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 5th 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 20th 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:
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
