FASTER THAN EVER: Razgatlioglu and Bulega push each other as WorldSBK races get quicker in 2025
The reigning Champion and 2025 title race leader have both put in some amazing performances this season, with their race times often quicker than last year
The pace in the MOUL FIM Superbike World Championship has really ramped up in 2025, with races often considerably quicker than 2024 with the Autodrom Most a prime example, with the top two this year going a lot faster than last year. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) both made huge gains, but how does this trend compare across the season?
PUSHING EACH OTHER TO THE LIMIT: how much faster are Bulega and Razgatlioglu going?
Bulega and Razgatlioglu are pushing each other hard this season and Most was a great example of this. While conditions were better on Sunday compared to Saturday, that won’t explain all the gains: Razgatlioglu was around 12 seconds quicker in Race 1 compared to Race 2 while Bulega was 18 seconds faster – more than eight tenths a lap quicker than in Saturday’s race. What’s remarkable is they did this while fighting each other and they left third-placed Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) 16 seconds back. To compare year-on-year at Most, Razgatlioglu’s Race 1 time in 2024 was 33’53.537s, compared to 33’.38.735s this season. He won Race 2 last year in 34’04.044s while his P2 this year was done in 33’26.936s – a massive improvement.
BULEGA FINDS GAINS ACROSS THE BOARD: massively quicker than his rookie season…
Another example is Portimao. While WorldSBK visited the rollercoaster venue at a different time of the year in 2024 compared to this season, and with vastly different conditions, Race 1 this year was around five seconds quicker (33’39.732s for Razgatlioglu in 2025, 33’44.531s in 2024). However, the improvement for Bulega is even more impressive. He finished seventh in Race 1 last year with a time of 33’50.207s but was second this year after going 11 seconds quicker. At Cremona, the #11 won Race 2 in 34’13.292s in 2025 – last year, he was P3 after completing the race in 34’36173s. Obviously, it’s impossible to compare all races – rain, red flags and technical issues all had an impact – but it’s clear Bulega is matching Razgatlioglu’s pace, even with the #1 also going quicker than last year, highlighting the step the #11 has made in his sophomore campaign.
LEAVING P3 IN THEIR DUST: 16 seconds back to Peturcci at Most…
It’s little wonder Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) was joking about the future of both Razgatlioglu and Bulega after Race 2 at Most. ‘Petrux’ was 16 seconds down on the pair after he finished in P3, the seventh-largest gap between the top two riders and third place – the biggest is a huge 36.6 seconds when Stephane Mertens and Fred Merkel were separated by two tenths at the line, and Fabrizio Pirovano claimed P3. Petrucci is always quick at Most, and he claimed three P3 finishes this year. In Race 1 2024, he completed the race in 33’59.277s. This year, in Race 1, he was third in 33’48.965s – going 11 seconds quicker but falling down a place on the podium thanks to Bulega’s massive gains – ‘Bulegas’ was around 23 seconds quicker in Race 1 this year compared to last, despite being battered and bruised from his FP1 highside.
NOT GAINING POSITIONS: some riders faster but dropping down the order…
For some riders, even going at the same pace as last year means dropping down the order. At Cremona, in Race 2 in 2024, Petrucci completed the race in 34’33.263s. The #9 was two seconds quicker this season but finished in third. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) is another example of this. He completed last year’s Cremona Race 2 in 34’34.286s as he finished second. He was 12 seconds quicker in 2025, but finished in third place, thanks to Bulega’s gains; however, it’s worth noting that Razgatlioglu wasn’t at Cremona in 2024, so we don’t know what his race time would’ve been or where he would’ve finished. The positional drop was even more exaggerated for Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team). In 2024, he was fourth at Cremona in Race 2, with a race time of 34’41.715s. This year, despite matching his time – he was around seven tenths slower across 23 laps – finished in 12th place.
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