Ducati riders respond to Toprak Razgatlioglu over his WorldSBK dominance fears

Ducati’s World Superbike riders have addressed the performance of the brand at the opening round of the 2025 WorldSBK season, which prompted an outburst from BMW’s Toprak Razgatlioglu, the reigning World Champion.

The Turkish rider scored no points on Sunday, finishing 12th in the Superpole Race after running wide at turn four on the opening lap, and retiring from Race 2 with a technical problem. He now finds himself 42 points behind Nicolo Bulega, who won all three races for the first time in his career at Phillip Island.

In contrast, Bulega’s and Ducati’s weekend was exceptional, with top-five lockouts in both Sunday races for the Bologna brand, which also took five of the top six positions in Saturday’s Race 1 (when Razgatlioglu was the only non-Ducati in the top-six in second place).

Ducati’s dominance caused Razgatlioglu to call WorldSBK “almost a Ducati Cup” after Race 2, and to suggest that he could quit the series if the Italian factory’s dominance continues.

Ducati riders reply to Toprak Razgatlioglu

Bulega, though, felt that the scale of Ducati’s supremacy in Australia was more track-specific.

“I just think, if you see also in the past, Ducati is always very good in this circuit, I don’t know why,” he said.

“Me, too, because I always go fast in this circuit, because it’s my favourite. So, this weekend me and Ducati was a good combination in this track.

“Honestly, I don’t think we will be so strong everywhere, because it’s almost impossible. But, for sure, we will work hard to try to stay competitive.”

Bulega’s Aruba.it Racing Ducati teammate, Alvaro Bautista, shared a similar opinion, and said he expects Razgatlioglu to be stronger in the races coming up.

“It’s very soon to say about the championship, especially because this track [Phillip Island] is a bit special, it’s very different from the others,” the two-time WorldSBK Champion said.

“Also, we had tests at the beginning of the week, so it’s not like a [normal] track, especially because Nicolo [Bulega] is really fast here – he will be fast everywhere; but I think Toprak [Razgatlioglu] struggled in this circuit, but in the next one in Portimao he is stronger.

“So, I don’t know if this is the reality of the championship, we have to wait a couple of races more to see what is the real condition of every rider and the real performance of each one.”

Andrea Iannone was the closest rider to Bulega for most of the week in Australia, before Bautista made a step in Race 2 to establish himself in second place, demoting Iannone to third.

The Go Eleven Ducati rider also felt that the Phillip Island circuit is one that suits the Panigale V4 R, but also said that Ducati’s rider line-up is a factor in the brand’s performance.

“I think Phillip Island is a good track for us,” he said. “The Ducati for sure is a good bike, but I think also the riders on Ducati [are at] a really good level because everybody in the past fought for top positions, also in the MotoGP paddock.

“I think this is not a point of view, this is the reality.

“I think the package is good, but I think every race [will not be] like this.”

Ducati riders point to Phillip Island track specifics

Iannone’s fellow satellite Ducati rider, Danilo Petrucci, was clearly unopposed to the position the Bologna brand held in Australia.

“For sure, Phillip Island is special, here the Ducati is going well, but I would like to see this kind of performance in all the weekends,” he said, “maybe improving [my] result, stand on the podium and maybe catch another victory soon.”

Finally, Scott Redding – who rejoined the Ducati stable for this year with the MGM Bonovo team after spending three years at BMW – agreed with his colleagues that the circuit at Phillip Island was a factor in Ducati’s performance at the opening round of 2025, but added that weather conditions, and the specific format of the races at the Australian venue that this year mandated a pit stop in the two full-length races, perhaps also played to the Panigale’s strengths.

“I think this track is a little bit special, also the nature of the circuit is suiting a bit the Ducati more, and then the temperatures are playing and the wind and the flag-to-flag – there’s a lot of things that are coming into it,” Redding said.

“I think when we get back to Europe it will change a bit more, I think we’ll see more from Bimota, more from Yamaha.

“So, it will be some interesting races coming up for sure.”