The first points of the Acerbis Italian Round have been awarded as the dust has settled after Race 1 here at Cremona Circuit, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) led the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field across the finish line; followed into Parc Ferme by Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).

BULEGA REASSERTS HIMSELF: Holds off Razgatlioglu early to cruise atop the podium for his 5^th race win of the season.

After starting in P3, Toprak jumped off the line into P2 behind Bulega ahead of him, cutting inside of the Italian star into Turn 13 on the opening lap. From there, ‘El Turco’ fought tooth and nail to stay ahead of ‘Bulegas’, losing the lead back to the Italian rider on Lap 6’s Turn 11 at the end of the track’s main straight. Bulega held off Razgatlioglu as he made further attempts to pass, but as the laps counted up and the tyres wore down, Bulega began to pull away from the defending Champion who finished P2, and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in P3. Bautista had a lonely race as he was almost nine seconds behind the pair at the front, however he was almost 12 seconds ahead of the rest of the field behind him.

IANNONE HOLDS OFF THE PACK: Finishes P4 after rough time at Assen

The second group remained bottled up, riding close together as Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) defended his P4 doggedly from Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and the pair of Honda factory riders Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) and Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC). After Lecuona crashed out of the race on Turn 3 of lap 15, Iannone asserted himself at the head of the second group, claiming P4. Behind him, Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) benefitted from a late move on Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) to claim P5, tying his best result of the season so far. Gardner finished as the top Yamaha, claiming P6 for the Japanese manufacturer.

PETRUX UNABLE TO REPLICATE 2024: The Italian Independent rider finishes P7

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) wasn’t quite able to replicate his 2024 Cremona magic this time out, taking home P7 from Race 1 sixth tenths of a second behind Gardner. In P8, Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) pipped Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) by just two tenths of a second behind him in P9. Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing) returns to the top 10 positions, after his P19 at Assen’s Race 2.

SAM LOWES P11 DESPITE ILLNESS: British rider misses top 10 but saves points from Race 1

Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) climbed up the order from starting in P16, finishing P11 just two positions behind Bimota teammate Bassani.  Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) had a tremendous start to the race, starting on the front row, however after running wide on Lap 6, he went on to finish in P12. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished in P13 behind the Brit, a three second gap between the two. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) finished as the top rookie in Race 1, ahead Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) in P15 and fellow rookie Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing) in P16.

DISSAPOINTMENT FOR YAMAHA: Marquee pair Locatelli and Rea P18 and P19

Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) finished in P17, gaining two positions from his P19 start position. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) will have to wait until tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole Race in order to try to replicate his Assen success at Cremona as he crashed at Turn 2 early in the race, he recovered and returned to the race, however he finished in P18 outside the points ahead of teammate Jonathan Rea in P19 as he returns to. Zaqhwan Zaidi (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) finished 20^th in the race.

TECH ISSUES: Rabat and Mackenzie suffer tech issues

After suffering a tech issue on Turn 6 of Lap 1, Tito Rabat (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) was forced to retire after his bike cut out on him. Turn 13 of Lap 5 saw the end of wildcard rider Gabriele Ruiu (Team Bmax) with a crash into the gravel. Lap 8 saw Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) end his day early with a tech issue.

The top six from the WorldSBK Race 1: Full results here!

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

Fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) – 1’29.081s

WorldSBK action will continue Sunday for the final day In Cremona, tune in live or watch on demand whenever you want with the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed pole position at the Cremona Circuit for the second consecutive year in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship after pipping Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) to P1 in the Tissot Superpole session. Home hero Bulega posted a lap-record beating 1’27s time to secure the best possible starting position for Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race, with Sam Lowes and Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completing the front row.

THE FIRST RUN: Sam Lowes quick out of the blocks

After the first run, Lowes set the benchmark with a 1’28.081s to claim provisional pole ahead of Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in second, with the #11 the last to head out on track but only able to lap 0.374s slower than Lowes. Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoEleven) slotted into a provisional P3 ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha). With the short circuit, Bulega opted to complete two laps on his first run and improved his time to a 1’28.375s, but still three tenths behind the #14.

NEW LAP RECORD IS SET: Bulega claims late pole

In the final stages of Superpole, Bulega smashed the all-time lap record as he set a 1’27.866s to take his sixth WorldSBK pole position, putting him level with Cal Crutchlow and John Kocinski, and denying Sam Lowes a second consecutive pole. However, the Brit will still go from the front row alongside Bulega and with reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completing row one with third place, a few tenths behind Bulega.

BAUTISTA ON THE SECOND ROW: #19 is P4, Lecuona P5

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed fourth as one of his best Superpole sessions of 2025 with a 1’28.369s, leading fellow Spanish rider Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) in fifth with just a tenth between the two as the #97 led Honda’s charge in the 15-minute session. Iannone’s provisional front row start translated into sixth for the Italian rider after he lapped 0.665s slower than Bulega.

GARDNER LEADS LECUONA ON ROW 3: the two Yamahas and Lecuona separated by 0.005s on the timesheets

Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was the fastest Yamaha rider in Superpole and will line up from P7 on the grid, going only 0.001s faster than Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in eighth and Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) in ninth; the Spaniard was only 0.005s slower than ‘Loka’ as he took a third-row start. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), as seen so often in Superpole, worked with teammate Razgatlioglu as he claimed tenth. However, after the session, Locatelli was given a three-place grid penalty for Race 1 for disturbing Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), meaning the #55 will start Race 1 from P11 – promoting Lecuona to P8, van der Mark to P9 and Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing) to P10.

LATE CRASHES: Aegerter and Mackenzie fall

There were two crashes late on in the session, with Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) falling at Turn 2 and Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda) going down at the same corner. The #97 was taken to the medical centre for a check-up following his crash, and was later declared fit.

The top six from WorldSBK Superpole, full results here:

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

4.Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.503s

5. Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) +0.629s

6.  Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) +0.665s

Don’t miss Race 1 at 14:00 Local Time (UTC+2) from Cremona using the WorldSBK VideoPass!