Race 1 at the 2025 Aragon WorldSBK is scheduled for this afternoon at 14:00 local time..
Nicolo Bulega was the fastest rider in FP2 on Friday, beating Toprak Razgatlioglu. The two rode together in FP3 on Saturday morning, and it was Bulega who beat Razgatlioglu to pole position with a new lap record.
Sam Lowes has also shown strong speed this weekend and qualified fourth after helping Alex Lowes to third with a tow, something which the Bimota rider said he felt bad about afterwards.
Yesterday, Sam Lowes said that the podium battle will be decided between himself, Danilo Petrucci, and Alvaro Bautista - the latter two both in battle at present for third in the championship and presently separated by 36 points. All three of them start on the second row.
Andrea Locatelli is also in contention for that championship bronze medal but he starts ninth.
Michael van der Mark feels that he can be in podium contention this weekend as well after his strong performance in Magny-Cours, although he was only 12th in Superpole.
Axel Bassani qualified 11th, but for Race 1 he has a back-of-the-grid penalty for not adhering to yellow flags in FP2 yesterday.
Bulega quick to get through on Lowes, who hangs around the outside of turn seven and they make contact on the exit. No consequence for Bulega, but Lowes drops behind his brother to fourth.
Then Petrucci gets through at turn 12, so he's back to 5th now.
It's lights out in Aragon and we are underway for Race 1.
Razgatlioglu with the holeshot and Bulega's back to third as a result of a bit of a block pass. Alex Lowes second early on.
Riders are off on their warm-up lap ahead of Race 1 in Aragon.
Axel Bassani received a back-of-the-grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags in FP2, meaning everyone who qualified behind his 11th place will move up one.
The revised grid, after Bassani's penalty, is below:
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | WorldSBK Team | Superbike |
| 1 | Nicolo Bulega | ITA | Aruba.it Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| 2 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | ROKiT BMW Motorrad | BMW M1000 RR |
| 3 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team | Bimota KB998 |
| 4 | Sam Lowes | GBR | Marc VDS Racing Team | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| 5 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Barni Spark Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| 6 | Alvaro Bautista | ESP | Aruba.it Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| 7 | Andrea Iannone | ITA | Team Go Eleven | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| 8 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Pata Maxus Yamaha | Yamaha R1 |
| 9 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Maxus Yamaha | Yamaha R1 |
| 10 | Remy Gardner | AUS | GYTR GRT Yamaha | Yamaha R1 |
| 11 | Michael van der Mark | NED | ROKiT BMW Motorrad | BMW M1000 RR |
| 12 | Xavi Vierge | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R |
| 13 | Dominique Aegerter | SUI | GYTR GRT Yamaha | Yamaha R1 |
| 14 | Ryan Vickers | GBR | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| 15 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Kawasaki WorldSBK Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR |
| 16 | Yari Montella | ITA | Barni Spark Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| 17 | Tarran Mackenzie | GBR | MGM Bonovo | Ducati Panigale V4 R |
| 18 | Bahattin Sofuoglu | TUR | Motoxracing Yamaha | Yamaha R1 |
| 19 | Tito Rabat | ESP | Petronas MIE Racing Team | Honda CBR1000RR-R |
| 20 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Motoxracing Yamaha | Yamaha R1 |
| 21 | Tommy Bridewell | GBR | Honda Racing UK | Honda CBR1000RR-R |
| 22 | Zaqhwan Zaidi | MAS | Petronas MIE Racing Team | Honda CBR1000RR-R |
| 23 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team | Bimota KB998 |
With Razgatlioglu and Bulega dominating the championship, the question behind them regards third place.
Currently, Danilo Petrucci holds that position. Andrea Locatelli is 30 points behind, and a further six points back is Alvaro Bautista. The three of them start fifth, sixth, and ninth respectively today.
Petrucci and Bautista are also expected to be in the battle for the podium today, along with Sam Lowes who starts fourth.
Toprak Razgatlioglu holds a 39-point championship lead ahead of Race 1 and comes into this one having won the last 12 races in a row.
It's Nicolo Bulega who starts from pole position, though, after breaking the lap record in Superpole this morning.
Razgatlioglu has never won at Aragon, while the track is one that traditionally suits the Ducati, making this one of Bulega's best chances of beating Razgatlioglu in the three rounds remaining this season. If he wants to win a maiden WorldSBK title, of course, he needs to reduce that 39-point margin quickly.
The sunny conditions that have been prevalent all weekend are continuing for this afternoon's Race 1. We currently have 22C of air temperature and 35C on the track.
Welcome back to live coverage of today's WorldSBK action from Aragon, where Race 1 will be coming up in just under 15 minutes at 14:00 local time.
Alex Lowes put the Bimota on the front row in third place in Superpole this morning.
He did so with the help of a tow in the final sector from his brother, Sam Lowes, who qualified fourth.
Lowes thanked his brother for the assist after Superpole, but admitted "I feel a bit bad that I’ve ended up in front of him".
Check out the full story here.
Razgatlioglu lost his time in the final sector when he was up 0.1, 2nd place on the grid for the World Champion. Bulega holds on to Pole, with the all-time lap record.
Alex Lowes rounds out the front row in 3rd place.
The Lowes brothers briefly go P1 and P2! But Bulega goes first, all time lap record. But here comes Toprak!
Toprak was up in sector one, made a mistake and slowed down.... Potentially he slowed down Vierge, maybe the stewards will take a look at it after the session.
The World Championship leader is only 0.163 off Bulega in 2nd, but I do expect the Turkish rider has more up his sleeve.
8 minutes to go and Bulega leads the way from Razgatlioglu. Sam Lowes has just put himself into 3rd place. Bautista is down in 10th.
Nicolo Bulega comes to Aragon 39 points behind Toprak Razgatlioglu in the riders' standings. Pole position might not be crucial for Bulega today, but he at least needs to put himself on the front row to give himself the best chance of fighting for wins and perhaps reducing his points deficit by the end of the weekend.
Razgatlioglu, on the other hand, is unbeaten in the last 12 races, although he has never won in WorldSBK at Aragon.
Andrea Iannone set the fastest time of the weekend so far in FP3 this morning at a 1:48.023.
You can check full results from this morning's final free practice here.
Welcome to live coverage of today's action from the Aragon WorldSBK where Superpole will be getting underway in 15 minutes at 11:00 local time.
