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Round 10 of the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is done and dusted. It was an intense weekend of racing at MotorLand Aragon as the top two in the Championship gave it their all in the fight for victory. When the dust settled, riders spoke to the media at the Tissot Aragon Round and reflected on their weekends…

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati): “I’m not happy because I stopped Toprak’s run, but because I stopped my run of second places!”

Reflecting on a Sunday double, Bulega said: “The anger from Saturday gave me good motivation for Sunday. I was angry because I knew I had the speed, but I was still fighting with a few little problems. We worked after the race, and we improved the things I didn’t like. I needed this Sunday. At one moment, I understood he was trying to block me because I think he understood that I had a little bit more. I just tried to stay in front and close the line at Turn 15 as I was very bad there, or he was incredible, like me at the last corner. After 13 laps, I saw he was not overtaking me, I thought, ‘Okay, I can do it’. On Saturday, I had a good mentality because after pole position, I knew I had the speed. In Race 1, I wasn’t 100% happy with the bike. Pecco sent me a message and gave me advice that I used in the race, and it worked a little bit; Toprak at Turn 15 was very strong, but he overtook me less times than in the Superpole Race there in Race 2. Pecco said to me that I needed to release the brake more at Turn 14 and go wider. I told him about my problems with the corners, and he tried to help me. I’m not happy because I stopped Toprak’s run, but because I stopped my run of second places!”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “When I braked and downshifted, I didn’t feel the engine brake immediately; I just felt the rear pushing”

After taking two P2s on Sunday, ‘El Turco’ said: “At Turn 7, Bulega stayed on the inside. I didn’t plan on passing him, just going to the other side and turning with him. When I braked and downshifted, I didn’t feel the engine brake immediately; I just felt the rear pushing. I made a mistake, but if I fought with him on the last lap, the chances were very small to win the race because of the final corner. The Ducatis there have more grip, and the electronics were working better, and also very good acceleration and torque. All races were a good fight. If I’m turning on the inside of Turn 16, I think it’s easy for him to pass me on the outside. He was 0.3 or 0.4 faster than me in the final sector. He’s very fast in the long corners, but I’m faster in the slower corners. This weekend, my engine brake wasn’t very good; I’m always stopping the bike on the front tyre. I sent a message to Marc, I’m very happy for him. After six years, he really deserves it. Every year, he was improving, and finally this year, he really came back after the big injury.”

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati): “I was quite angry with myself; I feel more pain from my Race 1 crash than I am happy for Sunday”

Two podiums on Sunday for Bautista, who said: “I feel more pain from my Race 1 crash than I am happy for Sunday. This weekend was going well. I found something good with the bike, and I felt more competitive. I was quite angry with myself; I felt like I lost a good opportunity. I felt a bit better on Sunday. In Race 2, I had some riders overtake me because I couldn’t force it anymore. Different from Race 1, I didn’t try to force the tyre at the beginning, even if I lost more. I kept calm and let the laps pass. When the feeling came back, I started to push. After a few laps, I passed the riders and did my pace; I reduced the gap but not enough. I think the performance was the maximum we could do. I enjoyed the Bulega-Toprak battle on track. I had the best seat! It will remain like this until the end. It’s true that at this track, Toprak struggles a little bit more. Now we go to Estoril where he’s maybe a bit stronger. If nobody makes a mistake, we’ll get to the last round with a title. I hope to be very close to see the battle. Maybe, if I can beat them, much better!”

Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha): “We used the harder front tyre in cool conditions… I felt like the old me, able to brake on the shoulder of the tyre”

Rea was back in the top five at Aragon, and he said: “It was a great race. Sunday was much better than Saturday. We changed the bike quite a bit because after four or five laps, I really struggled with grip, front and rear. Uri and all the crew came up with a better solution. I felt okay in Warm Up. In the Superpole Race, we used the harder front tyre in cool conditions. This was my reference tyre previously. When I tried it with the R1 at Portimao last year, I crashed. We were reluctant to try it more times, but I found it suited my style a lot more. I felt like the old me, able to brake on the shoulder of the tyre. I tried to stay in Bautista’s slipstream in Race 2, but he was just that little bit too fast. Every time I exited T15, I was struggling to take the slipstream. Iannone was the shark in the water, just coming. When he passed me, I gritted my teeth to try to stay there. Our bike was really strong in some areas, and there are some areas we need to improve. It was frustrating not to test here as we arrived a little bit blind, unable to test the setup options, but by Sunday, we were able to get a handle on things. Aside from Donington last year, Estoril was my best round. Jerez, I qualified really poorly, but in winter I’ve been fast on the Yamaha there. I didn’t expect these results. If we can keep getting the best out of my bike, hopefully we can be fighting in the top five in the final two rounds.”

Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoEleven): “I’m not surprised about this weekend. I’m happy because we struggled a lot this year”

‘The Maniac’ also hit form at Aragon, with a P4 in Race 2: “I think this is the weekend we needed. This is our standard, but this year we lost everything. I’m not surprised about this weekend. I’m happy because we struggled a lot this year. In any case, this is our normal. For next year, it’s like always. We will see. We’re in the game. We have a good chance to be in WorldSBK next year, but at this moment, it’s not possible to confirm anything. I’m happy for Marc. He’s dominated this year. I know what he felt because he struggled a lot. When you come back, you start to believe. I’m also happy Pecco won and hope he can recover the feeling.”

Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC): “From the first moment, we had very good talks, and the approach was quite fast to understand… I had different plans on the table!”

Discussing his move to Yamaha, Vierge stated: “I’m super happy to join that project on many levels. I’m excited to start working with them. I’ll give my best as always. Yamaha spoke to me late because everything was late! From the first moment, we had very good talks, and the approach was quite fast to understand. I had different plans on the table. We put everything down and decided on Yamaha. It looks like Ducati and BMW are fast, but it looks like all the manufacturers are closing the gap. Jonny, on a track that isn’t the easiest for Yamaha, was fighting inside the top five. For the two rounds, my target is to be fighting inside the top six. I think there are tracks we can battle for that. The goal is to fight for a good position in the Championship. We’re currently in eighth place, which would be the best finish for Honda since they began this project. I know it won’t be easy. One of my best memories was my first podium with them at Mandalika, and of course, the Suzuka 8 Hours win.”

Nicolo Canepa (Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Sporting Manager, Motorsport Division): “I believe he has a very similar riding style to Locatelli…”

Discussing the signing of Vierge, Canepa said: “There’s no doubt about Xavi’s talent, especially this year and being the best Honda on track. I believe, as we have discussed many times together, that he has a very similar riding style to Locatelli. He’s young and has a lot of talent, so I think it could suit him with the Yamaha R1. This is what we need to keep developing the bike and achieve some good results. We’ve seen Locatelli’s had a fantastic season, fighting for third in the Championship, and we believe that with Xavi, they can help us improve our package even more. Until the last race of 2024, I was on track in every session and every race. I was able to take a close look at the riders, which helped me gain a better understanding of their performance, including every mistake they made, how they ride, and how they behave on track. It’s a line-up that’s very young overall. ‘Loka’ has a lot of experience, but he joined us in 2021, and he’s still young. Remy has experience in MotoGP, but we still haven’t seen his 100% potential on his bike. Stefano is a rookie; Xavi will be new to our bike. This is a good opportunity for us.”

Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC): “I have the last check on Monday prior to Estoril…”

Present at Aragon but not riding, Lecuona provided an update on his recovery and discussed when he could be on the Ducati for the first time: “I’m happy with my recovery, the past few weeks I’ve been improving my power and rotation of the arm by a lot. I’ve been working on it almost every day. The target was to come back at Estoril. My last check was a month or three weeks ago; the doctors said that everything is progressing fine, but I have the last check on Monday before Estoril. If I can go, we may prepare something to protect my arm, and I will just ride as though it were a test. I know I can’t be fighting for the podium like I was last year, either there or at Jerez, but I want to finish in the best way possible with Honda. Getting on the Ducati depends on whether I can ride at Estoril and Jerez. If I can’t ride at either, personally, I won’t do it. If I can’t ride for Honda by the end of the season, then I won’t take it until later on. I technically am allowed to ride after the last day of the season. If I were physically fit, I could ride on the Ducati at the Jerez test, but I want to end things on the best possible terms. I want to show respect to Honda.”

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