📡 2025 #UKWorldSBK 🇬🇧 Race 1 Build Up

It’s almost go time at Donington Park! 🥳🚥

Race 1 is just around the corner and the stage is set for another thrilling #WorldSBK showdown 🇬🇧 Who’s your pick for the win? 👀

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#UKWorldSBK 🇬🇧

Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] After a 3-week break, the model FIM Superbike World Championship heads into the second half of our 2025 campaign with the Procco Doc UK Ram. The birthplace of the series some 37 years ago, Leicester venue Donington Park in the flight path of East Midlands Airport on the rural outskirts of Derby. [Music] One of only two surviving venues from the inaugural 1988 World SK season. This afternoon, Donington Park stages its 68th race in the series. Only three circuits have hosted more. No shortage of overtaking here, even though the undulating park layout in the first two sectors is largely one line. It’s all about building speed to exit the craner curves wide and make a jab down the inside into the old hairpin. Andrea Loatelli was the man to watch there last year. Modifications to the circuit in the mid 1980s present the heavy braking zones that facilitate parking passing in the second half of the lap. 190 m on the brakes for the Fogerty S’s. Alvo Bautista’s main area of attack on his climb from 11th to 3rd in race one last year. And the Melbourne hairpin, the slowest turn on the calendar at just 45 km per hour when top rack Raz Gatloo made his winning move in the Super Pole race 12 months ago. He then went on to claim a new lap record in race 2, the shortest of the season at 1 minute 25.597. So like Cremona, it’s a 23lap race ahead of us. You join us at the halfway mark of what’s been a seessaw 2025 season scrap between top rack Raz Gaffyoglu and Nicolo Boliga. There have been three big swings of that pendulum at Philip Island in February when two non-scores for reigning champion Top Rack cost him 37 points in one day. He arrived in Europe with 42 points in total to recover. On Sunday in Asen, seven weeks later, Buliga suffered two mechanical failures, gifting Rasgatlu the chance to bank 20 points against an open goal. And finally, the Super Bowl race in Misano four weeks ago when a first turn misjudgment from Axel Vasani took Buligar out of the running. Top rack taking maximum benefit, 12 points, the most he’s pulled back against Buliga in any race this season. Alex Rabby and Steve English for race one of the Procco DOC UK round. And Steve, what was a 34 point gap just two rounds to go is now just nine points between the top two in the standings. Yeah, Nico will be even closer after this one. Top rack on pole, Bulock on second. We’re going to see that head-to-head duel between them both. But we’ve got a few other riders that could be a bit of a wild card in the mix as well. Nicolo Bulock’s Misano misfortune means top rack Raz Gatlu outscored him at the Amelia Romania round by 62 points to 40. the biggest swing in favor of the reigning champion this season, but Puliga has still led throughout this season. No change in the top six rankings last time out. Danilo Patruchi gained two points over Alvo Bautista in the battle for bronze and Andrea Loatelli still 15 points behind Boutista as he was leaving Mos. So still something of a stalemate there. Sam Loe’s an isolated sixth. Alex Loe’s now up to seventh ahead of his home round. The 23 points separate eight riders there further down the order. The cap at the top though, the smallest it’s been since February and the title race has effectively been reset before the second half of the campaign. Yeah, really has. And that’s where it becomes exciting to see who’s able to just find their speed that little bit earlier in each weekend. Top rack struggled yesterday, but Bulock had a crash and they’ve come here to race one. Both of them feeling pretty good about themselves, you’d imagine, right now going into this one. But for Raz getting that pole a lap record here in the past, he’ll feel that this is his chance to be able to potentially even take the lead in the championship. Nicolo Bulliger is still the series leader for now, but he must feel at this stage he should be probably more than 50 points ahead of Top Rack. Two mechanical failures in Asen. It was a weekend when he was dominating and that’s starting to look pretty costly at this stage. Bad luck for him again in Misano with that first turn crash. And the only reason he doesn’t now trail is the 10 points he gained over top rack in the run to the line in race two of the check round. So many big moments already in this title race at the halfway mark this season. Top rack Raz Gatlogu is on half his win tally from last year, more than half of his points total from that stage in 2024. And yet Nicolo Bulliger is still ahead. Bulliger formidable opposition, but Top Rack has still found a way to go with him even with that downgraded chassis compared to last year. It’s given us a remarkably even fight. Yeah, and that’s really interesting when you look at it that way that the win’s been the same, but the points are down and you think about how dominant Top Rack was last year and that shows just how good of a job he’s doing this year. There’s a reason he’s going to Moto GP next year. There’s a reason why so many people rate him so highly. It’s because he can make the magic things happen and he’s done that again this year. Danelo Patruchi, seven points ahead of Alro Bautista in the contest for third in the championship. Trails Bautista with six podiums to the former champions 10. But Patruchi has finished every race scoring in all but one while Bautista has suffered four non-scores and the latest race two in MS has put Patrrui in front. Riders making their way out onto the circuit then 23 laps ahead of us. This is Alex Lowe’s who will complete the front row of the grid and we’ll go through the full lineup in a couple of moments time. [Music] Donington Park lap record holder Top Rack Raz Catalyoglu went within 2/10en of a second of his 2024 pole lap to top the time sheets in Super Pole for the third time this season. His 21st career pole to equal the legendary Carl Fogerty. Only a fourth defeat this season for Nicolo Bulliger who still hasn’t qualified outside of the top two in 2025. A first front row start since the move to B motor machinery for Alex Loe’s who hasn’t qualified outside of the top five in the last three rounds. P4 on the grid for Jonathan Ray beating his previous best this season of just P14. Career best P7 for Ryan Vickers ahead of Petruchi P9. Bautista P10 and Jon P14. Scott Reading and Axel Basani down on row six at the back of the field. Big change for MI Honda this weekend. Taz McKenzie departing mid-season after two and a half campaigns with the team. Firstly in Super Sport that yielded a race win in 2022 and then in Superbike. He’s replaced by Tito Rabat and Zachidi is out this weekend because of a clash with the Asia road racing championship. Evo Lopez standing in for him. But once again, it turned out in Super Bowl to be a battle between top track Raz Gatogloo and Nicolo Bulliger with an honorable mention for Alex Lo and that really is the closest anyone has come to getting in amongst those two in Super Bowl for a while. Yeah. And great lap from Lowe’s and he sets up nicely for this race. Home round for him obviously, but the fact that yesterday he did a full 20 lap run means that he’s got a lot of confidence for what the tires are going to do in the hot conditions. We’re over 40° track temperature and you can see they’re the perfect conditions here for fans. That makes it a challenge for the riders out there. Making our way up the grid then mention of a few of the riders that I’ve just talked about further down the order. The likes of Patruchi and Boutista third and fourth in the championship standings. These are all the riders they’ve got to try and pass to get onto the podium here today from ninth and 10th. Yeah, and a lot of riders to come through and a lot of riders with a lot that they’re out there playing for. We saw Jonathan Ray coming through on the grid there from the second row of the grid. Ryan Vickers with his best performance of the season so far this weekend where he’s been fast and consistent in every session. You can see on top outlap here though pushing hard. Yes. Let’s take a look at your grid in full then front row Razatloo Bullika and Alex Lowe’s. And as you say, Rascu pushing a little bit there. A little bit more air for the back wheel as he makes his way through. Got the reason for that is leaving the pits. He wants to simulate what it’s going to be like on lap one for him on all those heavy breaking zones. So Toprack just willing to make sure that he’s got that little bit of experience. We’ve seen that catch him out in the past. You think to on Yamaha a few years ago, but obviously it’s all worked out well for him in this case. Yes. And his spell with Yamaha worked out well enough in the end as well as has his time with BMW. He’ll be departing to Moto GP next season and his flamboyant style will be a big miss for everyone. Um I’m even hearing that if you’re fortunate enough here at Donington Park, you might get the opportunity to hear him sing on the stage later on. So that’ll be something to watch out for. Anyway, back to business. Top rack Raz Gapogloo starting on pole for him. Donington Park third of three circuits in a row where he was unbeaten last year. Um this year in Mos he pulled back three points. Tim Mazano. He’s pulled back 22 and as we’ve been saying, starts as a favorite to lead, you would say, after the UK round. He’s won nine of the last 12 races here. Yeah, Top Rank’s got all that momentum behind him, but uh we want to see that fight between him and Bula. Bulliga, he really wants to be able to lay down a marker here after what happened last time out in Misano. Nicolo Bulock still defending what’s left of a lead from day two of the Australian round. Hat tricks for him in Philip Island and Cremona. Razgatlu by contrast unbeaten in Porto himau and Misano and then at venues like Donington Park and Manik still to come. Does the weekend become a question of damage limitation? He executed it so well in Mos losing only three points and anytime he can beat Top Rack at one of his best tracks. Bulliger strengthens his claim for the title. That’s the key for Bulga. Win one of the races this weekend and you’ve stemmed some of the momentum that goes Top Rack’s way. Completing the front row of the grid here will be Alex Lowe’s. home round of course for him and for Sam who will be starting from the middle of the second row. Hot temperatures so no great surprise that riders are leaving it a little bit later to embark on their mission to the grid. Yeah, quite a few riders will leave it right until the last minute and pit lane closed around about a minute and a half ago. So everyone should be on the grid now and everyone that’s on the grid might well decide to just take the moment to go and find a bit of shade away from their bikes. Yeah, more than one or two ex riders saying that they’re glad they’re not in their full race gear today as well on social media. It’s one of those where um you want to be in the shade as much as possible and the umbrellas are out and the all of the cooling technology that you can find as well. Yeah, we’re speaking to 1x rider. We won’t name them. But uh we’re asking them about tires for today and they said, “Oh, the ones on my scooter are fine.” Completing the front row is Alex Lowe’s. Up to seventh in the standings. His best score yet for Bam was a 24-point hall in Misano. A second place in the Super Pole race there. Sixth in Asen, fourth in Mos. So heading in the right direction and the visit to Donington Park, you’ve got to say, falls at the perfect time for him. Six podiums here, as many as he’s managed at any other venue. Relaxed on the grid there as well for Lowe’s and he certainly will think that there’s a chance to be able to be a little bit of a cat amongst the pigeons in this one. Ply best lap award once again. being top rack Raz Gatogloo leading that measure super pole award for him earlier on today as well and yet another pole position with which he equals the legendary KL Fogerty. So Raz Gatalioo racking up the records as always and now he’ll be hoping to take the win record here at Donington Park. Yeah and for Top Rack he’ll be aiming just for that hattrick as well. Yesterday was difficult. Couldn’t get the bike stopped, couldn’t get it turned. He’s been able to find the solutions for it overnight. Second row of the grid then will be Jonathan Ray, Sam Los and Andrea Loatelli. And this is the best opportunity Ray has had to get back on the rostrm. His lone podium with Yamaha of course here at the UK round last year. There have been 40 world SPK races since then. Seventh in the Super Pole race at the Ameilia Romania round last time out. Ray’s best of 2025. Now looking to add to his circuit record of 19 podiums at Donington Park. This is a test for Ray because there’s been lots of times this season when his race pace has been relatively competitive to the other Yamaha riders, but he’s been coming from too far back. Now’s his chance to be able to prove what he can do at the front of the field. Sam Los will be starting from fifth position at the moment. He’s sat next to third position Alex Lo. An opportunity for them to share some information. Sam from his first podium in Aston has managed 10 top seven finishes in 11 races and he’ll be looking to get back onto the rostrum this weekend already celebrating at his home round the announcement of a new 2-year contract that’ll take him to 2027 with Mark VDS. Yeah, it’s been a really good year for Sam and even with a a little bit of a disappointing qualifying effort from compared to what the expectation is, still the middle of the second row shows the progress they’ve made. Yeah, just made a small error late on on his fastest lap that cost him, but still row two. Completing that second row, Andrea Loachelli bounced back from two Baron weekends in Cremona and Moss that yielded only 19 points with a return to the podium. It was a third in the Super Pole race at the Amelia Romana round. His fourth rostrm finish of the campaign. Three top five finishes in Misano. Never a podium finisher in 12 races though here at Donington Park. That’s your top six. First opportunity to head down to the grid with Anthony Nelson. Thanks Alex. time here on the second row of the grid with Jonathan Ray. Johnny, it was a fantastic lap in qualifying earlier today. The highest up we’ve se we’ve seen you this season. How did you feel yesterday when you were trying the bike in the hot conditions that your pace was? Yeah, it was it generally was uh not so bad. I didn’t manage to register a really good lap yesterday, but I was able to to find a good wheel in qualifying and uh make a good lap time. What’s the target then? Just get away at the front and um just see if I can learn something early laps. Thanks a lot. Cheers, mate. Thanks. Yes, being modest about expectations. But the longer you stick with the riders in podium contention, the better your chances are of breaking away from the group cuz how often do we end up with a dog fight behind? Yeah. All you want to see from Johnny is that he makes a quick start and he’s in position to be able to attack from those early laps. The problem in superbike racing right now is if you have to come from the fourth, fifth, sixth row of the grid, you can’t make quick enough progress. Ray has an opportunity now. He needs to make the most of it. P7 on the grid at Orion Vicers. Eight points last time out for him in Misano. His best score of the season so far. Certainly has the chance now to do even better here. Eighth in FP1 and FP2, fifth in FP3. His place on the third row of the grid then no fluke. And of course, he does know Donington Park well. Took one of his nine British Championship race wins here in 2023. Yeah. And for Vicers, he’s been fast all the way through this weekend. Last time out in Misano in race two is 11th place finish. It went a little bit under the radar, but he was very consistent. Did a good job. The team were delighted with it. And uh for Vicers, this is his chance now that he needs to show what he can do on the world championship level. It might be a home round, but you still have to make the most of it. Yes. And Vicers ahead of several bigname jukatis as is Yari Montella ahead of the vastly experienced Patruchi, Batista, Yon, and Reading. So strong pole effort from the both of them. Montella proving why he’s been retained by Barnucati for 2026. Five eighth places at four different venues his best results so far. looking to bounce back here from two retirements on Sunday in Misano. He will have a long lap penalty to take in this race as well. So third row with a grid. It’s going to be a tough one with that penalty. That’s for irresponsible riding in his instant in race two. Obviously with Dominic in the early stages completing your road three is Danilo Patruchi posted his first world SPK podium in race two of the 2023 UK round. One that he ended with three top five finishes. didn’t make the top five at all at Donington last year. Sixth in race two, his best of the weekend, but he’s only been out of the top six three times in 18 races this season and another step forward in 2025 for Patruchi. Yeah, Dano’s had a really strong season so far and uh certainly third in the standings. Shows his consistency and he’ll be trying to make sure he comes away with another top five finish in this one and a good weekend. Alvare Boutista, nine podiums in the first four rounds this season. He’s only had one rostrm finish over the last two. That was the third place in race two of the Amelia Romania round. So a little off form and because of three non-scores in Philip Island, Porto and Asen, he hasn’t actually capitalized on the phase when he was clearly third best behind Bulliger and Raz Gatlogue. Now Boutista sits fourth in the standings after finishing third overall last year. Yeah, a lot of talk about him this weekend given his posts on Instagram about the weight penalties and the impact it’s having on him. He started to chirp up about that now again having been quiet on it for the last 6 months. So for Bautista, he needs to make sure he’s able to put that out of his mind and just come away with a result. 11th on the grid, Dominic Egata, his best Super Pole since Asan, which is also when he last managed a top 10 finish. Eighth and ninth in the long races in Porto, seventh and 10th at the Dutch round. He’s only scored 11 points since then. Lost the whole weekend obviously last time out in Mazano. After sustaining a neck wound in a race one crash, he makes his return here. Less than a tenth of a second, slower than Lockatali, but he finds himself five places behind Locka. And it just shows how close and competitive it is in that mid pack. Fourth row of the grid completed by Garrett Gerlock. Podium finisher here on the Yamaha in 2021. Another here on the Kawasaki will likely be beyond his reach. But he is starting to look more of a regular top 10 contender. 10th in race two of the Czech ground, eighth on Sunday afternoon in Mazano. His best result since boarding new machinery this season. Yeah, and for Garrett, it’s been a really good weekend. and we saw him running up inside the top 10 all the way through the practice sessions qualifying on the fourth row of the grid. If he can come away with the top 10 finish and score some good points in this race, that’ll be a really good outing. Uh onto the fifth row of the grid then with Ika Leona, Andre Yon, and Michael Vandermark. Leona now ahead of teammate Chabby Vie for eighth overall in the championship despite Leona missing the opening round. Hasn’t been out of the top 10 in the last seven races. um extending that run to Donington Park where he hasn’t made the top 10 in either of his last two visits is going to be a challenge. The Honda does tend to struggle here. Yeah, and that’s where let go his lap time in the Super Bowl session was really impressive and h he’s on the fifth row of the grid. His teammate is back there on the seventh row of the grid and as is Tommy Bridewell as well. Andre Yon in P4 never looked competitive here at Donington Park last year either. his only points at the 2024 UK round for an 11th place finish in race one. But he’ll be desperately keen to make more of an impression this weekend after two scoreless rounds. A practice crash wiping out his weekend in MS and in Misano. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. So he’s looking to bounce back here completing that row number five. Michael Vandermark, regular top 10 runner on the BMW in Porto Mau. Asen and Cremona has managed just eight points at the last two rounds. So he’ll be in recovery mode here back at the venue where he secured his first world SBK wins with Yamaha at the 2018 UK round. That’s your front five rows of the grid. Back down to Anthony. Thanks Alex. I’m here with Periaki for Alex. Per word before the start of the race. Alex did a very long run in free practice yesterday. How did he feel then and how confident are you for this race? Alex been strong all weekend. Yeah, it’s true. Yesterday we’ve been a really long run but uh the track is different and the also the bike is different. We changed a little bit the balance for today because trying to improve the weakest points and today was really performing well during all day in the morning and also Super Bowl but okay now it’s coming the race is a little bit different. Let’s see if uh we can collect a good information and go forward. Oh best hello. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Yes P just discussing Alex Loe’s strong performance this weekend so far. Fastest in FP1, fastest in FP3. Front row of the grid now for race one this afternoon and at very least the chance of a podium for Alex Lo. And the longer he can stick with top rack Raz Gatlio and Nicolo Bulliger, the chance the better the chance of him holding off the rest of the group that obviously are going to be trying to take places off him in the early stages. But the Bamoto, we’ve seen progress. Lo’s podium in the Super Pole race last time out. Basani on the front row of the grid in Misano. And now Alex Loe’s qualifying on the front row here in Donington Park. So you feel that that project is starting to build some momentum which is great news for the riders who’ve committed to it. And obviously Alex Loe’s and Axel Basani are the the main men as far as Bam are concerned. Just run you through the remainder of the grid. Remy Gardner, Scott Reading and Axel Basani on row number six. Chia Vier, Tommy Bridewell the oneoff event rider. Michael Ruben Raldi completing row seven. Batan Fogloo and then Tito Rabat and Evo Lopez on their first weekends on the Honda this season completing your 24 rider field over 23 laps here. Top rack Raz Gatloo is