For the first time in the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) has been dethroned atop the Riders’ Championship standings. After an abysmal start to the year, Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) has battled back to get his nose out in front of Bulega. Now, as the dust settles on the Prosecco DOC UK Round, the defending Champion has established a tenuous four-point lead over his Italian rival.

ALL TO PLAY FOR: “If we can win in Balaton, it will be good because I will need some gap, Nicolo has some circuits where he is very strong”

Even since back in Razgatlioglu’s Yamaha days, he has performed well, and 2025 was no different. Razgatlioglu passed Tom Sykes’ for most wins at the British circuit with his Race 1 win, then went on to emphatically claim the record for his own by completing his third career hat trick at the track- a WorldSBK first- to raise his Donington win tally to 12.

On his momentous Donington trip and his new Title lead, Razgatlioglu said: “I’m very happy, before coming here my target was the hat trick, and I did it, so I’m happy about that. I love this track, it’s my favourite. I always enjoy riding here. I’ve had some really special wins here. Next year, I won’t be coming back because I’ll be in MotoGP, but winning 12 races here and breaking the record is amazing. Before I move to MotoGP, I want some more wins. The Championship lead is good, but I’m not focused on it very much; I’m going race by race to focus on each one. It looks like we will be fighting a lot. If we can win in Balaton, it will be good because I will need some gap. Nicolo has some circuits where he is very strong; it looks like it is the start of a big battle.”

NOT OVER YET: “There is still a long way to go until the end of the season…We’ll arrive at some circuits where I am stronger, where I hope I will be more competitive”

Bulega knew going into Donington that it was in many ways hostile territory. Toprak has always performed well here; however, as he pointed out before the round, this year has been one of exceptions to the rule. Two rounds ago, Bulega was able to steal a race win away from Razgatlioglu at Most -a track where ‘El Turco’ is similarly strong- to prevent him from completing his hat trick. While he could not accomplish the same here, now with five rounds left to play, every point matters between the two title titans who are facing what may be their final WorldSBK season, facing off against one another.

“We knew before coming here that it could be a difficult weekend because Toprak is very strong here. It was a difficult weekend, but it wasn’t so bad. 3 P2s are good, we took good points, and there is still a long way to go until the end of the season. We’ll arrive at some circuits where I am stronger, where I hope I will be more competitive. He was just a little bit stronger everywhere, especially in slow corners and in acceleration, we need a bit more grip at the first touch of the throttle.”

Be sure to catch ‘Bulegas’ and ‘El Turco’ in the next instalment of their title battle in Hungary as WorldSBK will celebrate its 1000^th race! Tune in live or on demand with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 50% off!