Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1535066
Pre-race one, the action was good and really close in practice and qualifying, and the locals who showed up were mightily en- tertained—and gently sunburned. The front-running action was real, if temporary, as Bulega had to wait for a few laps to swat away the buzzing attentions of Razgatlioglu with his red throttle hand in the two long races. Superpole qualifying had been a very late steal for Bulega, who swept in—followed by sudden loud oohhs and aaahs of the crowd—with a new track best of 1'27.866. He displaced the once more rapid Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati) and a slightly more settled-looking To - prak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). Day two on track was not as hot as the first day, but the track temperatures were still a mighty high 45°C (113°F)—which would have an effect on the race-one results—at the front and in the very busy middle-of-the-pack. An early pass into the heav - ily banked final chicane exit got the attention of Bulega, as Razgatlioglu must have thought he was back on Kenan Sofuo- glu's training track in Turkiye. But the sheer pace and drive grip of the Ducati—especially in the hot track conditions as this short but physically exhausting circuit saw Bulega make a break. The top three were fixed early on—Bulega, Razgatlioglu and Al - varo Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)—but the hot temperatures maybe also have played a part in why the next closest finisher, Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoE - leven Ducati), was 23 seconds and more from the race win. In WorldSBK in 2025, that is an age. A massive group of nine mid- field riders rode as one hive mind in an angry bunch right to the flag, with some spats and spills along the way. Had this closely packed cast of characters been fighting for the win, it would be a candidate for the most closely contested WorldSBK races in history. But it wasn't, as there are only ever so many transcenden - tal riders in any class at any one time, and those three were way, way out front. The Superpole race was another exercise in redemp - tion for Ducati and Bulega, as he was never headed out front, with Razgatlioglu and Bulega the other podium finishers. Sam Lowes was a close fourth. As a spectacle, the Superpole race simply wasn't one. But after Assen's two DNFs for Bulega's Panigale V4 R, it was just what the watching GiGi Dall'Igna and the day-visitor bosses from Ducati Corse wanted. And needed, after Assen. Toprak grabbed the final long 23-lap race by the scruff of its neck and took the lead from Bule - ga near the end of lap one. Bulega got back into the lead on lap six and then went on to win again with what looked like relative ease. VOLUME 62 ISSUE 18 MAY 6, 2025 P41 Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu couldn't do anything about Bulega (11), settling for three second-place finishes.