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The FIM Supersport World Championship’s 2025 campaign steams towards Round 8! After an outing to the UK’s Donington Park Circuit, which hosted the first-ever WorldSBK race back in April 1988, Round 8 brings the field to Hungary’s Balaton Park Circuit, hosting its first-ever WorldSBK Round. Situated on the shores of the scenic Lake Balaton, Balaton Park Circuit will play host to the first WorldSBK race on Hungarian soil since 1990, the new circuit arriving at an interesting juncture Manzi looks to close out the season, and the riders behind look to claw their way back into contention.

CAN MANZI MAINTAIN? The #62 hopes to weather the onslaught posed by the #61

Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) enjoyed a more stable Prosecco DOC UK Round than he had in recent rounds, helping him stem the loss of points he suffered at Most and, more recently, Misano. If he can manage to return to his early-season podium consistency, he will put the pressure back on his leading contender, Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team). Oncu has recently improved his consistency over the last three rounds. Forty-five points behind the Italian, Oncu had a rocky start to the season; while he won two out of eight races in the first four rounds, his four DNFs in that period saw him tumble down the standings. Since after Cremona, however, he has stepped up his game, winning three of the last six races and a worst result of just P5 across that period. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) sits 62 points behind the #62; a strong home round saw the British rider take third place in the Riders’ Championship standings away from Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse). The Triumph rider finished P2 in both races, gaining points on both Oncu and Manzi; however, he will need to find yet another gear to catch Manzi and fight for the title in earnest.

MASIA CONTINUES TO SHINE: 2025’s hottest WorldSSP rookie takes home P4 pair from Donington

Masia’s first WorldSSP round at Donington was a strong showing as the Spanish rookie took home 26 points from England. While his results are nothing to sneer at, if he wants to throw his hat in the ring for this year’s Championship, he will need to start stacking up race wins, and quickly. While time is of the essence, he is only 27 points back from Oncu, meaning in the span of one round, he could potentially fire himself up to P2. Bendsneyder’s rut continued at Donington, as a pair of finishes outside the point scoring positions saw the Dutchman fall out of the top three Championship positions. Now 88 points back from Manzi, his campaign is on thin ice, as at this point in the season, he doesn’t have any more time for the off pace rounds he has had since Assen. Between Most and more recently at Donington, Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) has put together his two best rounds of the season, breathing some life into his 2025 campaign as the #94 resides six points behind Bendsneyder, and 94 behind Manzi.

BEST OF THE REST: Debise holds P7 by a mere three points

After his second podium of the season at Misano, Debise was unable to build on that momentum at Donington, where he scored a total of 12 points via his P9 and P11. Forty-two points back from his countryman Lucas Mahias in P6, Debise finds himself on the outside looking in, but he is in a close fight with several riders for P7. The first among them is rookie Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team), who is currently a mere three points behind Debise after his seventh and eighth place finishes in the UK. Subsequently, German rider Marcel Schroetter (WRP Racing) is 13 points behind Debise, and 10 behind Alcoba after his forgettable UK Round, having earned just four points from his Race 1 P12. Rounding out the top 10, Philipp Oettl's (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) improved form continues. Since Most, he has earned the fifth-most points this season from Round 5 onwards.

REPLACEMENTS AT BALATON: Ten Kate stated on social media that Okamoto will not be competing at Balaton Park this weekend

In a statement made on social media, Yuki Okamoto (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) was confirmed by his team that he will miss the Hungarian Round with injury after he was ruled unfit on Friday last round. Replacing Harrison Voight (EAB Racing Team), Polish rider Daniel Blin will ride atop the Australian’s Ducati V2. Substituting for the injured Loic Arbel, Piotr Biesiekirski (Team Flembbo-Pilote Moto Production) again fills in to Join Blin as the second Pole on this round’s grid.

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