Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven Ducati Panigale V4R) – originally banned for 2 years for doping in 2019 and after his protest for an incredible 4 years, after which he immediately fought for victories again on his return last year. The most successful private pilot of the season opener in Australia must have been particularly motivated in view of the ridiculously tiny doping penalty of the South Tyrolean tennis player Sinner for practically the same offense.

Catastrophic WorldSBK season opener in Australia

Anyone who watched the summary of Dorna’s training via their portal (worldsbk.com) on the Tuesday before the first race weekend already knew in advance what was in store for them as a WSBK fan. Dorna should actually receive a considerable sum of money from Ducati for this advertising film. The conclusion of this article was that with the exception of the reigning world champion, all of the main actors represented the brand from Borgo Panigale (a suburb of Bologna). Record world champion Johnny Rea was no longer there after the first day of testing and, as was the case last year, will probably only play a supporting role on his Yamaha R1. With the exception of Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW M-1000RR), this also applies to the rest of Ducati’s opponents. This was not only shown by the Dorna video, but also by what happened on the first race weekend on the beautiful Phillip Island track. Against this background, it is of course truly catastrophic for the sport that the performance of the riders plays a completely subordinate role. In the first race, Aruba.it Ducati factory rider Nicolo Bulega built up a lead within just a few laps, reminiscent of the first race in 2019 in Donington. The only difference was that it was raining heavily in England and the exceptional talent Jonathan Rea beat the entire competition on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR. In this case, however, it was the pilot who made the difference.

Aerial view of the Phillip Island race track, located directly on the sea, one of the most beautiful and spectacular courses in the world. This time, and we had already feared this beforehand, it was not worth the trip from a sporting point of view.

The top and flops of the first round in Down Under

The best example of Ducati’s superiority at the start of the 2025 season was provided by Scotty Redding. The Englishman, who had absolutely no chance last season on his BMW with officially equivalent material to the superior world champion, promptly fought for the podium with the Ducati in every race. This despite the fact that he drove a BMW factory machine instead of at Bonovo Action as in 2024 and is now just one of many private drivers in the same team! The 2020 vice world champion is transformed and made it into the top 5 in every race in Australia. With the same engine as last year, Alex Lowes, on the other hand, is fighting a losing battle as overall winner in 2024 in the same cities despite his supposedly excellent Bimota chassis. Instead of 50 points last year, the fast man from Lincoln managed a meager 19 points this time. Andrea Locatelli on the best Yamaha only managed three points more, after he had taken two podium places on his R1 in 2024 and had also fought for second place in the last race until his fall. Things went a little better, but still not enough for his standards, for his GYTR GRT Yamaha teammate Dominique Aegerter. For every three twelfth places there were a total of eight points, because this is only rewarded over the full distance. A clear indication why one should not, as the FIM, Dorna and almost all media people always do, simply equate successes in sprint races with the results of traditional races and simply add up all the victories. In MotoGP, the Grand Prix status for Sunday races prevents them all from making this mistake, which distorts all statistics.

MotoGP Grand Prix winner and crowd favourite Danilo “Petrux” Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati Panigale V4R) had a very successful start to the season. All races in the top 5 and his best result, third place in the Tissot Sprint Race on Sunday morning, mean fourth place in the World Championship, just 5 points behind fellow brand rider Bautista.

Black Sunday for the local hero, BMW and Kawasaki

Remy Gardner was undoubtedly the unlucky guy of the weekend at his home event. A crash in turn 4 on Saturday afternoon was followed by a top ten result in the sprint race, but unfortunately there were no points for that. In the afternoon, the fast Australian crashed in turn 1 shortly before the end of the race. After finishing second in the first race on Sunday, Toprak Razgatlioglu had one of his darkest days. After a mistake in the sprint race, he missed out on the points and in the last race he dropped out due to a technical defect on his BMW M-1000RR, while his team-mate Michael van der Mark scored his only 2 points in fourteenth place on Sunday afternoon. Kawasaki newcomer Garrett Gerloff only managed one point more in the same race. The US boy rode out in turn 4 after a poor qualifying in the first race and then dropped out due to technical problems. On Sunday, Honda test rider Tetsuta Nagashima again caused him to crash in the “Miller Corner”, after which he finished 13th in the afternoon, which was enough for the only 3 points at the season opener.

Axel Bassani on the Bimota with Kawasaki engine – the Italian is getting on much better with the new motorcycle than he did last year on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR factory machine. Together with his team mate Alex Lowes, he was one of only eight riders who were able to score points in all three races. Apart from these two, the other six, not surprisingly, competed on Ducati motorcycles.

Review of the one-sided start of the WorldSBK

Because Ducati is and remains Dorna and FIM’s favorite child, the sporting value of the near-series world championship is suffering this season from an overwhelming performance superiority due to regulations that are always designed in favor of the Italian brand. Of course, this also has its good sides for some fans, because, for example, we can currently safely avoid expensive trips like those to Australia shortly before the pandemic. However, visitors who spend a lot of money on this highly one-sided spectacle can quickly feel cheated in view of the lack of battle for victories as experienced in the first WSBK round. While we’re on this topic, here’s a comparison with very astonishing price differences, which in our opinion border on usury. The worst examples of ticket prices for a WorldSBK weekend with paddock access can be found in Ducati country Italy, of all places, but also in economically weak nations such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Estoril Portugal. Below you can see our graphic with prices converted into euros for Australia, Donington, Most and Hungary with the Balaton Ring cancelled last year.

Taking Cremona as an example, it is no surprise that this track is located in the homeland of the Mafia, according to the comments of some disappointed fans from Italy’s northern neighbouring countries. In contrast to Assen, Misano and Most, for example, there are unfortunately no natural grandstands at the by far most expensive WorldSBK track of the last and this year’s season.

Hope for the driver routes

Luckily we haven’t already booked the flight to Portugal. What Bulega and Bautista’s opponents are facing on the endless straight of the Autodromo do Algarve was already evident on the fast track at Phillip Island, when, for example, the little Spaniard easily overtook several opponents at the same time on the start-finish straight. Due to the increased performance of the Ducati Panigale V4R compared to the rival brands, we also have some concerns about Misano, Aragon and Estoril. Even Assen, which is also much too early in the year on the calendar at a time that is far too often completely insane, could bring too many disadvantages for Ducati’s opponents due to its many fast passages. We have somewhat ambivalent views on the newest WorldSBK courses. While Balaton is in the flatlands, like the Cremona track, from our experience Donington Park, Jerez and Magny-Cours are particularly highly recommended for a visit. There, in particular, the prospects for a more balanced balance of power in the Superbike World Championship are quite good due to the short straights.

Our WorldSBK calendar for 2025 with the very different ticket prices for the days with the races and paddock access. In some cases, the organizers also offer 3-day tickets, which cost no more than just Saturday and Sunday. Magny-Cours probably has paddock access, but unlike the other WSBK events, this is not guaranteed there. In red are the definitely far too expensive prices compared to the fortunately still numerous fair offers.

Bad results after the first of 12 WSBK rounds

The 2025 season is by no means the first in which one has the impression that FIM and Dorna are doing everything imaginable to ensure that Ducati’s successes continue to increase. So far, all regulation adjustments have turned out to be pure eyewash in reality, as far as some measures urgently needed to achieve greater balance in the starting field are concerned. A prime example of the ridiculous ineffectiveness is the interpretation of the minimum weight, as shown by Alvaro Bautista on his factory Ducati. His three kilograms of additional weight, which has been mandatory since 2024, did not in the least prevent the Spanish racing dwarf from literally flying past his competition on the straights, either last year or in Phillip Island. How Ducati’s competitors will manage to catch up on their performance deficit over the course of the season is certainly what is currently occupying the neutral WSBK fans the most. Also extremely unfortunate for BMW’s marketing was the statement by its figurehead Toprak, who complained at the Australian weekend that he now had to use the standard frame of the M-1000RR. Before that, we had always thought that this motorcycle was one of the best offers for use on race tracks, alongside the Ducati Panigale V4R. Just as bad advertising for Pirelli as the standard tire supplier was that, like last year, the WSBK and WorldSSP races were held with a compulsory tire stop for the second time because the tires supposedly did not last 20 or 18 laps respectively. In the view of many pilots, this was also an absolute bad joke.

If there is to be even the slightest excitement in the title fight, a lot of things have to change from the second round in Portimão. With 5 Ducati riders at the top of the interim classification and another in P7, it is yawningly boring, especially given the endless start-finish straight that the Autodromo do Algarve has. For detailed results, see www.worldsbk.com, as we are not covering this aspect this season due to the continued unpleasant one-sidedness.

The WorldSSP – new top class of the near-production world championship

WorldSBK rookie Bahattin Sofuoglu drove a fastest lap of 1:30.051 in the second race and the Turk missed the last World Championship point by just one place. Tom Booth-Amos was just over two and a half seconds slower with 1:32.685 on the PTR Triumph Factory Racing Triumph Street Triple RS 765. With an average speed of over 175 km/h on the fast Phillip Island track, the WorldSSP demonstrated very impressively how powerful these motorcycles are despite having significantly less power than the 1000 cc machines of the WSBK. Since Ducati withdrew with its factory Panigale V2 after the 2024 season, a balance has been observed in the middle class that guarantees extremely valuable races in sporting terms. The variety of brands in the intermediate classification speaks volumes. While the top 7 in the WSBK, with one exception, are riding Ducati, the WorldSSP is full of excitement with Triumph, Yamaha, MV Agusta, Kawasaki and Ducati. Thanks to the fast Japanese Kaito Toba on the Honda CBR-600RR from the PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team, even the sixth manufacturer, currently in P11, is only one position away from the top ten. This is what most fans would like the WorldSBK to be like, but unfortunately we are light years away from that again this season.

The medal for bravery at the season opener in Down Under goes to the Dutchman and pole sitter Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta F3 800 RR). After his highsider in the Superpole, he took part in the race with serious injuries and narrowly missed the podium in the first race, but then managed to take third place on Sunday.
Our photo taken on location with the “Miller Corner” on the left, the fourth and formerly known as Honda Corner. In the background is the ocean with the so-called Bass Strait. For professionals and amateur photographers, this is by far one of the most spectacular spots on this fantastically beautiful race track. In addition to spectacular braking maneuvers, you can also see many crashes or missed turns, which in the case of Toprak and Bautista resulted in their zero points on Sunday morning.

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© WorldSBK).