Portimao Saturday WorldSBK/SSP/300 Results/Quotes/Notes/Images TechTricks365

WorldSBK 2025

Round Two – Portimao
Saturday – Riders recap race one

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P1

“It wasn’t a good start, I made some mistakes but after that I went step until I started fighting with Nicolo. He did some really, really good riding especially with pushing hard on every lap. Ducati has an advantage here with the hot conditions and in the corner exits from what I was seeing, but also Nicolo was riding very well. We are still learning, and we hope to improve the bike tonight, especially in some corners, the Ducati in some corners has some really really good acceleration. I need more grip as well, anyway, in general I am really happy because we are back in the race.”

Nicolò Bulega – P2

“It’s clear that victory always has a unique flavour, but I’m still delighted with what we did today. After the test in mid-March, the feeling was not particularly good, and for this, I thank my team and Ducati for the work done over these days that allowed me to be competitive. We know that this track is particularly suited to Toprak’s characteristics, and to be able to fight for the win in the final metres is a good sign”.

Andrea Locatelli – P3

“I am really happy honestly, we have been working well from yesterday and made a good base set up with my R1. I struggled a bit with the feeling on the front during the race and we need to work on this point to improve tomorrow to try to close the gap. In any case, I am proud that I never lost focus and I was in control of every situation, so I think what we did today is the confirmation of our work. It’s only the second round, the championship is quite long – we have many races at different tracks, so I want to believe in myself until the end to have more chances to be on the podium again and maybe we can get the first victory. We will keep working, we have two possibilities tomorrow so let’s try again.”

Danilo Petrucci – P4

“I didn’t get a great start and found myself in fifth position. When I tried to pass Locatelli, I couldn’t make it stick. I struggled a bit on acceleration, so I was losing ground in the last two corners and couldn’t catch up. When I attempted the overtake, I had some issues with the front. I finished fourth, close to the podium, which was our target for the weekend. We’ll try again tomorrow!”

Xavi Vierge – P5

“I’m really happy with today’s result. We had quite a good pre-season, but as soon as we got to the first race weekend in Australia, we were missing something compared to other riders. It’s true that Australia is a bit of a special track, but we honestly struggled more than expected. Once back in Europe, we had a test here at Portimão and managed to recover some of the good feeling. We’ve worked a lot on the electronics side to try and minimise our weak points – mainly acceleration and drive out of the corners – and we’ve actually found some small improvements. Today, we had a great qualifying and that was crucial to run a solid Race 1. Overall, I’m happy with all of Saturday’s results. I hope we can maintain this level not only tomorrow, but also in the next rounds. Last year we had a strong second half of the season, and the goal now is to build on that. We’ll see, Portimão is also quite a unique track, where a rider can make a bit of a difference. My team is working really hard and doing a great job. I’m honestly very happy with everyone on the squad, so I hope we can keep up the good work and continue to close the gap to the front.”

Dominique Aegerter – P8

“Overall, it was a decent Saturday, starting from Free Practice 3, where we managed to find a good pace. I gave it my all in Superpole to secure a strong grid position, and eighth place wasn’t too bad. Then, in Race 1, I tried to stay close to the front group after a good start, maintaining a solid race pace. I enjoyed the battle in the final laps, although managing the tyre drop was tricky, but I’m happy we secured a good result. Hopefully, we can fight for even more tomorrow.”

Axel Bassani – P9

“Race One was quite difficult as from the beginning I had to control the front tyre. I also went wide in T1, after five or six laps, and lost some positions. From there on I tried to be more consistent, as consistent as possible. The riders in front started to make some mistakes, or to crash, so I started to recover some positions and we finished inside the top ten. This is good but at the same time we have to work really hard because at the moment it is impossible really to attack. We have to wait, so it is not really fun to do it like this. We have to never give up, to try to push and believe.”

Remy Gardner – P10

“Our Saturday wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either, to be honest. In Superpole, we were unlucky again with a yellow flag, which cost us a spot on the third row—something that would have definitely helped in Race 1. Still, we gave our best and tried everything we could, managing to keep a decent pace and stay close to the guys in front. Unfortunately, in the final laps, I struggled with the front tyre. I gave it my all to defend my position, but in the end, I had to drop a few places. We’ll keep working hard to improve tomorrow—we have one more day of racing!”

Iker Lecuona – P11

“Overall, I’m happy considering I haven’t properly ridden a bike since last October, and only for about 10 minutes at a time since then. In Australia I was still feeling some pain here and there and wasn’t in the best shape. So, this was the first time I could ride without pain in any part of my body. Even after a full race I felt okay, just some tiredness and a bit of discomfort in my foot, but generally really good. Of course, I’m still lacking speed, and I could feel that especially in qualifying and in the first half of the race. From mid-race onwards, on used tyres, I felt better and my lap times were more consistent compared to the others. So, finishing eleventh reflects my real position and level here in Portimão, and I say that with no regrets. I’m happy with how I’m managing the weekend mentally. I’m taking things step by step, in a ‘gentle’ way, improving and learning something every time I go out. I worked hard at home to come back with the right mindset. I’m enjoying my comeback so far, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Jason O’Halloran – P17

“First 20-lap race done, just still finding my feet with everything but thanks to all the team – they’ve been working really hard yesterday and today to make me more comfortable on the bike. Obviously still not easy trying to adapt to the WorldSBK, especially around Portimão Circuit because it’s quite a technical track. Good to get 20 laps under my belt, I just wanted to keep it on two wheels and bring it home, and look forward to improving tomorrow.”

Alvaro Bautista – DNF

“There is little to say. Unfortunately, I was forced to start from the third row, but I’ve always found it challenging to qualify well at this track. However, I was convinced I could have a good race because the pace was solid. Unfortunately, some riders think they can solve their race in the first few laps, leading them to be aggressive from the first corners. I hope to be able to have my race tomorrow without contact, as I am already in the Superpole Race”.

Yari Montella – DNF

“Unfortunately, I crashed in the race on the second lap, after already going down in Superpole. These were two separate incidents because this morning, I had managed to regain the feeling I had lost in FP3. The Superpole crash was a consequence of pushing to the limit. In the race, I was in the right place at the right time, in eighth and ready to move up, but a bump made the front close suddenly. Tomorrow, we have two more races, and we’ll give it our all to be ready!”

Alex Lowes – DNF

“A tough first raceday for us, and quite frustrating. I felt really good on the bike in FP3 this morning, but in Superpole I had a crash. We had changed the front of the bike and I feel better with it, but I am maybe just not understanding it as much. So, I made a mistake in Superpole and the race. I got unlucky in Superpole because I got out on track again and made a lap time that would have taken us into the top five – but then it was ruled out for a yellow flag. We started from the back of the grid and when you do that in WorldSBK nowadays you do not have much chance in the race. I came through quite well, passed 13 guys and I was feeling good. I had just managed to pass Andrea Iannone and I was maybe a little bit deep into T1. I will need to check that. We will have a look at the set-up for tomorrow. My pace was actually quite good today and I was riding quite well but in this game the punishment does not always fit the crime. I did not just want to ride round behind the group and use the starting grid position as an excuse. I was trying hard to recover positions, and obviously too hard. We will try to improve the bike tonight and see what we can do on Sunday.”

Paul Denning – Pata Maxus Yamaha Team Principal

“After the disappointment of JR’s Phillip Island injury, but the really encouraging performances delivered by Andrea there – to capitalise with a podium here in Portimão feels like a win! Since the first laps of FP1, Loka and the team have done an extremely focused, diligent job and they extracted the maximum potential this afternoon in Race 1. There may be some small tweaks we can do to improve Loka’s front feeling going into the Superpole Race tomorrow, but honestly speaking – everyone at Pata Maxus Yamaha is delighted with the podium today and proud to see the team and all our partners represented at the front of the field.”

WorldSBK Race One Report

Poleman Toprak Razgatlioglu didn’t get off the line well, which saw the BMW man shuffled back to seventh early on.  The Turk steadily sliced his way forward to close in on race leader Nicolo Bulega by lap four.  What followed was the most sustained battle yet seen between the two in WorldSBK.

Neither rider backed down as they stayed close behind one another until Toprak moved through to the lead on lap 19, and from there, he was able to hold off Bulega’s relentless final assaults. The defending champ now sits second behind Buelga in the Championship standings, Bulega’s 82 points to Toprak’s 45.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) secured a podium finish by holding off Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) for P3. For his part, Petrucci was once again metronomically consistent, finishing the race where he started fourth after regaining the position from Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) on Lap 9.

Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) started from sixth on the grid, doing well to hold off other riders, finishing fifth, securing the best result for Honda of the season so far.

Michael van der Mark’s (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) P6 finish is a step in the right direction after a wayward weekend in Australia, a testament to the progress he and his BMW team seem to have made with their new BMW M1000 RR.

Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) secured a seventh place finish, the product of a tough climb up the grid after his disappointing Tissot Superpole session result which saw him start way back in 16th after three-place grid penalty.

Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished eighth, ahead of Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team). Bassani was the only Bimota rider to see the chequered flag after teammate Alex Lowes crashed out of the race on Lap 10.

Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) tied his best result of the season so far as he finished tenth.

Iker Lecuona’s (Honda HRC) first point-scoring race of the season was a solid return to action in P11 after missing time with injury in the offseason then later the Australian Round. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) continues to adapt to his new green machine and finished P12.

Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) finished P13 to score points for the second time in his WorldSBK rookie season, with Tarran Mackenzie finishing P14, just 0.729s behind Sofuoglu. Tito Rabat (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) claimed the final point-scoring position, finishing P15 just over half a second behind Mackenzie. Ryan Vickers was racing through an elbow injury he picked up in FP3, narrowly missing out on points as he finished P16.

Bringing up the rear of the riders who finished the race, Yamaha replacement rider Jason O’Halloran (Pata Maxus Yamaha) just missed the points in 17th.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing) collided at Turn 4 on the opening.  The incident ended the day for both riders and is being investigated by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards.

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) followed Locatelli’s trailblazing start at lights out, clinging to his tail to take an early P3. However, the British rider saw his race end prematurely after a Turn 11 crash during Lap 8.

WorldSBK Rookies Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Zaqhwan Zaidi (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) both crashed out of the race. Montella’s strong string of performances were abruptly ended by his Lap 3, Turn 5 crash, and Zaidi’s Lap 11, Turn 8 crash prevented him from being able to fight for his first career WorldSBK points.

WorldSBK Race One Results

WorldSBK Championship Standings

WorldSBK Superpole Times

WorldSSP Race One Report

Can Öncü put in a display of dominance to take a commanding lights to flag victory in the first race of the weekend at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão with Stefano Manzi finishing second to complete a 1-2 for the new Yamaha R9.

Öncü’s lead was up to three seconds at its biggest point, before he began managing the gap to the riders behind to cross the line comfortably to take his first WorldSSP win since Mandalika 2023 and a second for the R9 after Stefano Manzi’s blistering start in Phillip Island.

Starting sixth, Manzi was in the podium battle from the off and after an opening lap tussle with Mahias the Italian sat in second place for the first half of the race. A mid-race charge by Bo Bensneyder saw him overtake Mahias and attack Manzi, but the newly 26-year-old fought hard to hold on to the runner-up spot to secure a birthday podium. He now leads the championship by nine points.

With the fastest lap of the race Öncü will again start on pole for tomorrow’s second race ahead of Mahias in second. Manzi improved his starting position to fourth for Race 2, which gets underway at 12:35 local time.

Can Öncü – P1

“This is very emotional for me because after the big crash in Assen in 2023 I thought everything was over, but Kenan [Sofuoğlu] always pushed me to never give up. We started from zero and every day when I wanted to give up, he pushed me more. All weekend we have been very strong, the work we have been doing so far is very strong – we knew we had the opportunity to step up this year and this is why I work so hard. The team and Yamaha have also been working like crazy to make the bike as strong as possible. We now need to continue step by step and look to achieve the best possible result again tomorrow. But to win here is incredible, I want to thank everyone, Kenan, Yamaha, the team, everybody!”

Oli Bayliss just missed out on the points while countryman Luke Power had been ruled unfit to race due to a shoulder injury.

WorldSSP Race One Results

WorldSSP Championship Standings

WorldSSP Superpole Times

WorldSSP300 Race One Report

Jeffrey Buis was the first victor of the 2025 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship season as he mastered the big group to take his KTM 0.658s clear of his rivals across the line. That marked his 14th win, while Kawasaki riders Julio Garcia and Antonio Torres started their campaigns with podiums at the Pirelli Portuguese Round.

Double Champion Buis found himself fighting in the lead group but didn’t make his move for the lead until there were just a few laps to go but once he was in P1 and created a gap to the riders behind, the #6 was able to take a big lead onto the final lap.

The Dutchman was able to resist the pressure of the six riders within a second of him to claim his 14th win in WorldSSP300; double the number of the next-best riders (Ana Carrasco, Marc Garcia and Mirko Gennai) who all have seven. Garcia started from P18 on the grid as he completed a remarkable comeback to claim a rostrum.

Polesitter Benat Fernandez was a regular fixture in the lead group as he aimed to convert his maiden pole into a podium finish, but he was just 0.013s short of the top three. Brazilian Humberto Maier was fifth and just 0.003s behind Fernandez ahead, while Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) was also in that leading group, crossing the line in sixth.

Just 0.706s separated the top six, and 0.658s of that was made up of the gap between Buis and Garcia in P1 and P2. This group had included Gennai, but he fell out of contention when he crashed at Turn 3 with just a handful of laps remaining.

Matteo Vannucci was just under a second away from victory as he claimed P7 ahead of Phillip Tonn in eighth, with the German rider leading at several points throughout Race 1 but unable to convert that into a podium finish.

Rookie Felix Mulya was ninth ahead of home hero Tomas Alonso (Pons Motorsport Italika Racing) completing the top ten.

Elia Bartolini crossed the line in 11th place, ahead of Faerozi Toreqottullah, Kevin Fontainha, Kevin Sabatucci and Petr Svoboda, but a Long Lap Penalty issued on the final lap for irresponsible riding – converted into a three-second penalty as he was unable to take it – dropped him to P15.

After the race, Toreqottullah was penalised with a one-place penalty for overtaking under yellow flags at Turn 5, demoting him to P12 and promoting Fontainha to P11.

Cameron Swain just missed out on the points with a 19th place finish.

Filip Novotny crashed on the exit of Turn 14 after he’d been given a double Long Lap Penalty for a jump start, with the Czech rider taken to the medical centre for a check-up. Unai Calatayud had the same penalty for the same offence and, on the exit when he was taking his second penalty, crashed at Turn 14; he was also taken to the medical centre for a check-up.

The Spaniard was declared unfit with fractures to his second, third and fifth metatarsals on his left foot and a fracture on his left wrist tibial malleolus.

Emiliano Ercolani crashed at Turn 11 on Lap 6. Towards the end of the 11-lap race, David Salvador retired from the race after a technical issue on his machine; he’d been running in the top ten. On the last lap, Marco Gaggi crashed at Turn 5 which forced him to retire from the race.

WorldSSP300 Race One Results

WorldSSP300 Championship Standings

WorldSSP300 Superpole Times

2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar