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The first round of the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is in the history books and, with it, came a whole host of spicy quotes from our riders. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) took his first hat-trick while rivals Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had mixed weekends at the Australian Round. Check out the best quotes from the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit below…

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati): “It was an amazing weekend with an amazing feeling!”

Bulega became just the fifth member of the WorldSBK hat-trick club, and he reviewed his weekend by saying: “It was an amazing weekend with an amazing feeling. We started very well on Monday, and we finished even better on Sunday. I knew I had the speed but in races, a lot can happen. In the Superpole Race, I was lucky with Toprak at Turn 4 because I didn’t have perfect braking, I was a bit wide at Turn 4 and he almost hit me. I was lucky to make a mistake! If you do a hat-trick in WorldSBK, it’s very special. I know this track is special for me; for my riding style, it’s perfect. It’s my favourite track. I tried to put everything together and get the maximum. I don’t think I will be at the same level every time; it’s very difficult, nearly impossible. At Turn 4, I took the kerb with the knee slider; I was a bit too much inside and the kerb was taller than the asphalt. I put my knee on the kerb, blocked my leg and lost the front and I almost crashed.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “The bike is not working because we are not as fast as last year”

Discussing his Race 1 rostrum, ‘El Turco’ was still downbeat despite P2: “I am a racer, I will always fight for P1 and never give up, but at the start of the race. I didn’t feel fast, I wasn’t finding a rhythm. When we changed the tyre, and started the second run, I felt much better, the rear felt like it had better grip, turning was better after we changed some things with the suspension, and I found the rhythm in the second run. The last laps, though, the rear tyres started to drop off, I felt the bike moving around a lot and it made turning harder. I could see Alvaro getting closer, and in the last lap I did a 1’30.300s lap which is not too bad, but I was riding on the limit. I say the bike is not working because we are not as fast as last year, we are slower, if it felt like last year’s bike maybe it would be easier to follow Bulega, maybe not, but maybe I would have been up fighting with him and not the other riders. Now when I try to rider at the limit, I lose the front, or I lose the rear, I’m trying to ride the bike and find the rhythm, but it is not easy.”

He then added on Sunday after not scoring points in either race: “The Superpole Race wasn’t a good start. I felt some brake problems and we’re lucky I didn’t hit someone. In Race 2, we tried to improve the bike, but we thought it was better to ride Saturday’s bike because I felt it was improving and grip was better than before. In the race, we saw there was a technical problem, and I didn’t continue the race. I’ve never started the first round very happy. Every year, it starts very strange. I’m just focused on the next race because we’re going to Europe and I’m starting to fight. I’m going to keep working and come back stronger.”

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati): “One good thing is last year, to be as competitive as I was, I was over the limit many times… In Race 2, I was under the limit”

Two podiums and an epic comeback for two-time WorldSBK Champion Bautista, who said after Race 2: “In the Superpole Race, I made a mistake at Turn 4 on the first lap. The wind direction was the opposite and pushed us a lot in that braking zone. In the race, I arrived much faster with the slipstream; I braked at the same point, and I couldn’t stop the bike. Fortunately, I could avoid other riders. I had a strange crash at Turn 6 because I lost the rear, like it was cold or something, because it just turned. In Race 2, I felt a good feeling. It was like a continuation of all these days. My target is to recover my maximum level and I think on Sunday, we made some steps forward. I don’t know whether, if I started from the front, if I could fight with Nicolo or not but it’s true, in the second half of the race when I was alone, I was able to have the same pace and sometimes even faster. I did the fastest lap of the race; I think it’s the only time someone beat Nicolo in something this weekend! I don’t have the same feeling and confidence as him. We’re building up and I think Nico is at his top level. We need to at least start from the level from Sunday and then, with very small steps, get ahead. When I have the confidence, I can do it! I enjoyed Race 2 a lot. Consistency is the key. I had a crash. ‘Fortunately,’, it was in the Superpole Race that isn’t a lot of points. Maybe after making the mistake at Turn 4, I wanted to force it a bit more and in the second lap, I had a strange crash. One good thing is last year, to be as competitive as I was, I was over the limit many times. In Race 2, I was under the limit. That’s a good sign that I don’t feel like I’m pushing 100%; I’m pushing the maximum I feel I can.”

Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoEleven): “We are small and strong! We finished close to the factory team, this is our target”

Iannone took two podiums in one round for the first time in his WorldSBK career and, after finishing on the rostrum in Race 2, said: “I’m really happy. I think we took the maximum we could. We finished really close to the factory team, and this is our target. We are small and strong! We changed the setup for Race 2, and we improved a little bit. In the Superpole Race, it was a little bit scary in the beginning but fortunately nothing happened. I enjoyed riding but I felt I missed something with grip. I don’t want to put a limit and not every weekend will be like this for us because there are a lot of stronger riders and manufacturers. We need to try every race to be really close to the best riders and best manufacturers. This is our target.”

Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing): “The trajectory was fifth-fourth-third, and I wanted it so bad, you wouldn’t believe”

A strong return for Redding to the Panigale V4 R, who said: “The trajectory was fifth-fourth-third, and I wanted it so bad, you wouldn’t believe! Before Race 2, I was happily frustrated; I said, ‘F**k, I could taste the podium’. I tried to get a good start in Race 2 and give 105% to stay there as long as possible. I got the start, and I was doing what I said, and I just had to ride as hard as I could. I was trying everything! For them, it was like they were on 95% and I was on 105%. I was with Iannone, and I caught him on the first lap. I wanted to pass him, but he’s been faster than me all weekend, so if I was in front am I going to hold the pace? I gave him another lap then Bautista came underneath me. I was okay with that. For a moment, I thought the podium was there and the next moment it wasn’t! My goal was to have three podiums. I need to perform. When you don’t have a choice, you have no plan B, you have to do it. We’re at about 90% with the bike and I’m at about 90%. I truly believed I could get on the podium here; it's what I trained for all season through working hard every time we go testing because that is the goal. Anything inside the top six, for the first race, I need to be happy. When I was behind Toprak, the style was a little bit different, but I feel I’m able to do it. Given last year, I couldn’t do it and I was always overriding. Now, what I want to do, I can do. It’s easier. To win is going to be hard, but it’s not going to be impossible. I like Phillip Island but it’s not my favourite.”

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “It’s a good point when you’re disappointed about a top five!”

Petrucci kicked off his season in style with a Superpole Race podium, though he was left disappointed with P5 in Race 2: “We had the touch with Toprak. Here at Phillip Island, anything can happen. Maybe Toprak was in trouble this week, so he was overriding the bike. We touched. I lost two or three seconds but then, especially, I lost time to the top guys. When I re-joined the track, he was in front. It’s a good point when you’re disappointed about a top five. In Race 1 we finished fourth, in the Superpole Race third and fifth in Race 2. I’m quite disappointed about the fifth place. This race is like a penalty shootout, you can win or lose. It’s a crazy track, it’s really nice, but if you make a mistake you can’t recover.”

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha): “P7 is not my position; I have more potential than this”

Leading Yamaha’s charge, ‘Loka’ was happy with his weekend although was aiming for more: “Honestly, I think regarding my weekend we should be quite happy, I was always pushing from Race 1 through to Race.  We were always trying to improve and Race 1’s conditions were quite warm, but I think everyone was better. We made a step forward. I had good memories from last year here, but this year was completely different, and sometimes it’s difficult to compare, and say last year we did better than now, but I think we need to be realistic and clear with ourselves to understand how to improve a bit more versus what we can’t control at the moment. Overall, I’m happy because I was always pushing and trying to get the best result, but P7 is not my position, I have more potential than that, but this is the most we could do at the moment. I can’t control everything, and there are things I don’t understand, but for sure we need to make another step forward by working hard and we will try to do our best in the next round.”

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