Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) led the way on an action-packed first day of the Czech round of the WorldSBK Superbike World Championship at the Most Autodrom.
The Turkish driver completed 42 laps of the 4,212 km circuit, a day marked by changeable conditions and delays due to red flags.
Toprak Razgatlioglu completed a 21-lap race simulation in FP2, where his pace and consistency provided benchmarks for the rest of the field. In Free Practice 2, the Turkish driver completed six laps faster than any other driver during the day.
Four red flags interrupted Free Practice 1, the most visible casualty being Nicholas Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). The Ducati rider crashed heavily at Turn 6 after a highside. The Italian completed 24 laps during the day and finished fourth overall on Friday.
Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) continued their momentum to finish the day in second place just ahead of alex lowes who re-signed yesterday with the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team for 2026
Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) was ruled out of the race for the weekend following his crash during the first free practice session. The other crash victims were Remy Gardner, Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli.
P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “It’s my best Friday of the season. I’m really happy. The bike isn’t bad at all; we found a good set-up and adapted to the tricky weather conditions. I did a timed attack and a race simulation and I was regularly lapping in the 1’31s, which is a good pace. Racing is always different because you have to manage the rear tire and make sure you have grip for the last few laps. We worked with a race mentality today and it seems we’re strong. The forecast is for rain tomorrow, but we’re ready. I want to win. I need to win.”
P2 – Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team): “Honestly, I really struggled here last year. It’s good to come back to this track and feel fast again. My pace was pretty good overall. During my long run, I had to make a quick pit stop to adjust something, but we started again on the same tires and still managed to put in some good laps. I feel like I’m in the mix and there’s still room for improvement, especially in Sector 2, where I wasn’t running very well. We were lucky with the weather and did a lot of dry laps compared to the others. It’s been a positive first day, and I think we can take a step forward tomorrow and stay in the fight.”
P3 – Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team): "Our strategy got a bit lost today because of all the red flags. In the wet, I managed to find a good rhythm and the bike felt good. In FP2, we worked on improving the bike's cornering ability. We kept the same tires throughout the session to better understand our rhythm. Overall, it was a positive day. I really enjoyed riding the bike. We're very strong in sectors 2 and 3, but I'm losing ground in the last sector. I'll study the data tonight to see what we can improve, but if we can correct that, I think we're in a good position to fight for our best result of the year."
P4 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “It was really important for me to ride again today after the big crash this morning. After a crash like that, you need to get back on the bike to rebuild your confidence. It was a big crash, and I feel the pain everywhere, especially in my foot, but I'm lucky it wasn't worse. In FP2, I didn't push too much, but the feeling with the bike wasn't too bad. Of course, we can still improve. It wasn't easy to ride with the pain because there are a lot of direction changes here, but I gave 100% every lap. I was still thinking about the crash during FP2, which didn't help with the time. Hopefully tomorrow I can put this behind me and fully focus on improving.”
P5 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “It was a very special day. The overnight rain and the far-from-perfect track conditions heavily influenced the first day, with numerous crashes and a series of red flags. So I couldn't find any continuity, even though the feeling was good. In the afternoon, we tried to make a small change to the setup, but it didn't yield any positive results.”
Superbike day one standings at Most:
Classification credit: WordSBK.com
Most Superbike Most Superbike
