The 2025 World Superbike season has been done and dusted for two weeks. Before the start of the 12-round season, expectations were set for all the riders who competed throughout the year.

During the 2025 World Superbike campaign, there was a titanic title fight between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega. However, outside of the two title contenders, many riders failed to reach the expectations set for them.

There are multiple riders who are changing teams for multiple reasons for the 2026 World Superbike season. However, which riders were BSN's biggest underperformers during the latest World Superbike Championship?

Michael van der Mark (12th)

After an impressive 2024 World Superbike Championship, alongside his title-winning teammate, Toprak Razgatlioglu, the 2025 season should have been as impressive for Michael van der Mark.

The Dutch rider was expected to at least battle for a position inside the top ten during his fifth season with the BMW World Superbike Team. However, he fell short as he ended the year in 12th place.

In 2024, van der Mark had a race win and a further podium with the BMW M1000RR, but in 2025, he did not get onto the rostrum. His best result during the 2025 season was fifth place, which he secured on three separate occasions.

After failing to score points on 13 occasions across 36 World Superbike races in the 2025 season, van der Mark lost his full-time ride with the ROKiT BMW World Superbike Team and will now continue as a Test Rider.

Alvaro Bautista (3rd)

After four years and two World Superbike Championships together, Alvaro Bautista and Aruba.it Racing - Ducati once again parted ways at the end of the 2025 season.

The Spaniard came into the 2025 season off the back of a difficult year in 2024, as he lost his title to Toprak Razgatlioglu and BMW; he was also beaten by his rookie teammate in the factory Ducati squad. However, things got even worse for the Spaniard throughout 2025.

Bautista once again finished third in the World Superbike Championship, but he was not even close to the title fight between Razgatlioglu and his teammate Nicolo Bulega. He ended the year 279 points behind Razgatlioglu in the standings and was 266 points behind his own teammate.

Despite securing 21 podiums throughout the year, he recorded his first winless season since his two-year spell with Team HRC in 2020 and 2021. Bautista also found himself outside of the points on nine occasions and found himself scrapping to secure a third-place finish in the standings.

Andrea Iannone (9th)

After making a promising debut in the World Superbike Championship in 2024, a lot was expected from Andrea Iannone for his sophomore season in the series.

The Italian ended his debut season in the Superbike Championship with a race win and four further podiums. However, his second season with the same team and bike saw him feature on only three podiums during the year.

Ducati was the best manufacturer to be with in 2025, but Iannone's lack of consistency cost him any chance of being competitive with the Team Pata GoEleven squad, and has cost him his ride for the 2026 season.

Iannone finished outside the points on nine occasions, missed out on the top ten (in main races) on three occasions despite being on one of the best packages in the paddock.

Yari Montella (18th)

Despite being the Rookie of the Year in the 2025 World Superbike Championship, there was not a lot to write home about for Yari Montella in his rookie season.

The Italian made his debut in the World Superbike Championship on a Ducati Panigale V4 R in the Barni Spark Racing Team, alongside Danilo Petrucci. After fighting for the World Supersport title in 2024, there were decent expectations for Montella.

However, he ended up failing to finish a third of the races across his rookie season, and failed to score points in 20 of the 36 races across the entire 2025 season. In the end, Montella ended the season 18th in the Championship standings.

The 25-year-old did have bright moments as he finished inside the top ten on eight occasions, and had a best result of seventh place. He has done enough to remain with the team for 2026, but will need to do more in his second season.

Remy Gardner (11th)

After two years inside the top ten in the World Superbike Championship, the 2025 season should have been similar for Remy Gardner in his third season in the series.

However, the 2025 season was the worst year for the Australian rider since he entered World Superbikes in 2023. Gardner's time with the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team had seen him end the 2023 and 2024 seasons in ninth and tenth in the Championships.

But this season, Gardner ended the year in 11th place, despite his one podium in Race Two at the Dutch Round; he had his worst season since entering the Superbike paddock. The 27-year-old may have missed three races, but he still scored 14 points less than he did in 2024, even after competing in two more races in 2025.

Gardner failed to finish eight races across the 2025 season and was also outside of the points on seven further occasions across the 33 races that he started. Despite his drop in performance, he will remain with the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team for a fourth and fifth year in 2026 and 2027.