Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Bulega in control after free practice at Estoril. Bautista concludes Friday in P12.

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World Superbike | 2025 | R11 | Estoril (Portugal) | Friday 10 October 2025

Bulega in control after free practice at Estoril. Bautista concludes Friday in P12.

A solid Friday for Nicolò Bulega, who finished in first place in the combined standings on Friday at the Eicma Estoril Round, the eleventh weekend of the 2025 WorldSBK season.
The Italian rider found a good feeling with his Ducati Panigale V4R right from FP1 (finishing second, two tenths behind Razgatlioglu) and then managed to improve further in the afternoon, where he was the only rider to break the 1'36 barrier.

Alvaro Bautista spent FP1 working on different setup solutions, while in FP2, he also focused on studying the tyres, testing the new front tyre brought by Pirelli. The Spanish rider from the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team finished twelfth in the combined standings.

Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #11)
‘I'm quite satisfied with how things went today. The feeling was already good in FP1, and in the afternoon, we managed to take a small step forward. We're still missing something, but we already know where we can improve ahead of tomorrow's race.’

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #19)
“We started with a different setup than in Aragon, but the feeling wasn't excellent. We went back and the feeling improved, especially in terms of race pace. We definitely need to improve, especially coming out of corners, but I'm confident.”