Rabat moves closer to the front on Friday at Estoril despite a crash; Lopes makes progress at his home track

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team is at Portugal’s Estoril Circuit with Tito Rabat and substitute rider Ivo Lopes for round eleven of the 2025 Superbike World Championship.

The race weekend began with a first free practice on Friday morning, a session that ran in dry, sunny conditions. Rabat looked strong as FP1 got underway, the Spaniard soon setting a series of interesting lap times. Making a few setup changes along the way, Tito made consistent progress from start to finish. His best reference of this first phase – a 1’37.350 – was enough to see him place fourteenth at the session’s end. Competing at his home track, a determined Lopes is keen to do well this weekend. Doing his best to exploit this first practice, the local rider worked to get back into the rhythm of riding the CBR100RR-R, having not competed in WorldSBK since the Donington Park round. Ivo was able to set a best of 1’39.882, which put him in temporary twenty-third position.

Back on track for FP2, Rabat quickly improved on his morning’s best to move inside the top ten. A crash unfortunately meant that he was unable to exploit the final part of the session, which meant this a fastest time of 1’37.109 set prior to the incident put Tito nineteenth in the day’s aggregate standings. The Spaniard would undoubtedly have been able to do more had he been able to return to the track following the crash, the rider concluding just eight tenths from third place despite the incident. Lopes was also able to up the pace this afternoon, the home rider taking more than one second off his morning’s best. Working with his technicians to find a technical setup to suit both the track and his riding style, Ivo set a best of 1’38.792, with which he closed Friday in twenty-fourth place.

Tito Rabat #53

“We started strong today, I was feeling good both this morning in FP1 and then at the start of FP2. I was pushing hard this afternoon when unluckily I crashed. It was a shame because I’m sure we could have achieved a really good result. Fortunately, I’m not hurt, so now we’ll reset for tomorrow and try our best to do a good job – I think we can do it.”

Ivo Lopes #75

“It’s great to be back with the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team again. We made progress today, though I was perhaps hoping for more. We know where we want to work tomorrow, so that’s good and we’ll try to make the most of FP3 so that we’re in a good position going into the Superpole. Just as we did the last time I was here in WorldSBK, the plan is to keep working hard and improve each time we go out.”

Thirteenth for a tenacious Rabat in WorldSBK Race 1 at Estoril; Lopes P18

The eleventh WorldSBK round at Estoril Circuit saw the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team lining up for Race 1 with Tito Rabat and replacement rider Ivo Lopes. Following on from Friday’s practice sessions, Rabat and Lopes returned to the track at 9am local time (CET-1) for a final practice. Both riders were able to improve on their lap times and make a few final adjustments to setup ahead of Superpole.

Back on track a short time later for the Superpole qualifying session, an eager Rabat quickly set a 1’36.214 with which he placed fifteenth. Pitting to switch tyres and return to the track with just over 4 minutes on the clock, Tito did his best to improve on this reference but was unable to complete a clean lap. His initial time meant that he qualified seventeenth for the afternoon’s race. Lopes did his best to maximise the 15-minute session, completing six laps in all. The best of his laps, completed in a time of 1’37.919 in the final seconds, put the Portuguese rider in twenty-second position at the session’s end.

The Superpole results meant that Tito and Ivo lined up on the sixth and eighth row of the grid respectively for the first of the weekend’s 21-lap races. Both Rabat and Lopes got away well when the lights went out, but the race was immediately red-flagged following an incident for three riders.

The race was restarted a few minutes later and reduced to 20 laps. From seventeenth, Rabat stuck close to fellow Honda rider Lecuona through the first lap before passing him on the subsequent lap. Climbing to fourteenth by lap four and seeing a good opportunity to bank points, Tito focused on chasing down his closest rivals. Gaining another two positions by the mid-race point, Rabat held firm in twelfth until a couple of laps from the end, before ultimately crossing the line P13. Netting three important championship points, the Spanish rider ran a competitive race and will look to build on this performance in Sunday’s races. Ivo, twenty-first on the grid, immediately made up two positions before focusing on getting into a good rhythm that would allow him to keep in contact with those ahead. Slipping back in the second half of the race, the local rider did well to maintain a consistent pace, avoid mistakes, and conclude the race in eighteenth position.

Tito Rabat #53

“We ran a really good race today, from start to finish. I’m pleased because we had a strong rhythm and were running close to Bassani and Gerloff on factory bikes in the first half. The only thing was that, five laps from the end, I had to slow my pace a lot because the front tyre was finished and it became harder to turn. A little like what happened at Aragon, but the bike behaves a bit differently here. So we need to work on that, but I think if we can conserve the front tyre a little better tomorrow, then we can do well.”

Ivo Lopes #75

“We worked to try and improve my feeling with the bike and the overall sensations, and things felt a little better this morning in practice. But the race was a different story sadly; it was really difficult as I was lacking feeling. We need to try and find something that can help me to be a little faster in Sunday’s races. I know we can do more, so we’ll keep working this evening and use tomorrow’s warm-up too to see if we can take a step forward.”

A best of P16 for Rabat in Race 2 at Estoril, while Lopes takes P17 in the Superpole race

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team has rounded out the Estoril WorldSBK race weekend, placing sixteenth in Sunday’s Race 2 with Tito Rabat and seventeenth in the Superpole sprint with replacement rider Ivo Lopes.

Sunday’s track action brought this eleventh round of the 2025 Superbike World Championship to a close. First up was the ten-lap Superpole Race, which ran in warm, sunny conditions at 11.00 local time (CET-1). Seventeenth on the grid, Rabat made a clean start but struggled to establish a rhythm sufficient to move in on the riders ahead. Gaining one position on lap five of ten, the Spaniard unfortunately suffered a rear suspension issue in the final stages that ultimately forced him to pit on the final lap. Lopes was lying twenty-first through the first laps of this short sprint. Climbing two places through the first half of the race, the local rider continued to lap consistently all the way to the finish line. Making up two more positions following issues for fellow competitors, Lopes concluded the sprint race P17.

The weekend’s third and final race ran in the afternoon, again on a dry track and in relatively high temperatures for the time of year (air 25°C, track 38°C). Eighteenth at the end of the first lap, Rabat maintained that position throughout the first half of this 21-lap race thanks to a consistent pace. Making up two places later on in the race, Tito concluded just outside the points zone, in P16. Teammate Lopes started well but elected to pit on lap two after identifying a technical issue with the bike, which unfortunately brought his weekend to a premature end.

After this penultimate WorldSBK round, Rabat lies twenty-third in the championship standings with 9 points. The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will now prepare for the 2025 season finale, set to take place next weekend (17-19 October) at the Jerez Circuit in Spain.

Tito Rabat #53

“We were hoping for more today. In the sprint race we had some technical problems that forced me to stop. We analysed the issue, and were confident that Race 2 would go better, but unfortunately a similar problem arose, which made it hard for me to ride. I did my best and finished the race, and we are clear as to the issue which is good news, so now we need to focus on finding a solution for the Jerez round.”

Ivo Lopes #75

“I’m a bit happier today. We changed a few things after yesterday’s race and I’m grateful to the team because I already felt more comfortable in warm-up and was able to ride more as I wanted in the Superpole race. I was feeling confident heading into Race 2 but unfortunately a technical problem stopped us almost immediately. That’s racing, I guess. I want to say a big thank you once again to the whole PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team; it’s been great to work with everybody and have another opportunity to compete in WorldSBK.”