FORM GUIDE: Bulega closes in on a Fogarty podium streak; Razgatlioglu, Bautista look to keep their Portimao run going
Round 2 is here and we’ve gathered the important information and numbers for you ahead of track action starting
With the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock heading to Portugal and the undulating Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the second round of the season, it’s time to look at some of the key numbers that could feature this weekend. The Pirelli Portuguese Round always delivers and there are some milestones to keep an eye out for during the weekend.
325 – With two race starts, Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) will equal Leon Haslam in 4th in the all-time list (325). Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) is the record holder at 444.
59 - Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) has 57 wins, just two short of the 3rd all-time place held by Carl Fogarty. Ahead: Rea at 119 and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) at 63.
54 – 54 races have been run on Portuguese soil so far. The first ones came in 1988, at the Estoril track, and were won by Davide Tardozzi and Stephane Mertens, both on a Bimota.
38 – Rea is the only rider who has raced in all 38 WorldSBK races held at Portimao since the track joined the WorldSBK calendar in 2008; this run will end in 2025 as he misses out through injury.
28 – A front row start has a great importance at Portimao as 28 wins out of 38 came from there.
26 - Largest 1st-2nd Championship margin after 3 races: 1995 Fogarty +33 Schmidt; 2023 Bautista +28 Locatelli; 2002 Bayliss +26 Edwards; 2025 Bulega +26 Bautista; 2000 Edwards +25 Fogarty.
26 – 26 riders climbed on the podium in 38 races run here.
25 – Rea is the record holder for podium finishes here: no fewer than 25 out of 38 races contested. His next competitor is Razgatlioglu at 13.
15 – Great Britain is the most successful country at Portimao, with 15 wins compared to 6 for Spain and Turkey.
13 – Rea has won 13 times here, the second-best value for himself and for any given rider on any track in WorldSBK history after his 17 wins at Assen.
12 – So far, there have been 12 different winners at Portimao. The last two added to this list are Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Razgatlioglu in 2021.
11 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) is on a streak of 11 podium finishes (since the Tissot Superpole Race at Aragon last year). With three more, he will join Carl Fogarty in 11th place for best podium streaks. Fogarty recorded it from Phillip Island Race 2, 1994 to Salzburgring Race 2, 1995.
10 – Bulega has 9 wins for Ducati. So far, 15 riders managed 10 or more wins for the Italian manufacturer. The most successful is Alvaro Bautista at 63. A 10th win will also lift him up to 29th in the all-time list.
9 – The last 9 races run here (since 2022) had only two winners: Razgatlioglu (5 times), and Bautista (4).
8/9 – The longest winning streak for a manufacturer here is 8 by Kawasaki, all by Rea from 2015’s Race 1 to 2019’s Tissot Superpole Race. Rea adds to those a win for Honda in Race 2, 2014, making the longest streak for a rider here at 9 races long. That is an all-time record streak for WorldSBK, level with Tom Sykes at Donington Park from 2013 Race 1 to 2017 Race 1.
6 – Rea is the record holder also for poles here, 6, followed by Tom Sykes at 3.
6/7 - Seven different manufacturers have been able to record at least a podium placement at Portimao: (Ducati, Honda, Aprilia, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW). Six of them are winners: Kawasaki, Ducati, Aprilia, Yamaha, BMW, Honda.
5 – Ducati occupies the first 5 spots of the Riders’ Championship for the first time since the 2004 Oschersleben weekend (at the time: James Toseland, Regis Laconi, Frankie Chili, Garry McCoy, Noriyuki Haga).
4 – Bulega is on a streak of three wins: only three Italian riders recorded a longer streak, of four: Fabrizio Pirovano (Monza Race 1 to Shah Alam Race 2, 1990); Giancarlo Falappa (Manfeild Race 2, 1992 to Hockenheim Race 1, 1993); Max Biaggi (Miller Race 1 to Misano Race 2, 2010).
2 – Yamaha are the only manufacturer to have recorded pole in consecutive years with two different riders in Algarve: in 2009 with Ben Spies and in 2010 with Cal Crutchlow, making it with two different nationalities too.
1 – Rea debuted in WorldSBK in 2008 at Portimao, which was the last weekend of the season. He came from WorldSSP, and recorded the third-best time in Tissot Superpole, finishing 4th in Race 1. In Race 2, he was 15th after an off-track excursion whilst running 5th.
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