ROUND 8 / JULY 25-27, 2025
BALATON CIRCUIT / BALATONFOKAJAR, HUNGARY
ROAD RACE I FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P78
way to the race-one win after
passing another Yamaha rider,
Can Oncu, as they both steam-
rollered pole man Bo Bendsney-
der's chance of another race
win
for the official MV Agusta
Reparto Corse squad.
Dutch rider Bendsneyder did
get on the podium in third place,
but he was 5.7 seconds behind
Manzi. Early on, Manzi had been
third, as Oncu tried to escape
the whole field for the first nine
laps. It was a strategy that paid
off against everyone but Manzi.
Pole man Bendsneyder was
followed home by his team
-
mate Filippo Farioli after original
fourth-placed
rider Roberto Gar-
cia (GMT94 Yamaha) was penal-
ized for rough riding. Meaning he
flag and
another three seconds
up on third-placed Sam Lowes.
This was Lowe's first-ever "long"
race WorldSBK podium.
In the championship points,
as we enter the summer break
until action recommences in
early September in France,
Razgatlioglu has a 26-point lead
over Bulega, 407 points to 381.
Four rounds ago, after Most in
the Czech Republic, Bulega had
a 31-point lead over Razgatlio
-
glu. How times have changed.
Third
right now is Petrucci,
on 233 points, Locatelli has 218
and Bautista 217.
WorldSSP
Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing
Yamaha) master-classed his
in second and Alvaro Bautista in
third place. Championship chal-
lenger Bulega, on intermediates
front
and back, was only 11th
and scored no points.
The Superpole race, and all
that damp stuff affecting tire
choice, saw results like Xavi
Vierge fifth for Honda HRC, Axel
Bassani (bimota) going from 16th
to sixth, rookie Vickers seventh,
and new Ducati rider in the MGM
Bonovo team, Tarran Mackenzie,
eighth in his very first weekend
on this bike at any track.
And yet, even among this shuf
-
fling of the usual deck of cards,
Razgatlioglu
was still the winner.
Race two saw Razgatlioglu a
thumping 10.3 seconds up the
road on runner-up Bulega at the
Danilo Petrucci (9) gritted his
teeth after being taken out by his
archnemesis, Iannone, charging
to a heroic fifth from a pit-lane
start in race one.
