The 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is back in action not long after a thrilling visit to Italy, and this time it all comes from MotorLand Aragon. The Tissot Aragon Round marks a crucial point of the season and, with injury comebacks and title talk on the cards, there were some juicy quotes from Thursday in Spain.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “More stressed than when I was fighting for the title… my target is to win!”
Discussing his comeback and goals for the weekend, Razgatlioglu said: “When people have seen me, everyone’s said, ‘Happy to see you back’! It’s not been an easy four weeks. I watched the races and I tried to come back quicker. Today wasn’t easy. I was waiting and I was feeling some stress; it looks like I was more stressed than 2021 when I was fighting for the title! It’s not possible for me to say I’m 100% ready because it’s been four weeks without riding a bike or training. Now I am fit, and my body is 100%. I hope the feeling is good immediately. Normally, I do some training every day but this time it’s been difficult, and I jump directly on the bike. Motivation is very high now because I’m fit. I think the crash is 100% my mistake because I saw I was on for a very good lap time. I tried to brake later, and I use a lot of front braking. I lost the front tyre. I started walking, and I understood there was nothing broken; the lung had a problem. I was feeling okay, with some pain and it wasn’t easy to take a breath. This track isn’t easy for me. With the BMW, we’ve won at many new tracks. Why not? I’m thinking about winning this race. I know it’s not easy because of the new surface. We need a good setup. My target is to win, I’m fighting for the podium. I need to win here because I’ve never won here in WorldSBK.”
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I’m really happy that Toprak and also Jonathan are fit”
Providing an update on his fitness and previewing his home round, Bautista said: “Now, I feel a bit better than in Cremona. The Monday after Cremona, I was a bit more destroyed because after all the effort I had to make and adrenaline had worn off, it was like my body was saying, ‘Okay, you have to relax and stop just for a while’. I felt much better on Tuesday and Wednesday and today I’m improving. You can’t do anything special for this, it’s just a matter of time. I’m not 100% but I hope tomorrow, Saturday, and especially Sunday, I feel better and better. It’s always special to ride at home. Aragon is a track I like a lot and I have good memories from the past; I won many races here. We’ll try to create a good base to start the weekend and then try to improve practice by practice. I’m really happy that Toprak and also Jonathan are fit. It’s always nice to see all the competitors on the grid. I hope Toprak can ride the bike as before without any problems and he doesn’t have more problems. If he can ride the bike as normal, I expect he’ll be very competitive and fight for the victory in all three races; he can defend the gap in the Championship.”
Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha): “Quite excited to ride… flection I have with my thumb is quite limited”
Rea is also making an injury comeback at Aragon and stated: “I’m quite excited to ride. I’m not 100% fit. The skin injury is not raw and has dried out now but the flexion I have with my thumb is quite limited, even getting the glove on is a bit of a chore. I’m sure, on the bike, it’s going to be comfortable enough. The position feels okay when I was sat on the bike before. I did everything possible with my medical crew back home, all the treatments I could think of to accelerate healing. I don’t know what to expect from it, to be honest I haven’t spoken to the guys about it all. It looks really cool and much more aggressive. It’s always nice to walk into the garage and see something really new. That gives you some extra inspiration and motivation. With the introduction of wings, and I don’t have too much experience, but I think we can apply more torque, keep the throttle more open and maybe the bike will become more stable. That’s my expectation so let’s see if that matches the reality.”
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “I want to repeat that as soon as possible…”
Cremona hero Petrucci revealed he’s already eyeing up more wins now he has a taste for them: “It’s something good because now I understand how I can win. I want to repeat that as soon as possible. It’s been huge because when you win in Italy, you have a lot of friends and family. On the way home, we stopped at Misano with some old MotoGP™ friends and we had some dinner. From the day after, both me and my friends have to leave. The goal is to have fun and to fight for the podium like we did in the last rounds. Someone suggested that I had a look at the Championship standings, but I don’t know, maybe the top three in the Championship could be a nice result for next season; it could be my target. I don’t know if it’s possible to reach it this year. Last year, this was the first round where I felt really competitive in WorldSBK, topping a couple of sessions, but then I did one of the most stupid mistakes of my career. I was quite fast in Race 1, the best pace of everyone, but maybe it was still not the time to get the first one.”
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I recovered a lot of points, but I wasn’t happy to recover points against a rider with an injury…”
Discussing the Aragon Round and title fight, Bulega said: “I’m ready and I like this track. I hope to be fast. I feel good. I said at Cremona that I hope Toprak was good and it’s nice to have him back. When a rider has an injury, it’s never nice and fun. I recovered a lot of points, but I wasn’t happy to recover points against a rider with an injury. I prefer to recover points with him on track, even if it’s more difficult. I expect him to be fast. When he crashed at Magny-Cours, he was on a victory streak, so he’ll be fast. I’m thinking about doing my job, the best I can do and then we’ll see at the end of the Championship.”
Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven): “My idea is to stay in WorldSBK; I love this Championship!”
An unclear future for Iannone, who provided an update: “We have good speed; this isn’t a new track for us but it’s important we work very well inside the garage and don’t make mistakes. I’m confident but everybody is fast. I think everybody missed Toprak so I’m happy to have him back. I wish him well and that he can ride at, more or less, 100% because it’s important for him to fight for the Championship because he won a lot this year. My future is a strange situation because it’s difficult. I think, at Cremona, we made a step forward but we’re not completely ready for closing the situation. We’ll see during this weekend. My idea is to stay in WorldSBK. I love this Championship, but I only want to fight on track, not off the track.”
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing): “I have something on the table… have to wait one or two weeks to decide”
Rinaldi is still searching for a seat for 2025 and he said: “This is my favourite track because I have great memories. Last year I won, but also, I took my first win in WorldSBK here. I’m really excited. There is new asphalt, which they say has more grip, so I’d like to ride it. I’ll always try my best. This track is special for me. In the past, I’ve had podiums at other tracks, and I get wins at other tracks that weren’t the same story this year. Maybe this year is more difficult to fight for the top positions. Our relationship will end at the end of the season. I don’t have any news to say about my future, but I’m focused on this weekend to show I can still be fast. The intention is to stay in WorldSBK, but almost every top team has signed riders, and this year was really tough, the results aren’t coming, it’s difficult. I’m still positive because I have something on the table, which is always good, but I have to wait one or two weeks to decide”
Iker Lecuona (Team HRC): “I realised that we miss a lot of turning from the chassis side”
On a great run of form and aiming for the podium, Lecuona said: “We tested two weeks ago before Cremona, we went to Cremona and almost got a podium. There’s a new surface and in the test, we struggled a little bit but that had completely different weather and now there’s more rubber on track. It’s 100% different. Even some corners, like Turn 12, feels wider, bigger, and faster. The feeling is not the same line as last year. What I realised at Cremona was the weak point of the bike because I was the last one of the first group, and I realised that we miss a lot of turning from the chassis side, so we need to use that better to turn the bike. I don’t think we can improve but, at the same time, the bike normally works really well. I feel confident. We’ve had really good pace in the last few rounds. I don’t want to say no, I don’t want to say yes. Of course, I arrive with a different mentality; that I want more because I feel I can do it.”
