Bruising opening day for many as WorldSBK gets underway at Most

WorldSBK 2025

Round Five – Most – Friday

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P1

“I think this was my best Friday this year. I’m really happy. The bike isn’t so bad. The rear has a good set up now. The weather’s been a bit difficult. We did a good lap time. We did a race simulation, almost 20 laps, and it looks like every lap was in the 1’31s so a good time. It looks like we’re ready to race. The lap time is good and impressive, but the race is always different. You need to keep the rear tyre and also, in the last laps, you need more grip. It’s very difficult. It looks like we’re strong, but we don’t know what the weather will be like tomorrow. I need to win; I really miss P1!”

Sam Lowes – P2

“Honestly, I really struggled here last year. It’s nice to come back to this track and feel fast again. My pace was pretty good overall. During my long run, I had to make a quick pit stop to adjust something, but we went back out on the same tyres and we still managed strong laps. I feel like I’m in the mix and there’s still room to improve, especially in Sector 2, where I wasn’t riding very well. We were lucky with the weather and got a lot of dry laps compared to others. It was a positive first day, and I think we can take a step forward tomorrow and stay in the fight.”

Alex Lowes – P3

“It was a strange day – raining then not raining and with some damp patches around. In this morning’s FP1 session there were several red flags after some crashes. FP2 started in slightly damp conditions, so we tried to let things improve before I rode in the last part of the session. It was positive. I feel quite good on the bike, especially in the middle part of the lap. It was working well and handling well. We just used one set of tyres this afternoon. After the first two sessions at Most on the bimota KB998 Rimini we have a lot of information to analyse and check for Saturday. The important thing now is to make that step forward for FP3 and then Superpole, before the start of Race One.”

Nicolo Bulega – P4

“It was important for me to ride today and after a big crash like this morning it is important to ride the bike again and regain the feeling with the bike. Unfortunately, it was a very big crash, I have some pain all over my body but luckily it was not worse. I’m quite happy with the FP2, because I didn’t try a lot but the feeling with the bike was not so bad. We can definitely improve something so not so bad in the end. I still don’t understand exactly, because I was not pushing 100%. The lap before I was pushing much more, but I was on a cooldown lap that lap and it was a spectacular crash with the throttle closed completely. I understood I was crashing after I was already on the ground.  Honestly today I had some pain especially in my foot on the bike, on this track there is a lot of changing of direction which can be difficult but anyway I will never give up and I will give 100% every lap and we will see after the weekend. In FP2 my pace was not too good, but it was also not bad. I was still thinking about this morning’s crash, which didn’t help my lap time, but tomorrow I will forget about this crash, and I can be faster.”

Alvaro Bautista – P5

“It was a very special day. The overnight rain and the less-than-perfect track conditions strongly conditioned FP1 with many crashes and a series of red flags. So I couldn’t find continuity, even though the feeling was good. In the afternoon, we tried to make a small change to the setup, but it did not give positive results”.

Danilo Petrucci – P6

“Cold temperatures and newly resurfaced sections made it a tough day here in Most. Still, the overall picture is positive. Our race pace is solid and there’s room for improvement. The feeling with the bike can definitely grow. I can put in a strong flying lap, but I’m struggling to repeat it consistently. Compared to last year, both the weather and asphalt have changed significantly, but we’re up there with the top guys. A good qualifying tomorrow will be crucial — it could put us in a position to fight for the top spots.”

Axel Bassani – P7

“FP1 was quite difficult, with four red flag stoppages. Also, we lost 15-20 minutes in the beginning because the track was half wet/half dry. Honestly, we did not have a lot of time to work today, but this afternoon in FP2 we tried something as I need to improve the feeling with the rear, as it is not perfect. We did some laps and the pace was not bad. We will see tomorrow and I hope we have enough data from today to try to understand what I need for tomorrow.”

Andrea Locatelli – P9

“A bit unlucky today, especially this morning in FP1 – I was running really well and felt confident with my R1 until a big high-side on T16. Unfortunately, I still feel pain on my left shoulder and left knee, but no damage and I was able to ride this afternoon. Not too many laps in the end though because I was feeling some pain and we were trying different set-up changes with the bike. Basically, we are not so far away and we can still work a bit more. I hope that tomorrow morning the track conditions will be alright to try to improve. I am feeling quite positive, if we can make another step forward we can fight in reality for the podium – so let’s try to make the best result and keep pushing until the end. The most important thing, is that I didn’t have a big impact, just a bit of pain and we will work tonight to prepare for tomorrow.”

Xavi Vierge – P10

“It’s been a positive first day, though definitely not an easy one. We experienced unexpected weather conditions and started this morning on a track full of damp patches. That said, the feeling on the bike was good right from the start, although the session was disrupted by a series of red flags that affected our plans. Especially in the final minutes, when I was improving my lap times, the yellow flags and red flags meant that laps were cancelled, and the action interrupted. But we knew we had good pace. Between sessions, we made a small change to the bike setup. In FP2, I immediately felt comfortable again and was able to maintain better pace than in FP1. We focused on the tyres, aiming to complete the entire session on the same set, and were satisfied with our pace. Tomorrow, we’ll try to improve especially in the third sector, to see if we are able to further close the gap to the front.”

Iker Lecuona – P11

“A first day in quite tricky conditions, rain, dry, mixed… really unpredictable. That said, today I had the worst feeling on the bike in quite some time. I know the gap to the top isn’t huge in terms of lap time, but the feeling just wasn’t there. So now we need to carefully go through the data with the team to find a solution for tomorrow. At the moment, after just three or four laps I feel really tired because I have to ‘fight’ the bike. We need to find a way to improve the bike’s handling so I can ride more comfortably. As for the weather, there’s nothing we can do — so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Jonathan Rea – P13

“My day started really badly because I had a pretty nasty crash at T7 where I lost the rear, it was a complete surprise – we’re still a little bit confused why the crash happened, I was doing everything right like the lap before, but during the session quite a lot of riders crashed from the rear. I think we’re just not going to use that same tyre again, it was a new development tyre that nobody had any information on. Unfortunately, I lost all of the session, so my Free Practice 2 was like FP1. I got up to speed ok, then we didn’t need to make too many adjustments to the set-up, my R1 felt pretty good. Just at the end, I ran out of time to come in – I wanted to try a new tyre to make a push or a time attack at the end but I didn’t have enough time. I felt ok on the bike, much stronger than in Cremona and I enjoyed riding my R1 to be honest – it’s giving me some feedback as well, so I think from this point we can start to move forward with everything. The weekend looks quite strange from a weather point of view, so I hope tomorrow gives us some consistent conditions and we can work to improve the feeling further – qualify well and the target in the race is to finish with a good feeling and make a step forward.”

Remy Gardner – P15

“Today was definitely tricky, not just because of the track conditions. I felt good early in FP1, but unfortunately, I crashed out which cut my session short. I saw the yellow flags waving and immediately backed off for the corner, but as I was exiting the corner I highsided unexpectedly. Unfortunately, there were marshals in the gravel trap still dealing with Iannone’s crash, so I’d like to apologise to them and I hope that everyone is OK. I picked up a few bumps and bruises in the crash, but luckily I was able to ride in FP2. I wasn’t at 100%, but still managed some decent laps. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow and can push for a strong Saturday.”

Garrett Gerloff – P16

“It was a bit of a crazy opening day because of the weather. Those were not the easiest conditions to try stuff in. But, in the end, we did get two fairly dry sessions, which was nice. I was just trying to get used to the bike at this track. We did not make a whole lot of crazy-big changes but I am feeling better, lap-by-lap. At the beginning of the second Free Practice session I saw my name closer to the top and I was thinking, ‘Ok, here we go…” Then I started moving back down the order, but I didn’t feel so bad. Let’s see if we can improve a little bit on Saturday.”

Yari Montella – P17

“It was quite a particular day. This morning we had some issues, especially as it’s our first time here in full Superbike spec. In the afternoon, we made some good steps forward. We didn’t change tyres or attempt a proper time attack, choosing to save our tyres for tomorrow. Still, the day showed progress. There’s room for improvement and areas we’ll focus on. We’ll keep working tomorrow to continue moving forward.”

Dominique Aegerter – P19

“It was a difficult day overall. The mixed conditions meant we couldn’t make full use of the track time, which would’ve really helped. We’re facing a few challenges with the bike setup, but we’ll keep working to improve for the weekend. I’m confident we can overcome the issues and find the pace to be competitive—hopefully with more stable weather tomorrow.”

Tarran Mackenzie – P20

“This morning was a bit up and down with the four red flags, but we stayed on the same tyre and luckily it was all ok. It feels strange to ride here again after two years away, especially coming back on a Superbike, but it felt like I made a bit of progress. I then struggled a little bit in FP2. I don’t have the best feeling yet, and so found it difficult to find the lap times. A bit of a shame but we’ll work to find something that can hopefully help us take a good step tomorrow.”

Zaqhwan Zaidi – P22

“Today’s practices were strange, and my feeling was mixed to be honest. In the first session, I focused on learning the track, making as many laps as I could. I improved lap by lap, but not my feeling as the conditions were not ideal and I didn’t have the confidence to push. The track is tricky, with some very fast corners, but I’ll do my best to progress. We did that already in FP2 to some extent, and I’m sure that I can do more in tomorrow’s FP3 and Superpole. We hope conditions will be good, and in the meantime a big thanks to the team for all their hard work and support. We’ll keep working!”

Andrea Iannone

“Unfortunately our weekend in Most is already over, in FP 1 I had an highside in the last turn and after the checks I have three broken toes, one of the fractures is displaced. I asked to try to ride  because, in any case, overall I’m fine, but I was declared Unfit. I’m already on the way back to Italy to undergo, tomorrow morning, the surgery to reduce the fractures in my toes, after which I will start rehabilitation to get better as soon as possible.”

Friday WorldSBK Report

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) led the way on an action packed opening day of the Motul Czech Round at Autodrom Most. The Turkish rider completed 42 laps of the 4.212km long venue on a day with changeable conditions and red flag delays.

Razgatlioglu completed a 21 lap race simulation in FP2 where his pace and consistency laid down a marker to the rest of the field. In Free Practice 2, Razgatlioglu completed six laps faster than any other rider managed throughout the day.

Four red flags interrupted Free Practice 1 with the highest profile casualty Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). The Ducati rider crashed heavily at Turn 6 after a highside. The Italian completed 24 laps for the day and ended Friday fourth fastest on the combined times.

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) continued his strong form to end the day second fastest just ahead of Alex Lowes who yesterday re-signed with the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team for 2026.

Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) was ruled out of action for the weekend following his Free Practice 1 crash. Other crashers included Remy Gardner, Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli.

WorldSBK Combined Practice Times

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP Superpole

Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) claimed his first pole since 2019 at the Motul Czech Round’s opening FIM Supersport World Championship Tissot Superpole session. Following Mahias across the line was Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) and Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse) to form Race 1’s front row. With their best results of the season so far, Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) and Raffaele De Rosa (QJMOTOR Factory Racing) stepped up their game in the wet, earning P5 and P6 respectively at the Autodrom Most.

Rain fell in the early afternoon ahead of the Superpole session, limiting riders’ pace until later in the session as the track continued to dry. As time ticked down in the session, lap times decreased as well. After many provisional pole position changes, by the chequered flag Mahias came out on top with a 1’38.142s lap, almost six tenths of a second clear of his rivals. Oncu claimed second on the timesheet with his time of 1’38.733s, followed by Debise, who led most of the session’s early running to finish P3 with a time of 1’38.809s.

Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) placed P4 in the Superpole with his time of 1’38.983s not quite fast enough to land a front-row starting spot, but just 0.174s off front-row pace. Oettl in P5 had his best result of his season so far, his 1’39.016s potentially a springboard to get his first WorldSSP season back on track. Raffaele De Rosa earned QJMOTOR their best result in their two years of competition, not only their first top ten, but their first top six starting spot.

Marcel Schroetter (WRP Racing) was one of the fastest in the wetter early running, but as session went on, he and his 1’39.252s was shuffled to P7 by the end of the session. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) was slower than his normally-pacey self in the wet, his time of 1’39.319s landing him P8. Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME Air Racing) finished in P9 with a time of 1’39.345s.

Oli Bayliss qualified 17th on the PTR Triumph.

Luke Power (Motozoo ME Air Racing) had the first crash of the session, taking a spill into the gravel on Turn 13 but later returned to the track. Shortly after, Wildcard rider Filip Fiegl (Genius Racing by Motolife) crashed out in Turn 20. Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) had a late lowside crash which forced him to ride back to the pits and miss the rest of the session.

WorldSSP Superpole Times

WorldSSP Championship Points

WorldSSP300 Superpole Times

WorldSSP300 Championship Points

2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar