WorldSBK Round 2 Report 2025 | Razgatlioglu completes Portimao treble
Toprak Razgatlioglu continues to make history in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as he secured his 59th and 60th wins in the Championship after completing a hat-trick at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Report: Ed Stratmann/WorldSBK
Friday practice
WorldSBK
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was the rider to beat after Friday’s MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action after he set a 1’39.995s to claim P1 ahead of rival Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #11). The Turkish superstar set no times in FP1 due to a technical issue, but responded in style in FP2 for the Pirelli Portuguese Round with the only 1’39s lap of the day, with Bulega trailing the #1 by three tenths at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.
The day got off to a terrible start for Razgatlioglu, with just one out lap completed in FP1 thanks to a technical issue. However, in FP2, the #1 was back out on track – and one of the first riders to hit the track – and it didn’t take him long to be towards the top of the timesheets. He moved into P2 with his first flying lap with a 1’40.735s as he embarked on the first of two 10-lap stints as he traded times with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). He later improved to a 1’40.637s on that first run before his times dropped off as the stint progressed.
Read our Race One report here…
With 12 minutes remaining, ‘El Turco’ set a 1’40.089s to move into a provisional P1 before improving to a 1’39.995s for the first lap in the 1’39s bracket this weekend. Teammate Michael van der Mark (#60) put in a late lap of a 1’40.506s to ensure both BMWs were in the top three, lapping more than half a second slower than Razgatlioglu.
The reigning Champion narrowly missed out on a 1’38s lap time, but claimed his second consecutive pole at Portimao ahead of Bulega.
For the second time in one day, Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) utterly annihilated the lap record at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve as he claimed his 19th MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship pole position. ‘El Turco’ posted two times that beat his previous record in Tissot Superpole for the Pirelli Portuguese Round as he took P1 ahead of Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team #9), who both beat last year’s pole time to complete the front row.
WorldSSP
Round 2 of the FIM Supersport World Championship got going at a sunny Portimao with Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team #61) claiming his first career WorldSSP pole, as the Turkish superstar ousted Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA #94), who snuck into P2 minutes before the end of the session, followed by Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME Air Racing #64) in P3. Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team #52) earned his best result of the season so far with his P4 on the back of his 1’43.603s lap, only missing out on the front row by 0.033s.
Saturday
WorldSK
WorldSBK Race 1
MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action burst back onto the track on Saturday, Race 1 bringing with it the possibility of claiming the first points of the Pirelli Portuguese Round.
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed the holeshot, however after Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) recuperated his positions from his poor start to the race; what followed was the best duel between the two since the Italian rider joined WorldSBK last year.
Neither rider backed down as they stayed close behind one another from Lap 4 until Toprak claimed P1 on Lap 19, where he was able to hold off Bulega’s final assaults. The defending Riders’ Champion now sits behind Bulega in second in the Championship standings, Bulega’s 82 points to Toprak’s 45. Toprak’s 58th win puts him just one win behind four-time World Champion Carl Fogarty. His triumph also marked the sixth win for BMW at Portimao and the first time the German manufacturer has hit that number of wins on any track.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha #55) secured a podium finish by holding off Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) for P3. For his part, Petrucci was once again metronomically consistent, finishing the race where he started in P4 after regaining the position from Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team #14) on Lap 9, with ‘Petrux’ finishing as top Independent rider.
“It wasn’t a good start, I made some mistakes. But after that I went step by step until I started fighting with Nicolo. He did some really, really good riding especially with pushing hard on every lap. Ducati has an advantage here with the hot conditions and in the corner exits from what I was seeing, but also Nicolo was riding very well. We are still learning, and we hope to improve the bike tonight, especially in some corners. The Ducati in some corners has some really, really good acceleration. I need more grip as well, anyway, in general. But I am really happy because we are back in the race,” Razgatlioglu said.
WorldSBK Race 1 Results
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
- Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.067s
- Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +7.855s
- Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +8.991s
- Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) +15.475s
WorldSSP Race 1
Oncu brought home Yamaha’s 150th WorldSSP win from Portimao’s Race 1, followed by Manzi (#62) and Bendsneyder (#11). Oncu claimed the holeshot from pole position and quickly stretched his margin to establish a commanding lead, 2.658s ahead of Manzi in P2 by Lap 8.
Manzi and Lucas Mahias (GMT94-Yamaha) were glued to one another for the first 10 laps, the two veterans battling with one another as they both tried to make time on Oncu in the distance ahead of them.
After putting distance between him and the rest of the pack, Bendsneyder closed down the Yamaha pair in P2 and P3. He passed both Manzi and Mahias in consecutive laps before the #62 brushed him back out of the way to claim P2 on Lap 14. Manzi, from there, staved off the Dutchman to secure second, earning his 44th WorldSSP podium, equaling Fabian Foret for third in all time podiums. Bendsneyder, who started the race in P5, locked down P3 to taste the prosecco for the 3rd time in WorldSSP.
WorldSSP Race 1 Results
- Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team)
- Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +0.836s
- Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +1.767s
- Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) +3.801s
- Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) +9.630s
Sunday
Superpole Race
Portimao’s Tissot Superpole Race kicked off racing action in the Pirelli Portuguese Round’s final day. Razgatlioglu and Bulega battled once again in the first laps of the Superpole Race. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) followed up his Race 1 duel with Toprak by seizing the holeshot from the Turkish polesitter. He clung to P1 as Toprak made time on the Italian rider until in Turn 3 of Lap 5, when Razgatlioglu overtook him to go first.
Bulega clung to his heels and almost passed the #1 exiting the race’s final corner as Toprak had a moment, trying to push his bike to the limit in the straight. Alvaro Bautista’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) Portimao weekend had been a rollercoaster of its own up to this point. He began the Superpole race from P9 on the third row, climbing up to P5 by Lap 2, and by Lap 9, he sprung a move on Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) in Turn 1 to claim a spot on the podium in P3.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) had been up around the top positions all weekend, P3 in the Superpole session, P4 in Race 1, and then finished the Superpole Race P4, snubbed from the podium by a streaking Bautista.
Superpole Race Results
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
- Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.055s
- Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +4.407s
- Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +5.327s
- Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +6.206s
WorldSBK Race 2
The final ride on WorldSBK’s favourite rollercoaster took place Sunday afternoon, providing another nail-biting battle between rivals Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
A red flag was thrown on Lap 10 after Jason O’Halloran (Pata Maxus Yamaha #20) crashed at Turn 1. In the ensuing 11-lap sprint, two of the title contenders engaged in a thrilling battle for the race win. ‘El Turco’ came out on top for the third time on the weekend, completing his second consecutive Portimao hat-trick to earn his ninth win at this track to equal his tally at Donington Park.
Prior to the red flag, Toprak and ‘Bulegas’ had paired off at the front of the pack, while Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had maintained his P3 grid start, and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) had fallen down to P9 from his P4 grid position.
Bulega took the holeshot of the restarted race; and he was able to defend his P1 until Toprak overtook him, taking P1 momentarily on Lap 2, at Turn 1. Bulega retook the lead in the run to Turn 1 of Lap 3, then Laps 6-8 saw the pair grit their teeth and throw caution to the wind, overtaking each other a total of 6 times.
The final three laps were fought tooth and nail as Toprak held on through the final stages of the race to claim his 60th WorldSBK win, which means he now sits third all-time in WorldSBK wins ahead of Fogarty.
Bautista pushed his Ducati Panigale V4R hard to try to keep up with the #1 and his factory Ducati teammate, however the gap increased as the race went on, with him crossing the line 3.512s behind the #1 as he secured third place.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) had a good jump off the line after the red-flag restart, moving into second place before falling to P4, closing out a strong weekend for the top Yamaha rider.
“For me, I love fighting. I never give up. The bike isn’t 100%, but I’m only pushing for the win. Race 1 was a hard race because I lost the front a few times. I just tried to follow him and then win the race. In Sunday’s two races, the pace was incredible. We improved the bike and I felt more grip, but turning was the same. I’m just fighting for the wins, and everyone enjoyed it. After Phillip Island, we are coming back very strongly and showed everyone we’re here,” Razgatlioglu stated.
WorldSBK Race 2 Results
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
- Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.195s
- Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +3.512s
- Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +6.617s
- Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +7.478s
Championship Points
- Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 111 points
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 82
- Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) 60
- Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 59
- Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) 56
WorldSSP Race 2
The final event of the FIM Supersport World Championship’s Portimao weekend jumped off the line at lights out. Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) became the fourth different race winner in four races to claim his first win in any championship since his Red Bull MotoGP ™Rookies Cup win in 2015 at Misano.
Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) had enjoyed a dominant weekend up to this point, winning Race 1 from pole and leading Race 2 until Lap 9, when the Turkish rider crashed and opened the fight for the race win to a pack of condensed riders who had struggled to catch him prior to the crash.
Tailing Bendsneyder into the podium spots was Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) and Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing #69), with Manzi securing his 13th consecutive podium and Booth-Amos claiming his fourth WorldSSP rostrum.
Bendsneyder was the only rider who was able to keep up with the Yamaha R9s in the podium fight in Race 1, and after dropping to P5 from his P3 start, he surged all the way up the grid, eventually taking P1 from Manzi, clinging on to win his first race in WorldSSP.
Manzi, Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) and Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura #51) spent much of the race tightly grouped as the trio tried to cut away at the front that Oncu had carved out for himself, leading to a battle which sprung to life after the #61’s crash.
Aside from Bendsneyder’s pass, pushing him down to P2, Manzi held off the rest of the pack behind him to take home his fourth podium of the 2025 season, maintaining his lead in the Riders’ Championship. Booth-Amos chipped away at the leading group from his starting position behind them in P6, eventually whittling away at the margin to pass Mahias on Lap 12.
Mahias spent the majority of the race in P3, hunting Manzi, then after Oncu’s crash, P2, narrowly missing out on what would be his first podium appearance of 2025. His P4 finish places him P4 in the Championship after Portimao. Fellow Frenchman Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse #53) was the top performing Ducati on the day, charging up the grid from a P11 start to bank fifth.
WorldSSP Race 2 Results
- Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)
- Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +2.348s
- Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) +3.443s
- Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) +3.684s
- Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse) +3.900s
Championship Points
- Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) 85 points
- Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) 72
- Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 70
- Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) 43
- Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) 36
How Did the Aussies Do?
Kicking off his Portimao with a pair of tenths on the Saturday in the Tissot Superpole and the opening race, this was a promising beginning to the second stop on the calendar for Remy Gardner.
Wanting more on the Sunday, it frustratingly was a day full of ups and downs, for he bagged a respectable 10th in the Superpole Race, which was followed by a fall in Race 2.
Stepping in for the injured Jonathan Rea in WorldSBK, Jason O’Halloran made strong progress across the weekend, with his best effort being a 17th in Race 1.
It was also a challenging one for Oli Bayliss in World Supersport, as he battled to find grip and comfort throughout on his way to bagging 17th in Race 1 before crashing in the second race when on track for bagging a decent points haul.
For the full WorldSBK Round One results in all classes for all days, click here...