Analysis: Superbike madness—anti-Ducati manufacturers go faster and still lose

Losing, badly, while going decidedly faster than a year ago. It’s happening to Ducati’s rivals in a Superbike World Championship that has completely lost its balance. Comparing the times of race 1 with the equivalent race a year ago gives us incredible data. Here they are

Iker Lecuona won his first world championship race, after 140 attempts, fending off attacks from Nicolò Bulega, who lost his unbeaten run after 25 wins in a row. But the factor that interests us most is the race distance time: Lecuona took 32'58"594 to cover the 23 laps, that is 28 seconds less than Toprak Razgatlioglu, who on the BMW had won by six seconds over the same Bulega. So the new Panigale V4 R with double-sided swingarm and various other improvements was 34 seconds faster than a year ago, with the same rider!

We’re at the eighth round of this very strange season and every time we throw the blame on Ducati’s rivals, increasingly out of contention. In the first British showdown we counted six Panigales ahead of everyone, and Tarran Mackenzie and Alberto Surra were missing due to practice injuries, and they could have extended the line. All this on a track where Ducati itself hadn’t won since 2014, confirming a trend that, to a similar extent, has been seen on all the previous seven tracks.

The most incredible fact is this: with the same total time as 2025, Toprak Razgatlioglu this time wouldn’t have finished in the top ten. Miguel Oliveira, eleventh with the same M1000RR, posted the exact same time as his predecessor. So it’s not accurate to claim that the Portuguese is slower than the Turk, but rather that he isn’t achieving the same huge improvements that are within reach of Ducati riders—not only the factory men Lecuona and Bulega, but also the independents.

Honda finished race 1 with both riders outside the top 15, but Jake Dixon was 25 seconds faster than Xavi Vierge a year ago. Almost identical progress for Garrett Gerloff with Kawasaki: 24 seconds quicker, with the same rider and the evolved Ninja. More modest, but still hefty, the progress at Yamaha: Xavi Vierge improved Andrea Locatelli’s 2025 time by 17 seconds. The Bergamasque rider finished fourth a year ago; this time Vierge only tenth!

There are two predominant, closely connected factors. The adoption of the double-sided swingarm has completely changed the situation, allowing the Panigale to exploit much better the potential of the Pirelli SCX tire, the softest among those available for the long race. This year the sole supplier has reduced the availability of options, almost always focusing on tried-and-tested and softer solutions, namely SC0 and SCX. With the exception of wet races (Phillip Island) and the one held on a peculiar track like Most, where the SCX wasn’t available for safety reasons, the entire grid has often started with the same solution, the SCX, as in race 1 at Donington. Therefore, from a grip standpoint, almost the entire championship shows enormous stability in conditions: races on very hot asphalt and identical tire choices. Ducati is thriving on this, while the others haven’t managed to change pace so radically.

After Donington, the Superbike World Championship will take a two-month break, resuming on September 5–6 in France. Only four rounds will remain: Magny-Cours, Cremona, Estoril, and Jerez. The sole tire supplier will hand over to Michelin next year, so there won’t be any substantial novelties. So the answer is: no. This year it goes like this, if you will; the future remains to be seen.

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