Last month signalled the start of the 2025 WorldSBK season, which commenced at the iconic Phillip Island circuit.

Nicolo Bulega was the standout rider, winning all three races and securing the maximum 62 points to kick off the season.

A multitude of talking points arose after the weekend’s events, prompting Motorsport Week to share five key takeaways from the season opener.

1. Nicolo Bulega has another level in him

Arub.it Ducati rider Bulega dominated the weekend’s proceedings, leading every session throughout the weekend and completing a historic treble, his first ever in the series.

Since the introduction of the Superpole Race in 2019, the Italian joins an exclusive list of riders who have achieved this feat, including Jonathan Rea, Alvaro Bautista, Toprak Razgatlioglu, and Danilo Petrucci.

Bulega’s is only in his sophomore year in the series, following an impressive debut campaign in 2024 where he finished as Razgatlioglu’s nearest challenger.

It’s still early days in the new season, but the 25-year-old is sure to improve now that he has a deeper understanding of the finer details of his Panigale V4.

2. Reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu is stronger in Europe

Razgatlioglu’s rollercoaster of a weekend in Phillip Island raised multiple surprises considering the manner of his 2024 title-winning campaign.

The Turkish rider began his title defence with one podium finish in Race 1, before finishing 13th in the Superpole and retiring in Race 2.

Despite showing frustration by smashing his windshield and labelling the series as a “Ducati Cup”, time will tell whether BMW is worse off after losing its superconcessions privilege.

Let’s not forget that Razgatlioglu’s record is far more favourable in Europe, considering he has only prevailed on one occasion in Australia, arriving in 2020 when he rode for Yamaha.

READ MORE – Ducati personnel hit back at Toprak Razgatlioglu’s ‘Ducati Cup’ claim

3. Alvaro Bautista’s resurgence in 2025 looks on the cards

Despite Bulega’s success, two-time champion Bautista looked comfortable aboard his Italian marque for the first time since 2023.

Before the season kicked off, the 40-year-old chose to extend for another year and later mentioned his positive feelings about his bike, which led to two podium finishes Down Under.

The notable disparity between the Spaniard’s 2023 and 2024 seasons saw 27 and four victories, but a resurgence looks to be on the cards despite a crash in the Sunday Superpole race.

The series needs Bautista to challenge at the front throughout the season considering his impressive achievements since joining the series in 2019.

4. A mixed bag for PATA Maxus Yamaha

PATA Maxus Yamaha endured a mixed bag both in pre-season testing and throughout the season opener.

Six-time champion Rea suffered multiple fractures to his left foot, resulting in him missing the season opener and the next round at Portimao.

While this setback pushes the Northern Irishman further behind after his first winless campaign since joining the series in 2009, Andrea Locatelli, his teammate, sits as the lead non-Ducati rider in the championship classification.

Locatelli produced two seventh-placed finishes in Race 1 and Race 2 but improved to finish sixth in the Superpole Race.

Yamaha is reportedly heading in the right direction, but the true test of the M1’s competitiveness will come when both riders take to the track.

5. Independents Rivalry: Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci are ready for a blockbuster battle

Petrucci racked up the Independents’ Title in 2024, and although Alex Lowes was his closest challenger last season, we predict Andrea Iannone will be his main challenger for this season.

The Italian duo picked up their first wins in the series in 2024 at Cremona and Aragon respectively, and this season should see even further success.

The vastly experienced MotoGP duo will likely go to and fro both on track and in the championship standings.

We saw last season that both riders have strengths at different tracks, and this season marking Iannone’s second year in the series, it promises to be a titanic battle.

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World champion Toprak Razgatlioglu has threatened to quit the WorldSBK championship after Ducati dominated the opening round at Phillip Island.

Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega completed a hat trick of wins while the manufacturer scored eight out of a possible nine podiums over the weekend. 

The Turkish rider was the sole non-Ducati to make the rostrum but suggested he will reconsider his future in the championship if this pattern continues.

“Last year, yes, [Nicolo] Bulega [was strong], this year I’m not surprised that he is still fast and Alvaro [Bautista] also not bad,” Razgatlioglu told WorldSBK.com after Race 2.

“But, this year, all Ducatis are on the front, this is not normal, [it’s] why I say Superbike is almost like a ‘Ducati Cup’.

“I hope not to continue going like this because everyone is not enjoying like this.

“If Superbike continues like this in the future, I’m not thinking to race anymore here.”

Razgatlioglu: ‘I’m never happy in the first WorldSBK race of the season’

The Turkish rider had a difficult weekend in Phillip Island after taking his podium in Race 1, he could only manage 11th in the Superpole Race and retired in the final race of the weekend. 

Razgatlioglu explained that a number of technical problems amounted to the issues in Sunday’s races. 

“For me, especially the Superpole Race was not really good at the start. I feel some brake problem and we are lucky I didn’t hit someone and nobody crashed,” Razgatlioglu said.

“For Race 2, we say it’s better to ride yesterday’s bike because I feel we are really improving and grip is much better than before and we started to use yesterday’s bike.

“But, in the race, we see there’s some technical problem, and after I didn’t continue the race.”

He added: “I’m never starting very happy the first races in the season. Also last year, and two years ago – always I’m starting very strange, [and] this is the same.

“But I’m just focused on the next race because finally we are going to Europe and I’m just starting to fight with all the Ducatis.

“We have a long break, almost one month. I will keep working and try to come back stronger.”

The world champion admitted BMW need to find something ahead of testing before the second round at Portimao. 

“We have a test there, we need the test,” the Turkish rider said.

“Two days for me are very important because we are trying to improve the bike and we are still not 100 percent.

“But everyone is pushing hard, I know, and we will see because these two days for me are very important.”

READ MORE – Toprak Razgatlioglu shares MotoGP and WorldSBK ‘dreams’ beyond 2025

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Aruba.It Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega completed his dominant Australian WorldSBK weekend by taking victory in Race 2 at Phillip Island.

Bulega had been in a league of his own all weekend and sealed a hat trick of victories with a margin of 2.603s over teammate Alvaro Bautista. 

It had been agreed pre-race that the riders may not complete more than 11 laps on a single dry rear tyre due to track temperatures, as the mandatory pit stops remained in place. 

Bulega once again got a fantastic start from pole position and was easily able to hold his lead over Andrea Iannone and Scott Redding on the run down to the first corner.

Bautista was hoping to salvage something after starting 11th and made quick progress on the start to move into seventh place. 

The Spanish rider was followed through by world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu, who moved from 12th to eighth in the opening two laps.

Bautista continued to showcase the speed of the Ducati and made an easy double overtake on the Yamaha of Andrea Locatelli and the MarcVDS of Sam Lowes.

The former world champion was soon chasing down the podium positions and made a second double overtake on Redding and Petrucci to go third. 

Razgatlioglu saw an opportunity to make even more progress but made contact with the Barni Spark racer, apologising to Petrucci but keeping hold of fifth place.

The Turkish rider was given a drop one position penalty for his move on Petrucci, which allowed the Italian back through before the first riders made their pit stops.

Redding was able to get the jump on Bautista in the pitlane to move onto the podium, as both riders undercut a group consisting of Razgatlioglu and the high-flying Yari Montella. 

After the pit stops, there was a clear issue with the world champion’s BMW machine as Razgatlioglu dropped out of the points. He came into the pits at the end of the following lap and punched his screen in frustration as he retired from the race.

While BMW struggled with its issues, the factory Ducati team remained perilous, as Bautista made his way back into second with a move on Redding and was followed through by Iannone.

The British rider received a 2.905s time penalty for a pit stop intervention time infringement while running in fourth, which scuppered any chances of making the podium.

The positions on the rostrum were settled with three laps to go, but the remaining battle on the track was for fifth as Lowes and Petrucci fought to the final corner to decide the position.

Out front, Bulega dominated the race to seal his treble of victories in Phillip Island as he took the chequered flag by just over two seconds. 

Bautista recovered from 11th to second to complete an authoritative weekend for the factory Ducati team.

Iannone took third for the GoEleven team after remaining largely untroubled throughout the race.

Redding kept hold of his fourth position despite his penalty, as Petrucci won his battle for fifth over Lowes who had to settle for sixth.  

Locatelli was the highest placed non-Ducati in seventh as he crossed the line just under a tenth clear of Alex Lowes in eighth and Montella in ninth. 

Axel Bassani completed the top ten, seven seconds ahead of the fight between HRC’s Xavi Vierge in 11th and Dominique Aegerter in 12th. 

Garrett Gerloff was 13th while the sole BMW of Michael van der Mark took 14th over the line.

Ryan Vickers completed his debut WorldSBK weekend by rounding out the points in 15th.

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Aruba.It Ducati rider Nicolo Bulega dominated Race 1 of the Australian WorldSBK round to take a commanding victory over the field.

Bulega won the race by just under five seconds ahead of reigning world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and teammate Alvaro Bautista.

The Italian got away well from pole position and was able to maintain his lead going into the first corner. 

Razgatlioglu made a good initial launch from second on the grid, but the power of the Ducati machinery allowed Andrea Iannone and Bautista to get past the BMW on the rundown to turn 1.

A dramatic first lap further down the field saw Remy Gardner crash out of his home race, but the Yamaha rider was able to quickly rejoin.

Iannone appeared to have a technical issue as he ran wide and dropped from second down to fifth. The Italian continued to struggle on braking throughout the race and fell out of podium contention.

Scott Redding made a fantastic start and pulled a strong move on Bautista to move into the podium positions.

Razgatlioglu soon came under pressure from the British rider and made a mistake into turn 1, which allowed the Ducati trio of Redding, Bautista and Danilo Petrucci all through.

Bautista and Redding made contact a few corners later as the former world champion regained second place from the Brit. 

Razgatlioglu was looking to recover something from a difficult weekend and pulled a strong move on Petrucci, which allowed BMW teammate Michael van der Mark to also take advantage.

Van der Mark seemed the faster of the BMW teammates but crashed out of the race in Turn 1 while trying to force a move on Razgatlioglu.

It was agreed that the riders had to make a pit stop ahead of the weekend due to the unpredictable weather and track temperature at Phillip Island.

The first riders came into the pits with 11 laps to go, with Bulega and Bautista among the first riders to make their stops. 

The tyre change allowed Razgatlioglu to regain some of the momentum he lost after his mistake, as the Turkish rider got the jump on Redding and Bautista in the pitlane.

Bautista had the pace to challenge and was able to pass Redding and Petrucci as he set his sights on Razgatlioglu in second. 

The Spanish former champion continued to press the Turkish rider going onto the final lap of the race, but was unable to find a way through on the world champion. 

Out front, Bulega continued his dominance and took the chequered flag by 4.811s. 

Razgatlioglu was able to hold onto second place ahead of Bautista in third. 

Petrucci was top independent rider for the Barni Spark Racing team in fourth while Redding was fifth for MGM Benovo.

Iannone persisted after his problems early in the race and took sixth place while Andrea Locatelli finished seventh for Yamaha.

The Bimota pairing were eighth and ninth, with Alex Lowes leading Axel Bassani over the line, while Sam Lowes rounded out the top ten for MarcVDS.

Xavi Vierge was 11th for HRC ahead of GYTR GRT Yamaha’s Dominique Aegerter in 12th.

WorldSBK debutant Ryan Vickers was 13th for Motocorsa while Tetsuta Nagashima took 14th. 

Bahattin Sofuoglu was 15th for Motoxracing and took the final point on his WorldSBK debut.

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Yamaha team boss Paul Denning has revealed there is “no chance” of Jonathan Rea returning at the Portimao WorldSBK round after he suffered a test crash.

Rea crashed at the Southern Loop (Turn 2) during the first Free Practice session earlier in the week.

The Ulsterman sustained multiple fractures when the bike landed on his left foot, resulting in the Yamaha rider being sent home.

The six-time WorldSBK champion could not receive immediate surgery on the fractures due to massive swelling.

Rea’s projected timeline remains unclear, but Yamaha has indicated that a return at the second round in Portimao is out of the question.

As a result, the earliest opportunity for the Northern Irishman to kick off his season would be at the Assen round from April 11th-13th, a track where he has won 17 times.

“I think sad is the word, just sad to be away from the team, away from the bike, and particularly as he was starting to do so well and the flow was coming,” said Denning to WorldSBK.com.

“He’s super disappointed but he’s back home. He’s seen a surgeon, and the next course of action will be… I don’t want to share anything that’s medically his private information, but he’s on it and doing everything he can to be ready as soon as he possibly can.

“Jonathan, all things being equal as we know today, unfortunately has no chance of testing or racing at Portimao, in mid and end of March are the two dates which are just too early for the complexity of the injury to heal, so we’ll have two riders on track but who it will be is very much to be confirmed.”

Jonathan Rea left feeling ‘gutted’ after Phillip Island crash

“Honestly it was going so well, no issues, good plan, started fast – top four or five.

“I was working through it and was just about to put my first fresh set of tyres in for the last 20 minutes and on my first flying lap I just lost the rear, and it gripped, traction control picked it up abruptly and kicked me up, then I landed on the bike, and it threw me over, that was fine, I landed fine, but the bike was cartwheeling and landed right on my foot and did quite a bit of damage.

“They can’t operate right now as there is massive swelling, so I’m getting a few different opinions from different consultants, asking about surgery, not surgery, a timeframe, so I don’t know much right now.

“We made a small step forward on the bike. I’m just gutted, it doesn’t take much in racing to just keep that snowball effect rolling.

“We had a good winter test; it’s undone with that. I just have to take my medicine with this one and come back stronger.

“[It’s] day by day really, I don’t really have a target. It doesn’t take a surgeon to look through the CT scans to see the damage, a bit of hyperbaric chamber and recovery, but I’m gutted.”

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Defending WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu admitted he is “not 100% ready” ahead of the season opener in Phillip Island.

After recording BMW’s first championship on two-wheels in 2024, the Turkish rider is looking to become the fourth rider to win three or more WorldSBK titles.

Razgatlioglu’s pre-season campaign hasn’t gone as he’d hoped, missing the European test in Jerez due to an injured index finger sustained from a Motocross accident.

Despite recovering from this specific injury, he crashed on both days of testing in Phillip Island, leaving the Turkish rider feeling unequipped on setup for the upcoming season opener.

He avoided major injuries from both crashes, but he admitted he can ride “without problems”.

“After the crash, especially on the second day, we started off well because our main target is to find the right setup for the race,” he said to WorldSBK.

“We finally found something, but we’re not 100% ready yet. After the crash, we lost two hours of riding, and the afternoon brought some rain, so we only got the last eight minutes to ride the bike.

“We found a few things, but we’re still not 100%, so we’ll see how it goes on Friday. The weekend is really important, and we’re doing our best, as always.

“I feel the same as before, but I’m continuing to ride the bike. We’re racers, and it’s crucial to keep riding.

“This is an important weekend because it’s the first race of the 2025 season. Even though I’m still not 100%, after a couple of laps, the pain isn’t too bad, and I can still ride without problems.

“We also did some good lap times on race tires, so I’m a bit excited for the first race!”

Toprak Razgatlioglu unable to provide reasons behind ‘very strange’ Monday crash

Razgatlioglu’s biggest crash arrived on Day 1, where he was catapulted off his Bavarian machine at Turn 6.

He shared that he was unable to provide any reasons for the crash, and neither he nor his team understood the root cause.

“For me, it was a very strange crash. We checked the data. I’ve got 39% gas and I highsided because the traction wasn’t working there.

“I spoke with my electronics guy. He checked why it wasn’t working and he didn’t know. I’m lucky nothing is broken but I feel pain everywhere, especially in my hand. 

“Now it isn’t bad, but I need a little bit more. I saw the picture when I was flying! I immediately tried to cover my hand.

“The finger isn’t bad; I feel a little bit of pain. I’m still riding the bike; this is the important thing.

“I think, for the race weekend, I’ll feel much better because we have three or four days. It looks like everything is going positively, only this morning was a little bit strange.”

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Jonathan Rea has been ruled out of the WorldSBK season opener at Phillip Island after suffering a crash during testing on Monday.

The Pata Maxus Yamaha rider crashed at the Southern Loop (Turn 2) during the morning Free Practice session, issuing red flags.

The six-time WorldSBK champion sustained multiple fractures to his left foot following checkups from the circuit medical centre and a nearby hospital on the Island.

Yamaha released a statement stating: “Jonathan Rea will miss the opening round of the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship after a crash on the first day of testing at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

“Rea fell on the exit of Turn 2 in the closing stages of Monday’s first two-hour test session. He was taken to the circuit medical centre, before being transferred to Cowes for further assessment where it was confirmed he had sustained multiple fractures to the left foot.

“He will take no further part in testing or the upcoming race weekend.”

Yamaha rues Rea’s day as ‘bitterly disappointing’

“It wasn’t an easy day on Jonathan’s side and a bitterly disappointing day for him and his crew and for everybody in the Yamaha WorldSBK project,” Pata Maxus Yamaha Team Principal Paul Denning stated.

“We’ve had such a step over the winter with Jonathan and his confidence and comfort on the R1, and his ability to be consistent and smooth and get the best out of the bike.

“Everything was looking normal today, but Phillip Island has a habit of biting you quite hard sometimes.

“It’s a fast and very high grip circuit, but such a high grip circuit means when the grid releases… we’ve seen today many quite violent accidents, and Jonathan got unlucky with his left foot getting caught up in the bike and he’s broken some bones in the left foot.

“The next steps aren’t exactly clear, but the basic plan is to get back to the UK as quickly as possible and to have some surgery and start the recovery process.”

It is unclear whether the Ulsterman will be fit to return for the second round in Portimao, but Denning discussed that he’d rather not comment on giving a timeline yet.

“At this stage, it’s difficult to say. I’d prefer not to say. He’s seeing a specialist here on Wednesday before he goes home to get, let’s say, a full initial report and understanding of the injury.

“After we have that and after surgery is planned, let’s see, but Portimao is not so far away so I think it’s going to be a big challenge.”

READ MORE – Jonathan Rea considered WorldSBK retirement but wants to ‘right the wrongs’ in 2025

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