2025 Italian WorldSBK: Race 1 As It Happened

The riders are off on their warm-up lap ahead of Race 1. Just a few more moments now until we get this one underway.

There were some minor worries about rain this morning, but the weather has brightened up this afternoon, even if it still looks a little hazy.

Conditions have in general been much hotter this weekend compared to last year's event, which took place in September. It's those higher temperatures that have generated some concern over rear tyre wear for a number of riders, perhaps most notably Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Jonathan Rea is back on the grid this weekend having missed the first three rounds through injury.

The six-time champion said yesterday that the foot he injured at the Phillip Island test in February was not hindering him too much while riding, but that he was struggling to get the feeling he wanted in braking.

He qualified 17th this morning, and Race 1 coming up in now around 10 minutes will be his first race since the final round of the 2024 season in October, so a fair bit of rust to shake off for the Yamaha rider this weekend.

Nicolo Bulega starts from pole position for this one, ahead of Sam Lowes and Toprak Razgatlioglu on the front row.

It's the same characters on the front row as in Assen three weeks ago, albeit in a different order.

On row two, Alvaro Bautista is joined by Xavi Vierge and Andrea Iannone. It's not been a straightforward weekend for Bautista, who crashed three times in practice yesterday, but he's been solid so far today: fastest in FP3 and fourth in Superpole for his best qualifying of the season.

Row three was originally set to be Remy Gardner ahead of Andrea Locatelli and Iker Lecuona, but a three-place grid penalty for Locatelli for riding slowly on the racing line in Superpole sees him drop to 11th, promoting Michael van der Mark to the back of the third row.

Welcome back to live coverage of Saturday’s action from the Italian WorldSBK. Race 1 is coming up in around 20 minutes at 14:00 local time.

The pit lane has just opened at Cremona and the riders are now heading off on their sighting lap and making their way to the grid.

Italian WorldSBK Results - Superpole

It's pole position for Bulega as the chequered flag comes out in Cremona. Sam Lowes on the front row for the second time in succession, and Razgatlioglu rounds out the front row.

Last year's treble winner Danilo Petrucci only 13th.

Bimotas only 12th (Bassani) and 16th (Lowes) on their home debut.

While Bulega was setting that lap, both Dominique Aegerter and Tarran Mackenzie had crashes. Unclear if Bulega ran into yellows on that lap but it stands for now at least.

Here comes Bulega again, and it's a new lap record at a 1:27.866 to take pole position.

A 1:28.117 from Lowes on his latest lap would've beenn good enough for pole, but it's no better than his previous best.

Bulega up to third with his latest lap, 0.230s off Lowes.

Big improvement from Razgatlioglu, goes second and within a tenth of Lowes.

Bautista up to third with the first lap of his second run, and Gardner up to fifth.

Riders heading out for their second runs now with just over six minutes to go.

First runs completed now and Lowes has a 0.294s advantage over Bulega, who has just improved to a 1:28.375.

Iannone third-fastest at the moment, 0.450s behind Lowes.

Locatelli, Gardner, and Bautista now on row two.

Razgatlioglu was on the back of the third row in ninth but he's been bumped to 10th by Redding who goes ninth at the end of his first run.

Indeed, first Andrea Locatelli, then Sam Lowes have beaten that Gardner time.

Bulega beats Gardner, too, but not Lowes, and the British rider is on provisional pole with 10 minutes to go on a 1:28.081.

Early pace here set by Remy Gardner on a 1:28.581. Expect that to not last too long as the provisional pole time.

We have a green light at the end of pit lane and we are underway for 15 minutes of WorldSBK Superpole in Cremona.

Just a couple of minutes to go now until Superpole gets underway in Cremona and conditions are dry but much more cloudy than we saw yesterday.

Nicolo Bulega was on pole for WorldSBK's first visit to Cremona last year. His 1:27.953 remains the only sub-1:28 lap to be set by a WorldSBK machine at the Italian venue on a race weekend.

It was a Ducati front row lockout last year, but Andrea Locatelli was second-fastest this morning in Superpole and Axel Bassani was third in FP2 yesterday afternoon, indicating that other brands could be in the mix this year.

You can't rule out Toprak Razgatlioglu, either, of course, the Turkish rider racing at Cremona for the first time this weekend having missed out last year through injury.

Welcome to live coverage of today's action from the Italian WorldSBK at Cremona Circuit, beginning with Superpole - coming up in just under 15 minutes at 11:00 local time.