Saturday WorldSBK/SSP Results/Quotes/Notes/Images

WorldSBK 2025

Round One – Phillip Island
Saturday – Riders recap race one

Nicolo Bulega – P1

“I’m really happy because my feeling was good from the first session of Monday’s test. Every time I get on the bike, I know what I can do and what I have to do. I’m just enjoying riding because it’s an amazing feeling lap by lap. I’m really proud of what we’re doing here this week. I wasn’t relaxed before the race because I knew that some aggressive riders were starting close to me especially on the first lap after braking. So I tried to stay calm and focused. I started well and I finished well. If I can keep this feeling, I can stay positive about the rest of the weekend. I want to continue in this position.”

Toprak Razgatlıoglu – P2

“I feel very good because, finally, I have started to smile again/ I didn’t expect this result but we did a very good job today. My team improved the bike every session. At the start of the race, I wasn’t really strong. As the race progressed I felt better grip and the bike turned better. Maybe this was because the fuel was lower. But in general, we did a very good job in Race 1. In Superpole, when I followed Bulega, I did a very good lap time but it was only one lap! I was lucky because when I saw Bulega coming, I immediately followed him. In the race, I finished in P2 again, which is perfect. I tried to follow Bulega nut at the start, all the Ducatis passed me on the straight. The Ducati is still very strong on the straight! After that, I just tried to find my rhythm. We are improving every session, even if it’s only small steps, and tomorrow we have two more races. Let’s see what happens.”

Alvaro Bautista – P3

“For sure, we started a bit better than last year so I’m happy about that. We are growing in confidence with the bike. The conditions were extreme today; it was too hot and too windy. When the bike had a lot of lean you couldn’t pick it up and go straight because the wind just pushed you out. A couple of times, I almost went off track on the exit of Turn 2 and Turn 3. It wasn’t very comfortable to ride in these conditions. I tried until the end, but in this situation, it was better to secure a solid race, take some points, and wait for the right moment to push harder. It’s important to finish the weekend with good confidence and build a strong base for the next races.”

Danilo Petrucci – P4

“It was a really tough race, with heat like we’ve never seen at Phillip Island before. The conditions were completely different from the test sessions, forcing us to reset everything. I suffered a couple of aggressive overtakes that made me lose positions, but it was a tough battle: there are 4-5 riders fighting for the podium with the same pace, so making a difference is difficult, and mistakes are easy to make. I’m happy with the work we’re doing as a team, and we need to keep this level. We knew we could be fast here, now let’s try to repeat it tomorrow.”

Andrea Iannone – P6

“Today the conditions changed a lot, the heat came out at Phillip Island and we felt it on the track. In Superpole I wasn’t able to do a completely free lap, in my Best Lap I had to overtake another rider. Third place on the grid, on the front row, is still a good result. In Race 1, I tried to follow Bulega, but right from the start we had a technical problem that slowed us down; furthermore, the first tyre didn’t seem to work as usual. From the pit stop onwards, everything improved, I managed to bounce back in the fight for the podium despite the problem, but in the end I finished sixth. It’s not the result we wanted, but I tried to get the most out of it. Tomorrow we’ll try to improve, with the aim of getting back to the positions we’ve been in since the start of the week.”

Andrea Locatelli – P7

“In the end, seventh – just we recover one position from the start, it was quite a difficult race, really really warm! We were close to fighting in the top five, this was not our objective but it was maybe the reality after Superpole qualifying and a difficult Free Practice. I want to believe because we can have two more podium possibilities tomorrow – different conditions, different set up and try again. We can work tonight to change the bike a little bit and prepare better for tomorrow, but in general I was quite happy. We were also fast on the entry lap for the pit stop, we were competitive on the change of tyres and we did everything well. At the moment, nothing more to say but for sure we need to work to do more because like this for me, the result is not enough. I would like to try to make a step forward and fight for a better position!”

Alex Lowes – P8

“First race done on the bimota, which is good. We struggled more in the hot conditions that arrived today and I was not quite comfortable with the front, but they are so much fun these races at Phillip Island! I was trying to be calm at the start but I didn’t quite have the feeling with the front on the first tyre. After the pit stop I felt a bit better. In the end it was a learning race but we have a lot of data for tomorrow. I feel great on the bike – like was able to apply myself well right the way to the last corner – so I did my maximum. We will get two more goes tomorrow.”

Axel Bassani – P9

“That was our first race day for bimota and it was good for the team because we finished eighth and ninth, quite near the each other. That is a good result, I think, for the team, because we finished on nearly the same level so we can work well from that point. I was difficult today because it was really, really hot. When I stopped for the first change of tyres it was nice because you had time to breathe and drink some water. We had some little problems, especially during changes of direction, as the bike was moving. In the last five laps I had to calm down a little bit. My goal was to finish the race inside the top ten and in the best way possible, so we have some data for Sunday’s races. Now we know where we have to work and improve.”

Xavi Vierge – P11

“It has been a tough day overall. First thing in FP3, when the moment to try the soft tyre arrived, I had an issue with the bike and couldn’t try that tyre. This meant we went into qualifying without any understanding of its behavior. But the team worked well and fast to solve the issue; the bike was perfect for the session, and all in all, our lap time was not so bad, all things considered. I didn’t make a bad start to the race, and I was close to the front group when another rider made a mistake. In the tussle that followed, I lost contact with the guys ahead. With the lack of grip we are suffering with here, losing the slipstream affected us a lot. We basically have no grip at the rear and the bike was difficult to ride, especially out of the corners. During testing, it wasn’t bad; our race pace was good. But as soon as the temperature increased, notably higher today, it was really hard to find traction. The pit stop went well and the team made good changes without any mistakes. That’s about it, not much more to say, honestly. We struggled more than expected, but at least we gathered a lot of data in very hot conditions, and we’ll analyze it to try to do better tomorrow. Last but not least, I’m really sorry for Iker, it’s a pity what happened to him. He’s having a hard time, and I wish him all the best to be back as soon as possible.”

Dominique Aegerter – P12

“It wasn’t an easy day, but at the end we scored some points. We tried to find the same feeling I had yesterday morning, but conditions were different and it was tough to find this feeling. In Superpole I struggled to find a good lap time, which made things complicated for Race 1. Our start was not too bad and I was able to recover some places, joining a very tight pack battling for the front. Following the flag-to-flag procedure, it wasn’t easy to find the rhythm back, but we managed to be consistent until the end. We’ll try to improve our performance tomorrow for sure, starting from the Superpole Race where we’ll try to attack the top 9 to gain some places for Race 2.”

RelatedPosts

O’Halloran to replace Rea at Portimao after Fernandez gets MotoGP call-up

March 21, 2025

Toprak back on top after two-day WorldSBK test in Portimao

March 18, 2025

Tetsuta Nagashima – P14

“It was a tough race due to the hot conditions. The bike was okay, I just needed to adapt to it, and it was a little difficult, but each time I am able to better understand where we need to improve for the future. The goal was to race without mistakes and collect data for the future. It was a productive day because I was able to understand many things that are impossible to grasp when I’m riding alone during testing. Tomorrow, we will try to make a few changes and see if I can improve both my feeling and the bike’s setup.”

Tarran Mackenzie – P16

“It was a difficult race today in which I didn’t feel like I had the confidence to be able to push, and I didn’t want to risk any accidents. I felt a little better in FP3 this morning but then began to struggle more once the temperatures started to rise in qualifying, and then over race distance. Hopefully we can find something more for tomorrow’s races.”

Remy Gardner – DNF

“A disappointing day for sure, we’ll try to bounce back. Superpole wasn’t too bad at all and that’s the positive thing we could take from today. The lap time was okay and made us able to start from the third row, which left us confident ahead of Race 1. Then, I tried to push from the beginning, but unfortunately I ended up crashing in turn four; I rejoined trying to take at least some points, but in the end we were also forced to retire due to a technical issue. That wasn’t our day at all, that’s it. We’ll push hard to bounce back tomorrow, that’s for sure, and we’ll give it our best.”

Garrett Gerloff – DNF

“Not the best way to start the championship, unfortunately, and I am sure we were all expecting more. I had a technical issue in the race so the bike stopped and I was not able to finish the race. We will try again tomorrow.”

Iker Lecuona – DNF

“There’s really not much to say. I was improving my feeling and performance step by step this weekend, and the crash ruined everything. Now it’s time to take a moment to reflect on the steps needed to recover as soon as possible. As soon as I’m back in Spain, I will undergo the necessary medical checks to decide how to proceed.”

Yari Montella – DNF

“Qualifying was in line with our usual performance, but I couldn’t put together the perfect lap to start further up. In the race, at turn 2 on lap one, I made contact with another rider. On the straight, caught in the slipstream, I tried to brake, but I was slightly off the racing line and hit some bumps, losing the front. Now, full focus on tomorrow’s race.”

WorldSBK Race One Report

The ambient temperature for the opening WorldSBK race of season 2025 at Phillip Island was a very warm 36-degrees while track was a baking 55-degrees. Amongst the top qualifiers only Andrea Iannone is on the D0286 rear tyre; all the others started on the new D0922 rear. The majority were on the hard SC2 compound at the front.

Nicolo Bulega led the field by almost three-seconds after two laps and was running away in a race of his own while the remainder of the field were left to fight for the remaining steps on the rostrum.

Andrea Iannone had started strongly in second place but had a big moment out of Southern Loop that saw him drift all the way back to ninth place.  Both Remy Gardner and Garrett Gerloff made mistakes at turn four which put them at the back of the field.

Toprak Razgatlioglu was leading the chase for second place but the Turk ran wide at Hayshed on lap five which saw him shuffled back to fifth. Inheriting that second place was Alvaro Bautista, while Scott Redding and Danilo Petrucci made it a Ducati 1-2-3-4.

Redding was showing Bautista a wheel now and then as he looked for a way to take that second place while Razgatlioglu worked his way back up to fourth place by lap seven. Bulega led by seven-seconds at one-third race distance.

Michael van der Mark had a big high-speed get-off at turn one from sixth place but appeared to walk away unhurt.

Nicolo Bulega was the first rider to enter the pits at the end of lap nine, moments later his aruba.it team-mate Alvaro Bautista pitted from second place. That meant that on track Toprak Razgatlioglu led Scott Redding, Andrea Locatello and Axel Bassani. That quartet entered pit-lane next time around which left Alex Lowes in the lead as the Brit was still yet to stop.

When the pit shuffle was all said and done, it shook out that Bulega led Razgatlioglu by six-seconds. Bautista was third just ahead of Redding, Petrucci and Iannone.

Remy Gardner’s GYRT GRT Yamaha then left a huge ball of smoke behind him through turn 12, perhaps the early tip over at turn four leaving his engine momentarily starved of lubrication which then took its toll. At first glance one would have expected a red flag but officials instead chose to only put the lack of adhesion flag out and the race continued.  It turned out to be the right decision as amazingly there didn’t seem to be any oil left on the circuit.

Bulega continued to manage his lead at just over six-seconds as the race progressed. Toprak Razgatlioglu managed to break away from Alvaro Bautista who, in turn, also eventually managed to eke away from a battle over fourth place which was hotting up between Danilo Petrucci, Scott Redding and Andrea Iannone.

A clear and decisive victory for Nicolu Bulega. The Italian dominated every test session earlier in the week and every practice session once the race weekend got underway. The remainder of the field were not in the same race as the 25-year-old.

Toprak Razgatlioglu has had an intensely frustrating week thus far so second place today will give him some satisfaction as he knows the race he was in today was only for best of the rest.

While not back to his dominant best, Alvaro Bautista seems a lot happier with his race package this year which bodes well for the season ahead.

Scott Redding and the Bonovo Ducati squad had plenty of hurdles to overcome this week with the Brit struggling for speed at times and clearly quite frustrated. Finishing less than two-seconds off the podium and just behind Danilo Petrucci will see the 32-year-old and his team pumped for the rest of the weekend.

WorldSBK Race One Results

WorldSBK Superpole Times

WorldSSP Race One

The entire WorldSSP field started their opening race of the season on an S1 front and development medium A1128 rear. The ambient temperature was 35-degrees and the track temperature 54-degrees as they formed up on the grid for the 18-lap contest. Around halfway through they were forced to stop for a new rear tyre as Pirelli had mandated a ten-lap maximum on their tyres due to the abrasive nature of the Phillip Island surface.

Can Oncu broke away to an early lead ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Lucas Mahias and Ducati’s Jaume Masia.

Oli Bayliss was ninth early on while countrymen Luke Power and Harry Voight were 13th and 14th as they started lap two.

Taccini and Mahendra both went down at turn ten on the opening lap.

Oncu continued to hold sway up front for the first couple of laps but as his pursuers tipped into turn one on lap three a fair bit of shuffling was going on behind him. Before the end of that lap Stefano Manzi had forged his way through to the front and Masia had pushed Once further back to third.

Masia then took his turn up front on lap four before Manzi again moved through to the lead as Tom Booth-Amos started to get wound up on the Triumph.

Harrison Voight had been in 14th place on the D34G Ducati but suffered a massive high-side out of turn six on lap five. Veneman also went out on the same lap.

Michael Rinaldi had been in the leading group but his YZF-R9 cried enough as he negotiated turn 12 on lap six. The Italian rolling to the side of the circuit with flames belching from his muffer.

Masia, Booth-Amos, Schroetter, Bayliss, Toba, Vostatek and Azman chose to pit on lap nine.  The minimum pit intervention time is 78 seconds. Any time under that was penalised by a multiplication of five, so you definitely did not want to leave too early.

When all riders had completed their mandatory pit stop, and after plenty of somewhat dodgy tactics by some on both the entry and exit of the pits, it shook out that Masia was in the lead. Howerver, officials indicated that his pit stop was under investigation for potentially being too short… On track Masia led Oncu, Manzi and Debise. Bayliss was seventh and countryman Luke Power was 12th.

Oncu moved through to the lead on lap 12 ahead of Manzi while Masia slipped to third. It was then announced that Masia also would have 3.5-seconds added to his race time at the end for a pit stop deemed to be too short.  Masia went back to the lead on track though with six laps to run, while Masia stood up Oncu as he forged his way through to second. Bayliss was now up to sixth, two-seconds behind the leaders.

Stefano Manzi went on to take the victory on track ahead of Jaume Masia and Tom Booth-Amos. Masia though would be demoted to sixth place once his time penalty was applied. Subsequently that promoted Booth-Amos into second and Marcel Schroetter onto the podium.  A Yamaha, Triumph and Ducati podium.

Stefano Manzi – P1

“It is amazing to open the era of the new R9 with a win! There are not many words at the moment, I need to thank Yamaha and the team as they have put a lot of effort in to this project to make this possible. It was not easy, because it was a hard fight and the pit stop also made things challenging, but I am happy to be able to say I finished first! In the winter tests in Spain, the test earlier this week and even yesterday I was not super quick, but in the end we were able to close the gap. When we left the pits and Masia had a gap on me, I thought either I’ve done something wrong, or he did something wrong, so my only goal was to catch him and win. It was a hard fight, like always in this class, but I am a fighter, so in the end it was good for me!”

Niccolò Canepa – Road Racing Sporting Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe

“This is an incredible result for Yamaha, for the R9 to take the win in its first WorldSSP race is a dream. We felt confident in the package heading into the season, but pre-season testing was hampered by bad weather and our WorldSSP teams participated in private tests away from their rivals. Since we arrived in Australia, our teams have made progress session after session and fighting for the podium was our target. Stefano rode an incredible race in true ‘Manzi style’ and he will now go down in history as the last winner on the R6 and first on the R9. Congratulations to him, the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing team and all of the engineers who have worked so hard on this project over the last year. We still have work to do, but we could not have made a better start!”

Oli Bayliss took seventh place from the season opener while countryman Luke Power claimed 12th.

WorldSSP Race One Results

2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar