As the Superbike World Championship heads into its final stages, the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team travels to Portugal, and the Estoril Circuit, for the penultimate round of the 2025 season. Keen to round out the championship on a high, Tito Rabat will be joined by local rider Ivo Lopes, who stands in for absent Zaqhwan Zaidi.

The latest round, which ran at Rabat’s home track of Motorland Aragón just over one week ago, saw the Spaniard move slightly closer to the front in terms of race time, leaving the rider confident he can do more during the final rounds, at Estoril and Jerez. Rabat has recent positive experience of the Portuguese track, having placed tenth in Race 1 in 2024. Tito hopes that this weekend can be equally productive for him and the team.

For Lisbon-born Lopes, this is quite literally a chance to compete on home turf. The local rider hopes that his in-depth track knowledge will benefit him this weekend. Ivo has competed for the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team on several occasions already, most recently at this year’s UK round. He was also with the team for last year’s Estoril round, reaching the points zone in both of the long races.

The Estoril Circuit is located on Portugal’s west coast, less than 40km from capital city Lisbon. The track measures 4.182 km and comprises four left-hand turns and nine right-handers, as well as a very long straight. The circuit appears on the WorldSBK calendar for the seventh time this year, after staging events in 1988, 1993, 2020-2022 and 2024.

Tito Rabat #53

“I like the Estoril track a lot and have many years of experience racing there on which to draw. At the latest Aragón round, the first two days went well and I think we took a step forward. So let’s see how it works this weekend in Portugal; I’m feeling positive heading into the weekend. Let’s go!”

Ivo Lopes #75

“I’m very grateful to the team for giving me another opportunity to ride, it’s a really pleasure to compete on the WorldSBK stage, particular at my home track of Estoril. We’ll work as well as I can to score good results and aim for points, something that the team really deserves. I’m excited to get started.”

Track Information:

Country: Portugal
Name: Circuito Estoril
Length: 4.182 km
Pole position: left
Corners: 4 left-hand, 9 right-hand

SBK RECORDS: Best lap – Bulega (Ducati) 1'36.178 (2024). Superpole – Rea (Kawasaki) 1'35.346 (2022).

2024 SBK RESULTS: 

Race 1 - 1. Razgatlioglu (BMW); 2. Bulega (Ducati); 3. Lecuona (Honda)
Superpole Race - 1. Bulega (Ducati); 2. Razgatlioglu (BMW); 3. Bautista (Ducati)
Race 2 – 1. Razgatlioglu (BMW); 2. Bulega (Ducati); 3. Bautista (Ducati)

Weekend schedule (CET-1): 

Friday
10.35 - 11.20 – SBK Free Practice 1
15.00 – 15.45 – SBK Free Practice 2

Saturday
9.00 – 9.20 – SBK Free Practice 3
11.00 – 11.15 – Superpole
14.00 – SBK Race 1

Sunday
9.00 – 9.10 – SBK Warm-up
11.00 – Superpole race
14.00 – SBK Race 2