The 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has rolled around to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours and, even before the track action has started, the fighting talk’s got underway. There’s chat about several topics, including contract renewals, comebacks from injury and a lot more.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I’m a better, more complete rider, so I feel that I can show more…”
Reflecting on his renewal with Ducati and discussing whether retirement was an option, Bautista said: “It’ll be a pleasure to keep racing next year in WorldSBK with Aruba.it Racing – Ducati. It was my wish, especially after Most, where I started to feel good on the bike again; very similar to last year, we found something that helped us to be competitive again. At Portimao, the feeling was really good. I’m really happy to keep racing because I feel quite strong physically but also mentally and I can be competitive. I’m not here to just fill a place on the grid; I’m here to be competitive. The day I don’t have this feeling, I will retire. I thought about retirement. Especially with my injury and the feeling I had in the first few tests I had with the bike; I couldn’t ride without pain. I started to sleep well practically from June or July, so it was really hard to recover from the injury. Retirement was there. I started to recover and feel better. Many combinations pushed me to think about retirement. We fought, we got over the adversities and now I feel like I improved; I’m a better rider, more complete rider so I feel that I can show more. Without any new parts, I think with the bike we had at Portimao, we can improve in some areas that will help us to be a bit better. In terms of results, I don’t have any clear targets. It’s more important to ride the bike as I want, force the bike to get to the limit. If I can do it, the result will be good because the result is a consequence of the work, the feeling.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I’m very happy for Bautista; I’ve had good fights with him”
Discussing his aims for Magny-Cours and Bautista’s renewal, Razgatlioglu said: “This track is my favourite track and I’ll never forget 2019, because it was the best race in my career! I started 16th and won the race, this is incredible. In general, we are very strong here. I’ll try my best again with BMW. At Portimao, I was just focused on the record because I wanted a new one! Now, I’m not focused on it, I’m just trying to enjoy it and ride the bike. This weekend could be difficult with the weather. If it starts to rain, and we ride in wet conditions, I need to win because I’ve never won in the World Championship in wet conditions; if I do, it’ll be the first time for me! I’m very happy for Bautista. He’s a very strong and experienced rider. I know him and he’s very strong, he’s coming back very strong. Next year, we’ll ride again with him. I’m very happy for this because I had good fights with him, especially last year. In general, I’m very happy that he’s staying another year.”
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I’d really like to have another win… it’d be a dream”
Bulega: “I won both races here in WorldSSP last year. It’ll be different, another category and a lot of different things. I feel good. At Portimao, I was close to winning but if I have to check the situation very well, Toprak didn’t have the wing so, for sure, his bike was not in the best condition. I don’t know if, in reality, I was so close. I will try to stay in the top positions. I’d really like to have another win before the end of the season. I won the race, and then second places which is a great result because I’m in my first year, but I’d like to win again. This is my target. My team is working hard. It would be a dream. It’s good news for me because I have a great relationship with Alvaro. I learn a lot of things from him every weekend. I check his data every session.”
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “It’s going to be a tough weekend… lots of fast guys”
On his prospects at Magny-Cours, Alex Lowes said: “I’m feeling quite good. We had a good weekend at Portimao, and this is a track I enjoy. I like the layout; I think it’s a nice track to ride and the Kawasaki is strong here. We need to do a lot of hard work on Friday. It’s so close in WorldSBK, every weekend you need to be feeling good from the first laps. The weather at Magny-Cours is always changing so I need to make sure I’m on top of the weather. It’s going to be a tough weekend with a lot of fast guys, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. I think we have some good tracks. I like Aragon and Jerez, Estoril’s a quirky little fun track. I will try to do my best every weekend. If I can be consistent, try to improve my speed a little bit, fight for podiums and try to win a race before the end of the year, then who knows? As long as I do my best every weekend, it’s all I can do.”
Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team): “Never nice to watch the races from home… I rode at Misano last week, it was pretty good”
Previewing his comeback from injury, Sam Lowes said: “I’m really happy to be back. It’s never nice to watch the races from home and I feel good. I rode at Misano last week on the training bike and it was pretty good. Maybe I’m missing a tiny bit of power because without riding the bike, it’s difficult to do all the right muscles. I’ve got really nice memories of my time in WorldSSP here at Magny-Cours. It’s a circuit where I managed to clinch the title. I’ve always enjoyed it in the past and I’m looking forward to getting started. The character of the track is that you have to be pretty precise, I won’t say like the British tracks, but maybe more in that direction. With five rounds to go, I’ve learnt a lot. It’s been a good summer for me to evaluate and improve in some areas. I’m still missing that last bit of riding the Superbike properly, I keep falling back into that Moto2™ style a little bit so my goal is to ride the bike in a better way, brake better and fight near the front.”
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “There are at least 10 riders who can fight for the podium… I’d really like to have Alvaro’s strength at almost 40!”
Aiming for the rostrum, Petrucci stated: “It’ll be really cool to see if we can keep this good performance as we did at Portimao. It was a difficult race for us last year, but maybe the best one this year. Regarding Magny-Cours, last year was okay so I’m expecting to be competitive this weekend. The target is to fight for the podium, as always, which isn’t always easy! There are at least 10 riders who can fight for the podium and only three places. As we showed at Portimao, we can fight for the lead. I think we’re in a good shape and positive trend. What I need is to be calm and focused on the races, and in this team, I can find peace and calm when we work. I always said that I have huge respect for Alvaro because I’d really like to have his strength at almost 40 years old! He’s training like he’s 20.”
