Toprak Razgatlioglu's Ducati complaint addressed with a fresh theory

Ducati’s dominance of the opening round of the 2025 World Superbike Championship was one of the most substantial displays of superiority a manufacturer has exhibited in the recent history of the series.

It was so stark that reigning World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu suggested that he could quit the series if the Ducati domination wasn’t addressed after the Bologna brand locked out the top-five in both of Sunday’s races in Australia last weekend.

While Razgatlioglu focused on the technical superiority of the Panigale V4 R, one of the theories for the dominance put forward by the Ducati riders themselves in Australia was that many of the series’ best riders are on Panigale V4 R machinery.

Toprak Razgatlioglu unhappy with Ducati domination

This was something with which TNT Sports commentator and former World Superbike Champion James Toseland agreed – at least in part.

“I think there’s a bit of everything,” Toseland said on TNT Sports after Race 2 at Phillip Island last weekend.

“The best riders are on the Ducatis, you’d say, at the minute.

“But, still, there’s a clear speed advantage down the straights compared to the other manufacturers.

“It’s a bespoke, luxury product, the Ducati, and they price it as such; and the Japanese manufacturers have never been that, have they?

“You never walk into a Honda dealership or a Kawasaki dealership and want to spend £40,000 on a motorcycle – it’s just not the case. So, what they produce, the Japanese manufacturers, needs to even out.

“Ducati are able to sell motorcycles at that price and produce motorcycles that are ready for the racetrack, pretty much, out of the showroom, where the Japanese manufacturers have to do so much more [to prepare the production bike for racing].

“We need to keep it open a little bit.

“The fuel [flow] thing could be really interesting, taking a little bit of fuel off them [Ducati] should just reduce the horsepower.”

Toseland added a comparison with Ducati’s compatriot brand, Ferrari.

“It’s like Ferrari, isn’t it,” he said.

“They build cars just to go racing, and Ducati are very similar: they build bikes to go racing; whereas the other manufacturers build them for the people on the roads to enjoy, and that’s a completely different concept.

“So, something does have to be evened up. But take nothing away from the Bologna factory.”