing a lot, we tried a lot of things but we never really got a nice feeling with the bike. It has been very strange because we really tried everything. Then on Saturday, when the temperature was very high, I did a good lap in Superpole and managed to qualify in seventh position so that was positive. In race one, when we had very high temperatures, I was doing very well. I was enjoying it and the bike felt very good so I was confident but unfortunately I crashed out and for some reason on Sunday we did not have any good feeling at all. We have to find out why the bike felt so different on Sunday. Now we are going back to Europe, we have a two-day test at Portimão and it’s good that we can do a lot of testing there and make sure that we can do a lot better at Portimão.”

Tetsuta Nagashima – 2 points

“Today was quite difficult for us. During the morning warm-up, I honestly had good feeling on the bike; it felt as it should. Unfortunately, I crashed out in the Superpole race—it was my mistake, and I need to apologize to Gerloff. Then, at the beginning of Race 2, I felt the same discomfort as yesterday, no confidence, and I couldn’t push. After changing tyres, I felt much better, which means we need to look deeper into the data. That said, the whole weekend was a good experience for me and the test team. We have work to do, I have work to do, but we continue on our path to make continuous improvement.”

Remy Gardner – 0 points

“Not the weekend we wanted. In the sprint race, we managed to stay close to the top nine, but it was a tough fight in a very tight pack, and unfortunately, we just missed out by a small margin. That meant I had to start 13th in the final race, where I pushed as much as possible early on. Unfortunately, a tyre issue held me back in the first half, making it a challenging race. After the flag-to-flag, our pace wasn’t too bad, but catching the riders ahead to score more points was difficult. Sadly, I crashed in the latter stages, which wasn’t the way we wanted to end the weekend. Now, we’ll reset and come back stronger in Portimão.”

Tarran Mackenzie – 0 points

“I was happy with Race 2 today as I felt a bit better and understood more about where we need to work. Obviously not the race result we wanted – I just lost the front through Turn 6 but I’m OK. Overall, it’s not been an easy weekend to be honest; I felt we were a little behind in testing and had a few problems that took us some time to properly understand. It wasn’t smooth sailing here in the end, but the good news is that we’ll have a test at Portimão, which will help us to reset and prepare for the next races in Europe.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi – 0 points

“This first weekend has helped us understand where we need to improve. We’ve had a meeting to discuss the various aspects with my crew chief and I think we will have a test before the next round, which would be very helpful. For sure we need to make progress, but to do that we need more track time. I also need to work on my physical preparation, so I will be doing that in the coming weeks and months. In terms of the bike, we need to try different setups and solutions that can help me to ride. We tried a few things in today’s warm-up that were positive but, like I say, we need time. The team has worked really hard here, and I thank everyone in the garage for their help. The plan now is to do all I can to prepare for the next championship rounds.”

WorldSBK Superpole Race

At 44-degrees the track was a good ten-degrees cooler than what confronted WorldSBK competitors for their opening race of the season on Saturday.

They all got away cleanly when the lights went out and Bulega led Iannone, Bautista and Razgatlioglu around Southern Loop for the first time.

A number of mistakes then happened under brakes at turn four, however. Toprak got in way too hot under brakes and somehow managed to stand it up and spear between Bulega and Iannone without taking them out. It appeared as though Bautista made his own mistake under brakes quite separately and ended up on the grass with Toprak. Further behind them, Gerloff and Nagashima suffered the same fate.

Up front Iannone was trying to stick with Bulega as that pair started to pull away from Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding.

Bautista then ran off at turn six while trying to work himself back into the game from 19th place.

Razgatlioglu was 17th as they started lap three, a long ten-seconds behind the leaders.

Xavi Vierge was awarded a long-lap penalty for irresponsible riding after being deemed the cause of Gerloff and Nagashima’s demise.

Andrea Iannone worked hard to stay with Bulega but ultimately the Aruba.it rider had too much pace and started to stretch away. Four-seconds further back, at half-race distance the battle for third place was still being waged by Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding. The Brit survived a huge wobble on lap six, but that cost him a little ground and he was now being reeled in by Sam Lowes, Andrea Locatelli and Alex Lowes.

Ultimately Bulega took the chequered flag 2.3-seconds clear of Andrea Iannone.

Danilo Petrucci claimed third while Scott Redding managed to keep Sam Lowes at bay on the final lap to claim fourth.  Lowes making it a Ducati 1-2-3-4-5.

WorldSBK Superpole Race Results

WorldSBK Race Two

Nicolo Bulega led Andrea Iannone and Scott Redding through Southern Loop for the first time when the final 20-lap contest of the weekend got underway on Sunday afternoon. Danilo Petrucci, Sam Lowes and Andrea Locatelli also away well.  Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista were eighth and ninth early on in this 20-lap contest but quickly started marching their way forward across the opening laps.

Up front Bulega again pulled away from the field. The closest of the pursuers across the opening laps was Andrea Iannone who had left Scott Redding and Danilo Petrucci in his wake. That latter pair had Bautista and Razgatlioglu to deal with by lap four.

Bautista got both Petrucci and Redding in one move at turn one to take third place with 15 laps to run. Razgatlioglu had a crack at them under brakes at turn four but couldn’t quite get the BMW stopped in time which saw him trip up Petrucci and cost the Italian a few places, for which the Turk immediately waved a hand of apology. The official still handed the world champ a drop one place penalty, which he duly did at Lukey Heights a few laps later, with both Petrucci and Sam Lowes slipping past to push Toprak back two places.

Then it was time for pit stop roulette… Once the stops were completed and everyone was back up to speed, Bulega led Iannone, Redding, Bautista and Petrucci.

Redding though was a little too quick in the pits and had a three-second penalty added to his race time after the chequered flag…

Toprak Razgatlioglu returned to the pits after his pit stop to retire from the race with a technical problem. His frustration clearly evident when he punched the screen of his machine which smashed it to smithereens.

Once up to second place Alvaro Bautista pulled awau from Iannone, Redding, Sam Lowes and Danilo Petrucci.

Remy Gardner crashed out of 15th place with four laps to run. A disastrous opening round for the Australian.

Another clear victory for Bulega and an Aruba.it Ducati 1-2 with Bautista taking second place.

Scott Redding crossed the line in fourth and had enough of a buffer over Danilo Petrucci to hang on that fourth place finish even after his three-second penalty was applied.

The first non-Ducati home Andrea Locatelli in seventh place ahead of Alex Lowes on the Bimota.

Bulega leaves Phillip Island with a 26-point lead over his team-mate and Andrea Iannone only a single point further behind in third.

WorldSBK Race Two Results

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP Race Two

The entire WorldSSP grid started on an SC1 front and an A1128 rear on a track temperature of 47-degrees on Sunday afternoon at Phillip Island.

Tom Booth-Amos led Schroetter, Debise, Manzi and Mahias after seven laps of the 18 lap contest. It was at this point of the race that the Brit started to break away from the chasing throng somewhat. Oli Bayliss was in close combat with countryman Harry Voight over 12th place and Luke Power was in 18th place.

After the mandatory pit stops Schroetter emerged with the race lead ahead of Booth-Amos. Debise and Masia both went down at turn one while in podium contention. Moments later Schroetter crashed out of the lead which forced those following him to take some radical evasive actions so as to not collect him.

After those melees, Triumph’s Tom Booth-Amos emerged with the race lead ahead of Jeremy Alcoba. The Kawasaki man though has not spent enough time in the pits and would have a 6.780-second time penalty added to his race time before results would be issued.

Luke Power did well out of the pit-stops thanks to some great work from his Motozoo MV Agusta crew which propeled him from almost last right up to tenth place ahead of Bayliss, while Voight had slipped to 15th during the interchange.

Stefano Manzi took the battle to Booth-Amos up front and that pair started to stretch steadily away from the field.

Oli Bayliss was engaged in battle over seventh place with Cardelus, Vostatek and Toba across the final laps and it was a battle that he won, Bayliss carding a seventh place finish.  Countryman Luke Power was a couple of seconds further behind in 11th and Harry Voight 14th.

Tom Booth-Amos broke through for his maiden WorldSSP win on the Triumph, taking the chequered flag seven-tenths clear of Manzi.

Tom Booth-Amos – P1

“It’s a huge weight off my shoulders to finally get the win. I was obviously happy after a podium last year but as a racer you always want to win. It’s nice to finally get that here and repay my team for all the hard work they’ve done. I said yesterday that I wouldn’t have expected this weekend after the test because I was completely lost and struggling. The team turned it around and now we’ve really joined the championship fight. Obviously, it’s the best possible start. Now we just have to keep going with what we’ve started and, hopefully, finish the season like this.”

Stefano Manzi – P2

“I can say in the end it has been a great, great weekend with the win yesterday and second today. Today I was struggling a little bit more, especially with the wind, but it was good to finish second and I was close to first but one mistake on the last lap, when I hit a false neutral, meant I couldn’t fight for the win in the last few corners. It is a good start, but there is still room for improvement so this is encouraging as I think the team and Yamaha can further improve the bike and hopefully we will be in a strong position as we return to Europe.”

Bo Bendsneyder rounded out the podium in third, two-seconds clear of fourth-placed Michael Rinaldi.

Jeremy Alcoba – P5

“I am fully happy because yesterday the target was top ten. But today I knew that the pace would be fast but not as fast as it was. With the wind the slipstreaming was better so the idea was to follow them, to be in the leading group, to be in there as the last one – like in cycle racing – when the riding is easier for the last rider. The bike today was really good. I tried some new things in the corners that helped me a lot. The bike was good, but on the limit, let’s say. So I could not turn like some others. I gave it more than 100% to be there, to enjoy it with the team because we had struggled a lot during the race weekend and in the tests. To give to them this good race finish is nice. Yesterday the team left the pitbox at more or less 10pm, they were the last ones to leave, so I am really happy to have this result for them. I do not feel tired because I enjoyed the race and I rode easy. I am really happy because if in this track, where we struggled a lot, we were there in this race so at the next tracks we should do it better, and more easily. Thanks to my team and Kawasaki – and my Ninja ZX-6R 636 starts to be fast.”

Oli Bayliss had a strong debut race weekend with the PTR Triumph Factory Racing team, finishing seventh in both races in front of his home crowd. The Australian rider sits fourth in the championship after the first round with Triumph at the top of the manufacturer’s championship.

Oli Bayliss – P7

“Not a bad first weekend with PTR Triumph Factory Racing. Two 7th place finishes. I wish I could’ve done a bit better in race two but after a mistake in the first stint and not the best pit stop we were sitting around 15th position so it wasn’t a bad comeback back to 7th. The feeling and data we get on the bike improves each session so we need to keep working for Portimao. Big thanks to my team and my sponsors.”

Luke Power – P11

“Overall it was a positive weekend and a positive start to this year’s world championship. A big crash that left me injured wasn’t the ideal way to start but we did a good job given the circumstances when it came to Superpole and the races. I managed to claw my way back to P12 on Saturday and P11 on Sunday which are my two best results in the dry to date in the world championship. I want to thank the team for all their hard work not just in repairing the bike after the crash but for doing such a great job in the pit stops. We recorded the third best time which shows how well we are all working together. I want to thank all the medical staff that got me in a condition that meant I could race. The fans trackside were amazing and it was so nice to see my merchandise in the paddock being worn by fans. I will now spend the weeks before Portimão in March making sure I am fully fit for the first European race of the season. Thanks again to everyone supporting me – it means a lot.”

Harry Voight – P14

“The opening round of the season at Phillip Island has come to a close, and I had the opportunity to be able to fill in for Glenn in D34G Racing. Firstly, I hope Glenn has a speedy recovery and comes back as soon as possible. We had a challenging weekend although it was great for me to learn and grow for the future. A big thank you to Davide and his team for this opportunity. To compete at the first round at Phillip Island in my home country is always special.”

WorldSSP Race Two Results

WorldSSP Championship Points

2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar