Bulega Tops Friday Practice Despite Crash

Ducati star shrugs off FP2 fall to lead the field in sweltering conditions, as just one second covers the top 19 riders

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) eased his way to the top spot in the overall WorldSBK Friday rankings, thanks to his FP2 best time. He had a fall in FP2 but got going again to stay at the top of the timesheets in very hot conditions, with the air temperature reaching 30°C.

After finishing FP1 as the fastest rider, Alex Lowes (Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) ended up third in the combined times. His brother, Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati), proved to be the fourth quickest, holding back the BMW of Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who finished in fifth place overall. Like Alex Lowes, Razgatlioglu was unable to improve his FP1 time in the hotter afternoon session.

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) took a big step up in relative performance with his overall sixth place after FP2, which he earned by finishing fifth in that session.

Local fans were enthused by the return to form of Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing Ducati), who placed seventh in the combined Free Practice times. The crowd was moved even more by a strong showing from Ryan Vickers (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati), who finished eighth overall.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) was ninth, and Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) completed the top ten.

Friday’s times were incredibly close, with the top 19 riders all setting times within one second of each other and all riders struggling with traction to some extent  with spectacular results on the exit of Coppice especially.

2025 BRITISH WORLDSBK FP2