World SBK | Round 06 | Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round | 13 - 15 Jun

Pole Position: Right
Length: 4.226 Km
Corners: 16
Right Corners: 10
Left Corners: 6
Start/finish straight: 510 m

All times are Eastern




Round 6 Official Programme
https://viewer.joomag.com/06-mis-2025/0143360001748796598

 

Thank you

 

With all of the news that has dropped between last round and this one, I'm even more excited for WSBK this weekend!

 

Toprak leads FP1 with 1'33.031. He's followed by Bulega nearly three tenths back. The top eight guys are all on the same second. Gerloff is back in 15th, 1.4 seconds off of Toprak's time.
You can watch FP1 for free here:
https://www.worldsbk.com/en/videos/... FP1 Full session?from_list=mostviewed_videos

 

They were talking about a possibility of Gerloff to BMW. That would be better than coming back here.
With Toprak gone next year and Bulega gone in 27 most likely and Bautista to a satellite bike if he continues, the field is going to be close again and will create some fun racing I hope.

 

I'm pro-Gerloff, but I feel like it'd be a bit of a coup to get Bautista onto Toprak's BMW Seat. He's still very competitive albeit struggling compared to his dominant years, but I'd say much more of a sure thing than Gerloff for results. You're not going to get a ton of years out of either I think although of course, likely just a few from Bautista before he retires.

 

Bulega tops FP2 with a 1'32.722, followed by Toprak and Montella. Only 6 bikes on the same second now. Gerloff is back in 16th, 1.6 seconds back from Bulega.
Both Bulega and Toprak are the only two that seem the be able to consistently turn in multiple laps under 1'34.000

 

Alvaro is 40, Rea is 38.

Both should have retired last year and moved onto testing or brand ambassador roles.

REEEEEEALLY hope neither are on the grid next year, they are still fast no doubt but IMO it's depressing watch former giants of the profession languish due to Father Time and Injuries - albeit Alvaro more so than Jonny who's currently in 17th and has now had lots of time to get back into the mix following his injuries.

...and I don't think Gerloff of a Factory BMW next year is remotely warranted. As a team owner I'm 100% looking for the next killer coming up through the ranks vs a 30+ year old who's been in the series but never really displayed a chance at a top 5 finish in the championship.

 

+1. I'd be asking MV for Bo Bendsneyder right about now.

 

Or check on Manzi and his Yamaha future.
Or Can Oncu…
Or Aaron Canet

 

Agreed... Manzi, Oncu, Bensnyder and more recently Masia have regularly been loitering on the WSSP podium. With Booth and Debise making appearances as well. This is effectively the top 5 in the WSSP championship. Canet would be an interesting cat amongst the pigeons.

With great respect to what Rea has achieved, I think retirement is the next step for him. I don't imagine he wants to continue the Yamaha experiment any longer and add more debris to what is a sterling career.

As for GG I don't see him getting a ride next year and don't believe Alvaro would consistently win on a BMW next year. If he's losing against Toprak and Bulega on a Ducati this year, what's going to change? Especially as a) none of the other BMW riders are doing well and b) the Ducati is more competitive.

 

We call that “The Rossi”. Right @motion ?

 

Fucking fantastic supersport and superbike races today. Toprak threw the kitchen sink at that race.

 

Did Gerloff even show up?

 

You can see someone hit his front wheel on the first lap, and then there was a crash right in front of him.

 

Damn, Oncu is hilarious to watch. Sliding the front, blowing the apex, he’s entertaining for sure.

 

Was up to 7th place during the sprint race today.

 

For a guy who isn't a racer this seemed like a good weekend

 

I'll happily admit GG31 showed a lot more fight this weekend than he has in a while and thankfully it was hard, clean racing and at least for Race 2 it netted him some points. He made up 3-4 spots from passes and 3-4 from crashes ahead oh him so he did show some fight with his overtakes and as usual, late race pace and consistency.

The flip side of that was he still finished the race roughly 25-30 seconds behind the leader so far from ideal but I can't see how he could have gotten much more out of that Kawi this weekend.