Toprak untouchable in France
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) took the lead from his pole position starting position and held it all the way to the flag after 21 laps of almost simply racing the clock.
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was second, 8.597 seconds behind thew win, with second row starter Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) a strong third.
A five rider/two incident crash at T13 on Lap Two caused a long term yellow flag after Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha), Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) and Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven Ducati) got tangled in one incident, with Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) having their own problems in the same corner.
Out front, Toprak went at it like a man possessed to initially lead the fast starting Alex Lowes, and then the hard-chasing Bulega.
A new lap record of 1’35.642 saw Razgatlioglu extend his lead still further in the sunny conditions. By lap eight of 21 Razgatlioglu was 2.733 seconds ahead of Bulega. He was the only rider setting 1’35 laps with half the race gone.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) was finally fourth, but 17 seconds down on Razgatlioglu’s winning pace.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) came from the back of the grid after a crash in Superpole to take fifth position.
Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) placed sixth, just half a second ahead of the pushing Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) in seventh place.
Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was eighth, while Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati) joined the crasher class, falling from fourth place with a very few laps left to run. He finished in ninth place after getting going again. Tenth position was secured by Independent Yamaha rider, Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team).
Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) was on course for a seventh place finish until he suffered a late fall. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was having a strong race in sixth place until he crashed with eight laps gone.
Two more WorldSBK races on Sunday at Magny Cours – the ten lap sprint and then another 21-lap Race Two.
2025 Magny Cours WorldSBK Race 1
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | T. Razgatlioglu | BMW | — |
| 2 | N. Bulega | Duc | 8.597 |
| 3 | A. Lowes | Bim | 10.979 |
| 4 | D. Petrucci | Duc | 17.793 |
| 5 | A. Locatelli | Yam | 20.648 |
| 6 | R. Gardner | Yam | 26.031 |
| 7 | A. Bassani | Bim | 26.509 |
| 8 | D. Aegerter | Yam | 28.229 |
| 9 | S. Lowes | Duc | 32.931 |
| 10 | B. Sofuoglu | Yam | 39.617 |
| 11 | S. Garcia | Hon | 40.97 |
| 12 | M. Rinaldi | Yam | 49.714 |
| 13 | R. Vickers | Duc | 57.52 |
| 14 | T. Rabat | Hon | 1'02.585 |
| 15 | Z. Zaidi | Hon | 1'28.759 |
| 16 | A. Bautista | Duc | 3 Laps |
| 17 | X. Vierge | Hon | 5 Laps |
| RET | G. Gerloff | Kaw | 3 Laps |
| RET | J. Rea | Yam | 10 Laps |
| RET | M. van der Mark | BMW | 12 Laps |
| RET | T. Mackenzie | Duc | 14 Laps |
| RET | Y. Montella | Duc | DNF |
| RET | A. Iannone | Duc | DNF |
