WorldSBK: After 18 laps of action at Motorland Aragon less than one second separated the podium finishers.
In a thrilling race Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) came out on top to win at the Spanish venue for the first time.
Race 1 Highlights
Starting from pole position Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) led into Turn 1 before contact with Razgatlioglu allowed the Turkish rider to take the lead. The BMW rider was strong in the first half of the lap but very vulnerable to attack in the final sector. Bulega’s speed through the final corners allowed him to attack for the lead multiple times into Turn 1. Lap after lap the lead duo were closely matched before the final winning margin of just 0.030s.
Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) started the race in fourth position but spent each lap in the podium positions. The British rider kept a watching brief throughout in third spot without being able to attack for position. The podium finishers all used a harder front tyre from the allocation and set their fastest laps in the closing stages.
At two thirds race distance Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) crashed at Turn 15 while chasing down Danilo Petrucci. The Barni Spark Racing Team rider would have a lonely end to the race to finish fourth, two seconds ahead of Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team). It was the eighth occasion this year that Petrucci finished in that position.
For the first half of the race the battle within the top seven positions was closely fought with Bautista, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) giving chase to Lowes.
Championship Highlights
- Razgatlioglu extends his advantage to 44 points in the standings
- Petrucci extends his lead over Andrea Locatelli to 28 points for third in the Riders Championship
- For the first time in 2025 BMW has taken the lead in the Manufacturer Standings. The German marque holds a two point advantage over Ducati
P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“I’m really happy because I had never won here before. Now I have my first win in Aragon. This was a tough race because Ducati had a big advantage through the last corner and on the back straight but I pushed every lap. We need to improve in some corners because the bike is not yet 100% but my team is working so hard. Tomorrow we have two more races and I’ll stay calm and win again.”
P2 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati)
“Congratulations to Toprak and BMW. I pushed really hard and we stayed so close throughout the race. Sometimes I was faster and sometimes he was faster. For tomorrow I need to improve with my throttle for the first metres on corner exit. If we can fix that I hope to be stronger and fight again.”
P3 – Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team)
“I was just hanging in there because the pace was quite strong at the end. In the middle of the race we were all saving ourselves a little. I’m really happy with my pace, even if I didn’t have much to fight with the front two. It was good to ride with them and it meant that I could learn a lot. This has been my position all weekend so I’m proud of the team and everyone involved. A big thank you as well to Mark, who is here this weekend, so it is nice to get this result for him.”
Race 1 Results
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.030s
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.977s
4. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +4.114s
5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +6.485s
6. Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) +7.427s
Tissot Superpole Highlights
- Bulega smashed the all-time lap record by half a second to claim his eighth career pole position. The Ducati star claimed the fastest time by one tenth of a second from Razgatlioglu.
- On his final lap of the 15 minute session Alex Lowes notched up his second front row start on the bimota KB998 Rimini. Having crashed on Friday it was an impressive performance to bounce back.
- Bautista qualified on the second row in sixth position. It was the first time for the Spaniard that he failed to qualify on the front row at Motorland Aragon while racing for Ducati.
Superpole Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’47.332s
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.110s
3. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.159s
For more info checkout our dedicated WorldSBK (World Superbike) News page superbike-news.co.uk/category/world-superbikes/
Or visit the official World Superbike website worldsbk.com
©Words/Images are from official press release posted courtesy of WorldSBK.com
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