Bulega delivers a home win for Ducati

Words and images courtesy of WorldSBK

Round 4 | Acerbis Italian Round

Championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) delivered a home victory at the Italian Round. Fans at the Cremona Circuit came out in force at the podium to show their appreciation of his fifth win of the campaign

Race 1 Highlights

• Starting from pole position Bulega was immediately attacked by Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). The Turkish rider was at his combative best on his race debut at the Cremona Circuit. He led the first five laps but on Lap 6 Bulega made his move to the front
• Razgatlioglu didn’t hold back and tried to attack again but by mid-distance the gap had stretched to one second and Bulega could enjoy the second half of the race. At the flag the margin was a comfortable 2.8s but the battle throughout, with Bulega making his overtaking moves at Turn 11 and Toprak returning the favour at the final corner, should make tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole Race very exciting
• Alvaro Bautista made it two Aruba.it Racing – Ducati riders on the podium. It was a lonely race for the double World Champion who finished eight seconds behind Razgatlioglu but over ten seconds ahead of the chasing pack
• That pack was led by Andrea Iannone. The Team Pata Go Eleven rider struggled throughout the race but maintained track position on his rivals and never dropped outside the top five positions. When Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) moved past him at half distance it seemed inevitable that more would follow but Iannone kept a cool head and won his battle
• Lecuona crashed at two thirds race distance. Falling from fourth position was a disappointment for the Spaniard but his teammate, Xavi Vierge, gave Honda reason for optimism by equalling his best result of the season

Championship Highlights

• Bulega extends his championship lead to 26 points from Razgatlioglu
• Bautista moves within five points of Andrea Locatelli. The Yamaha rider crashed in the early stages of the race and failed to score points for the first time in 2025
• Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) finished in seventh and continues to lead the Independent Rider Standings. He is now 26 points ahead of Iannone with Sam Lowes a further eight points adrift

P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

“I really needed to win this race after what happened in Assen. To win in Italy is incredible and to win here at Cremona, where the track is very difficult for me, means a lot. It shows that we’ve made a step forward from last year. We can fight at every race. In this race Toprak was very aggressive as always and his plan was to try and stop me because my pace was strong. I stayed calm because I knew that if I could get past him I was faster. When I took the lead I just told myself to focus on my own pace. My plan worked well. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’m ready and I’ll try to give my best.”

P2 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)

“We started the race very strong. I tried to pass Bulega immediately because I knew he was fast and would have a very good pace. I tried to fight with him but I made a mistake in the last corner and he took the inside line. I tried a different line but the bike just spun and I couldn’t accelerate. After that, he was gone. My pace wasn’t bad and, normally, I wouldn’t be satisfied with this result but it looks like we’ve improved the bike. We have two more races tomorrow. I hope we can fight for the win because I need a win here. I didn’t race at this track last year but in every race I always try my best. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

P3 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

“Today was much, much better than yesterday. Maybe we missed out a bit of performance by losing time yesterday because I struggled a little in the first few laps to push hard. In the end, I lost the slipstream from the two guys in front, and it was difficult to catch them. I tried to survive and not make a mistake because in the last couple of rounds I didn’t finish Race 1. Today it was important to finish and to keep building good confidence, especially after yesterday. I’m happy with the result, and now we have some data to analyse for tomorrow.”

Race 1 Results

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +2.835s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +11.424s
4. Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) 23.247s
5. Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) +23.778s
6. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +24.115s

Tissot Superpole Highlights

• Bulega claimed his sixth career Superpole and his second of the season. His final lap of the 15 minute session, 1’27.866, claimed the spoils by 0.215s from Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team)
• Razgatlioglu continued his run of front row starts in 2025
• Vierge finished a career best fifth to qualify alongside Bautista and Iannone on the third row of the grid

Superpole Results

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’27.866s
2. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.215s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.293s

Home win for Manzi in SSP thriller

• Stefano Manzi had to work as hard as ever throughout the 20 lap Supersport race to win for the second time in 2025. The Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing rider led over half the laps, and spent every lap in either first or second position, but it was far from an easy victory with the top four riders spending much of the race separated by less than a second
• Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) started on the third row and made steady progress throughout. The Englishman was left feeling an opportunity to win was missed but scored an all-important 20 points for his title challenge
• Valentin Debise scored the first podium finish for Renzi Corse. The Frenchman is still chasing his first WorldSSP victory
• Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) led nine laps but ended the race as the unlucky rider that finished just off the podium positions
• Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) started from the second row but dropped outside the top ten on Lap 1. The title contender finished the race in seventh position

Championship Highlights

• Manzi now leads Bendsneyder by 30 points
• Yamaha has extended their championship advantage to 40 points from MV Agusta and 56 points to Triumph

P1 – Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing)

“I’ve not had bad results in the last few rounds but I kept finishing second! After so many second places, it gets a bit frustrating because you really want to win. I wanted the win so badly today and I’m really happy to finally take it. Our rivals were close today, so we know we still need to work. We have another race tomorrow so even though I want to enjoy this moment I’m already focused on what’s next. Let’s hope for another good race.”

Race 1 Results

1. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing)
2. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) +0.344s
3. Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse) +0.601s
4. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +1.109s
5. Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) +5.628s
6. Xavi Cardelus (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +6.541s