Here is the thing about the Circuito Estoril: it holds a permanent place in MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship history as the stage for the closest-ever finish back in 2024. While the 2025 action didn't quite replicate that microscopic margin, it still delivered an incredible penultimate round of the season. Let's look at the machinery, the riders, and the numbers that define this iconic venue before the next lights go out.
Looking back at the 2025 race winners, Toprak Razgatlioglu dominated Race 1 and the Superpole Race aboard his BMW, while Nicolo Bulega claimed Race 2 for Ducati. Qualifying pace at the track has always been fierce. Toprak Razgatlioglu secured pole for BMW in 2025 with a 1’34.203s lap, matching his 2024 pole position time of 1’52.430s (yes, that Jonathan Rea also took pole here for Kawasaki back in 2022 with a 1’35.346s).
When you examine the historical manufacturer podium places and wins accumulated from all races at Estoril, Ducati leads the charge with 22 podiums and 6 wins. Yamaha follows with 14 podiums and 3 wins, while Kawasaki holds 9 podiums alongside 4 wins. BMW matches those 4 wins out of 6 total podiums, Bimota boasts 4 podiums and 2 wins, and Honda has secured 2 podium places.
The gaps from the 2025 weekend show just how tightly contested this championship is. The entire front row was covered by a razor-thin 0.960s, while just 0.995s covered the top 4 riders in Superpole. During the 2025 Superpole Race, the closest race gap between 1st and 2nd was 0.545s between winner Toprak Razgatlioglu and runner-up Nicolo Bulega. That same Superpole Race yielded the closest race podium, stretching to 8.942s covering Razgatlioglu, Bulega, and Bautista. But nothing beats the all-time history books: the closest Estoril podium of all-time remains a breathtaking 0.863s gap set back in Race 1 in 1993 by Pirovano, Bontempi, and Slight.
Straight-line speed in 2025 showed incredible parity across the field, with multiple manufacturers hitting the exact same ceiling. Honda riders Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona both rocketed to 326.3kph in Warm Up. Ducati's Alvaro Bautista matched that exact 326.3kph mark in Superpole, as did BMW's Toprak Razgatlioglu across FP3 and Race 2. Yamaha's Remy Gardner reached 324.3kph in FP3, Bimota's Axel Bassani hit 324.3kph in Race 2, and Kawasaki's Garrett Gerloff maxed out at 323.4kph across Superpole, Warm Up, and the Superpole Race.
