REPORT - 2025 AUSTRALIAN WORLD SUPERBIKE ROUND - JUST BIKES

REPORT - 2025 Australian World Superbike round

Words: Mike Ryan

Photos: Russell Colvin (unless indicated)

The opening round of the 2025 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) brought plenty of action and drama to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, as well as the first chance to see series debutants, new teams and the return of a marque that tasted victory in Australia more than two decades ago.

REPORT - 2025 Australian World Superbike round

The opening round also brought a return of the flag-to-fag format, with a mid-race tyre change mandated due to concerns over excess tyre wear. The final factor impacting the season opener was heat, with sweltering conditions on the second day of the 21-23 February event proving to be a challenge for all involved.

Team and Rider Changes

All the factory squads brought unchanged rider lineups into the 2025 season, but there was a new factory team, with bimota back on the grid. Part of the inaugural WorldSBK season in 1988, where they achieved seven race wins and finished second in the manufacturers’ championship, bimota has had a chequered history since. Out of the category by 1992, bimota has made the occasional reappearance, most recently in 2014, but this latest revival seems the strongest yet. In terms of local results, bimota’s last victory at Phillip Island was delivered by Anthony Gobert on the SB8K back in 2000.

Replacing the Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT) this year, the new ‘bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team’ (bbKRT) retained KRT’s rider lineup of Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani, as well as most of the KRT personnel. Kawasaki retains a “factory” presence, though, with the independent Puccetti Kawasaki team rebranded as ‘Kawasaki WorldSBK Team’ and receiving additional technical assistance from Kawasaki.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, the 2024 WorldSBK champion, was still at ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, as was team mate, Michael van de Mark. Aruba.it Racing Ducati retained their lineup of Nicolo Bulega and two-time WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista. Same goes for Pata Maxus Yamaha, although Andea Locatelli would be their sole representative at Phillip Island after Jonathan Rea was injured in the pre-season test. Honda HRC’s Xavi Vierge was also out with an injury, but Tetsuta Nagashima was drafted in to join Iker Lecuona.

Among the independent teams, returning riders included Dominique Aegerter and Australia’s Remy Gardner at GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, while Barni Spark Racing Team (Ducati) expanded to a two-rider squad in the off-season, adding World Supersport race winner, Yari Montella, to Danilo Petrucci. Andrea Iannone was back with Team Pata Go Eleven (Ducati) and Sam Lowes was ready for a second season with ELF Marc VDS Racing Team (Ducati).

Last year’s team mates at Bonovo Action BMW, Garrett Gerloff and Scott Redding, were back, but not together. MGM BONOVO Racing, a team born from the ashes of Bonovo Action, would field Redding on a Ducati, while Gerloff joined the aforementioned Kawasaki WorldSBK Team. Tito Rabat was back, too, this time with Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team.

WorldSBK debutants for 2025 included Montella, as well as Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and Zaqhwan Zaidi (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team), while Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing Ducati) could be classed as a rookie, with only one wildcard entry previously.

Day 1 Practise

With Razgatlioglu carrying a finger injury into the season opener and struggling to adapt to the MY25-spec BMW M 1000 RR, it was no surprise that he was off the pace for the first Free Practise sessions on Friday, 21 February. The defending champion’s comments on this year’s BMW – “The bike isn't turning, it's not stopping, not gripping” – were particularly damning

Bulega had been strong in the pre-season test and carried that form into Day 1, topping the time sheets with a 1m28.790s lap. Iannone was next fastest, then Bautista, while Razgatlioglu had another crash, albeit less dramatic and less consequential than the one he incurred at the Phillip Island test. Despite this, he was fifth fastest overall.

Petrucci was fourth fastest overall on Day 1, while Redding’s reunification with Ducati saw him finish inside the Top 10 in FP2. Alex Lowes was also inside the Top 10 as he adapted to the Kawasaki-engined bimota KB998 Rimini.

Gardner was 16th fastest on the opening day, while the best of the rookies was Montella, who recorded a 1m29.815s lap in FP2 to be seventh fastest.

Day 2 Practise and Superpole

Temperatures in the high 30s, and track temperatures exceeding 50°C on Saturday, 22 February seemed to have no effect on Bulega, who was the only rider to go under 1m29s on the 4.445km Phillip Island circuit during FP3. Razgatlioglu improved to be second fastest in this session, ahead of Bautista, Petrucci and Iannone. Gardner also improved in FP3, moving up to ninth, with Montella still the best rookie.

With the extreme heat negatively impacting tyre grip, Bulega’s Superpole lap couldn’t match his performance from the previous day, but a 1m28.824s was still good enough for pole. Razgatlioglu (1m28.918s) and Iannone (1m29.266s) completed the front row for Race 1 and Sunday’s Superpole Race, with Bautista, Petrucci and Redding on Row 2. Gardner was ninth in Superpole, putting him on the outside of Row 3, alongside van der Mark and Locatelli. The Lowes twins were on Row 4 with Vierge, while Montella qualified on Row 5, ahead of Bassani and Aegerter.

A crash from Lecuona in Superpole would see him withdraw from the opening race.

Race 1

Bulega got the holeshot in the opening race and, remarkably, had a lead of almost three seconds by the end of the second lap, aided by a missed braking point for Iannone though Turns 2 and 3 that slowed the field behind him. Five laps later, Bulega’s lead was more than six seconds.

Gardner crashed on the opening lap, remounted, but would retire after the pit stops with a blown engine. Montella crashed on Lap 2, with Rabat, Gerloff and van der Mark doing the same before pit lane opened for the mandatory tyre change on Lap 9.

Bulega, Bautista, Petrucci and Iannone were the first in, followed by most of the rest of the field a lap later. The only rider pinged for an early exit was Alex Lowes, but the subsequent time penalty had no impact on his eighth-place finish.

With the pit stops completed, Bulega retained his lead, but Razgatlioglu had moved up to second ahead of Bautista, with Redding battling Petrucci for fourth. Iannone was close behind, with Locatelli, Bassani and Alex Lowes in their own battle pack further back.

Consistently holding a 6-second lead for the second half of the race, Bulega only eased off on the final lap, with the Italian starting this season the same way he did the last – with a win. Bautista closed in on Razgatlioglu, but couldn’t make a pass, while Petrucci got the better of Redding in the final stages. Still, fifth place for the veteran Brit was his best result since Magny-Cours last year.

Iannone and Locatelli rode lonely races in the closing laps, while both bimotas finished inside the Top 10. Montella’s crash and Zaidi’s non-start (due to missing the qualifying cut-off) meant Vickers was the best of the rookies, finishing in 13th, with Sofuoglu 15th.

“I wasn’t relaxed before the race because I knew that some aggressive riders were starting close to me especially on the first lap after braking, so I tried to stay calm and focussed,” Bulega said. “I started well and I finished well. If I can keep this feeling, I can stay positive about the rest of the weekend."

Race 1 Results

1. Nicolo Bulega                ITA          Ducati                   31m11.497s
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu     TUR        BMW                     +4.811s
3. Alvaro Bautista             ESP         Ducati                   +5.108s
4. Danilo Petrucci             ITA          Ducati                   +6.813s
5. Scott Redding                GBR        Ducati                   +6.986s

DNF. Remy Gardner AUS Yamaha

Superpole Race

With more liveable temperatures, but strong winds, on Sunday, 23 February, the third day of 2025’s opening WorldSBK round started with the morning warm-up session. Bulega topped that with another sub-1m29s lap (no surprise), but Alex Lowes appeared to have found some extra speed, with Iannone and Sam Lowes also quick.

The afternoon’s 10-lap Superpole Race stated dramatically when Razgatlioglu and Bautista ran wide at Turn 4 on the opening lap. Razgatlioglu almost took out Iannone in the process, but managed to stay upright and rejoin, as did Bautista. Gerloff was hit by Nagashima at the same corner and retired. A lap later, Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) also ran wide at Turn 4 and Bautista crashed at Turn 6.

Ahead of all this drama, Bulega got the holeshot and seemed destined for another race win. Despite an early challenge from Iannone, Bulega steadily built his lead, lap after lap. Behind this pair, Petrucci and Redding resumed their Race 1 battle, with Sam Lowes joining in for the closing laps.

Gardner had Vierge and Bassani for company at the tail of the Top 10 for most of the race before finishing tenth, just outside the points-scoring positions.

Despite the Superpole Race’s shorter format, Bulega still finished more than two seconds ahead of Iannone at the chequered flag. Petrucci completed the podium, with Redding holding off Sam Lowes for fourth. Montella took eighth place behind Locatelli and Alex Lowes, while Razgatlioglu and Bautista’s lap 1 mishaps saw them finish a lowly 13th and 19th, respectively.

Superpole Race Results

1. Nicolo Bulega                ITA          Ducati                   14m58.866s
2. Andrea Iannone           ITA          Ducati                   +2.324s
3. Danilo Petrucci              ITA          Ducati                   +4.923s
4. Scott Redding                GBR        Ducati                   +5.312s
5. Sam Lowes                     GBR        Ducati                   +5.452s

10. Remy Gardner AUS Yamaha +10.924s

Race 2

With the top nine grid positions for Race 2 set by lap times in the Superpole Race, it meant Petrucci would move up to the first row alongside Bulega and Iannone. The second row was filled by Redding, Sam Lowes and Locatelli, with Razgatlioglu in a very unfamiliar third row starting position, joined by Bautista and van der Mark. Gardner would start from the fifth row, alongside Vierge and Aegerter.

As with Race 1, the final race for the weekend would run under flag-to-flag conditions, with a mandatory tyre change.

Polestitter Bulega once again led the field into the opening corner, with Redding making a good start, and Bautista up to third place on lap 6, despite early contact with Montella. Razgatlioglu was also making moves, improving to fifth on the same lap, but contact with Petrucci would see him demoted one position. Razgatlioglu later experienced a technical issue with his M 1000 RR that saw him retire on lap 11. Whether this was the result of the pit stop tyre change on the previous lap is unclear.

Bassani, Redding and Rabat all copped time penalties for early exits from their pit stops, with Redding’s the biggest at 2.9 seconds.

With the pit stops completed, Bulega was again in the lead, holding a three second advantage over Iannone before Bautista leapfrogged him for second place. The Spaniard couldn’t challenge Bulega, though, leaving the Italian to make it a perfect weekend - topping the practise sessions and Superpole, as well as winning all three races. Razgatlioglu, Rea, Bautista and Petrucci are the only other riders to achieve the WorldSBK hat-trick.

Bautista and Iannone made it another all-Ducati podium, while the gap between Redding and fifth-placed Petrucci meant the Brit’s post-race penalty didn’t affect his finishing position.

After spending most of Race 2 in the tail end of the Top 20, Gardner’s wretched weekend ended with a heavy crash four laps from the finish, but he was unhurt.

"I'm really happy because this is my first hat-trick in WorldSBK,” Bulega beamed. “It feels incredible to do this it at my favourite track.

“I'm proud of what we’ve accomplished this weekend. My bike was perfect from Monday’s test to the last lap of Race 2. I enjoyed every lap.”