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.”