The 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship will be decided in style in the south of Spain at Jerez later this week, with the first Championship-point at Estoril going begging. The closest finish of all-time, Honda’s first podium of the season and a two-horse race to be World Superbike Champion in 2024, the penultimate round of the season was a special one and left us with some muito picante headlines.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I can’t fight for the title… Nicolo has a small chance; a very small chance”
Playing the team game and thinking in the bigger picture, Alvaro Bautista didn’t threaten Nicolo Bulega but he kept him honest as a reminder of why the #1 is with him for now: “Well, team orders: it’s true that I can’t fight for the title anymore and Nicolo has a chance. A very small chance but anything is possible. In the last laps, I thought, ‘he has to lose as little points as possible’ in comparison to Toprak. I had a big moment exiting Turn 6 and he used that moment to pass. He was in front and I couldn’t catch Toprak, so I thought that maybe he has something but in the end, he was very similar to me. I just stayed behind and, in the last laps, I felt like I had a bit more like in other races but we’re a team.”
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I tried to bring out more and it paid off… I won the race with the closest finish”
Winning the closest race finish of all-time, Nicolo Bulega’s name is in the history books: “I really enjoyed the Superpole Race this morning because I was very on the limit but on the last lap, I tried to bring out something more. It paid off because Toprak was faster but not in the last corner. I tried something more than 100% and I exited very well. In the end, I won the race with the closest finish. When I got me the Italian flag is when I knew I’d won the race. After the chequered flag, I was just happy because it was quite positive that maybe I won but I wasn’t for sure. Toprak’s wing is quite big so I couldn’t understand if I was in front or not. I was happy anyway but then I saw Toprak and we looked at each other as if to say ‘who won?’ but I don’t think he understood! When I got to Turn 6, Federico Capelli (team press officer) gave me the flag so I understood that I won then! When I saw in the last metres of the last corner that I was gaining, I said ‘I can do it’ so I just stayed focused to try and be perfect, also when changing gear. 0.003s… maybe if I made a mistake with the gear change, I wouldn’t have won. It was important to be perfect.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “If I didn’t come back at Aragon, I’d have lost the Championship”
Angry at the Superpole Race loss, Toprak Razgatlioglu discussed the final lap on Sunday morning as well as thinking in the bigger picture: “When I exited the last corner, I felt and heard a different sound. I understood that he was coming so I went to the right but after that, I stopped as it isn’t allowed. Maybe if it was at Kenan’s track, there’d be no problem but this is the World Championship! Congratulations to Nicolo as he pushed so hard with the SCQ tyre but I’m really surprised that it didn’t drop on the last laps. I saw on my board +0.3s or 0.4s but I thought that it would be impossible as his tyre hasn’t dropped and mine still doesn’t grip. On the last corner, I just felt the spinning and no acceleration and he always caught me there. He passed me on the straight and I’m really angry for that! I won in Race 2 and that’s important as we take good points for the Championship.
“If I didn’t come back at Aragon, I’d have lost the Championship. I tried to come back for Italy but I wasn’t 100%. I came back at Aragon because I needed points for the Championship. Still now, it’s not a big gap. Before the crash, everything was unbelievable; it looked like the title race is done three races early, I felt comfortable and I’d be World Champion.After the crash, everything was destroyed. I haven’t made a plan; I’m just focused on my job and riding the bike and that’s much better for me. That’s why I’m always relaxed on the bike. After the crash, I haven’t lost, I’m just learning. I understand that in the last races, fighting for the Championship, I need to be calmer. Everyday, everyone is learning something.”
Iker Lecuona (Team HRC): “I started crying in pitlane… I’d started to think that maybe I wasn’t good enough”
An emotional second career podium for Iker Lecuona, who proved the doubters – and his inner demons – wrong and showed that he does belong here: “I started crying in the pitlane because even this year, at the beginning, I started to think that maybe I wasn’t good enough. After the injuries and after two years that I struggled a lot, I didn’t feel like a rider. I felt like I was present, did some laps and then went home. I started to cry because I thought about everything, particularly about the things I struggled with mentally. Since the summer, I started working with a pyschologist, to try and help me to be more relaxed in the box and to find a method that works for me. We’re happy because we struggled a lot before. M
Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha): “This is by far my best weekend on the Yamaha”
The best weekend of the season for Jonathan Rea who came away with two top five finishes in the full races and top Yamaha: “On Saturday, my rhythm wasn’t too bad but starting from third, I had good track position. On Sunday, I went down at the chicane in the Superpole Race and then started Race 2 in P10. My start was incredible! 0 to 200kph was one of the best I’ve done. I had good track position at Turn 1, passed Petrucci at Turn 3 and was just focused on Locatelli. We’re on the same bike so I just wanted to keep the rhyrhm; in Race 1, I felt stronger in the latter stages before he went down so I thought that the race may come to me. Then, all of a sudden, he and Iker went down and I was all on my own and I got really nervous! I just tried to focus on the two Ducatis ahead and pull myself from behind. We’re still a bit far from the front group but that’s not my reference right now, I’m my own reference and this is by far my best weekend on the Yamaha. There has to be some reason for optimism and to keep pushing. Jerez, on paper, should be one of the tracks where we’re more competitive.”
Xavi Vierge (Team HRC): “We’re getting super close to Yamaha and especially Kawasaki”
A mighty Sunday comeback from outside the top ten to the top six for Xavi Vierge, who made it 14 top ten finishes in a row, his best ever streak in WorldSBK: “If we compare to the beginning season, I think we are off completely; I’ve said already, the bike looks similar to last year but it’s completely new and we didn’t have track time. Then, we started to follow a certain direction which wasn’t the correct one so, we were completely off. From mid-season to now, we’ve taken our strongest points and tried to minimise our weak ones and I think we can say right now that we’re getting super close to Yamaha and especially Kawasaki. With BMW and Ducati, we’re still a little too far. If we see the improvement we’ve made from the start of the year to now, the next improvements we need to make are smaller. This gives me and everyone in the team confidence. In really difficult times, understanding the correct things makes a big difference.
Jose Escamez (Team HRC team manager): “I have no words; it’s been a rollercoaster… it’s always nice to get this feeling back”
A tearful Jose Escamez, who came into the team management position at Honda only at the start of 2024, was almost lost for words when he gave instant reaction in pitlane to Iker Lecuona’s podium in Race 1: “It’s been amazing; actually, right now, I have no words. It’s been a rollercoaster with lots of ups and downs but Iker made it! I’m happy with some tears. It’s always nice to get this feeling back but we need to be honest; there’s a lot to do and we still need to work a lot. We need to stay humble and keep doing what we’re doing.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com