Outspoken ahead of San Juan

Touching down in South America, WorldSBK is ready to tango in Argentina as Thursday’s debriefs revealed plenty ahead of the Motul Argentinean Round

Arriving in Argentina and at the foot of the jaw-dropping awe-inspiring Andes, the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race is reaching the summit to its season, with just three rounds and nine races to go. With the titanic trio of 2022 all still in with contention, the Motul Argentinean Round could be the most pivotal round yet as the Circuito San Juan Villicum beckons. We caught up with all of the stars of the show across all five manufacturers and tension and pressure builds ahead of WorldSBK’s annual visit to South America.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “We start from a worse position than the others… I don’t know what to expect”

“I have good memories from three years ago as I won my first race here in San Juan, but now it’s different because it’s been a while since then. This weekend will be very important as we have to be very focussed, especially on Friday, as we start from a worse position than the other riders; we need to recover the reference of this track and work harder, so we can do a good performance as soon as possible. Three years ago, I was quite fast on Saturday but had some problems on Sunday, so sincerely, I don’t know what to expect. Last year, Scott was really fast. If we can arrive to our performance like in the last races, then we can be competitive. I’m enjoying the bike a lot and I’d like to have more races! In any case, we have three weekends and nine races, and I will try to enjoy them all, try my best and then we’ll see. I prefer to go practice by practice, race by race, enjoy every moment and then, after the last race of the season, we will see how our position is.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK): “Every year, I’ve taken a podium here… this year, I’ll try for three wins!”

“I’m really happy to be back in Argentina; I love this track. In 2018, 2019 and 2021… every year, I’ve taken a podium! Also, last year, I took two wins and one third. This year, I’ll try for three wins! We are very strong; Jonny is very strong too but I’m just thinking in the long straight because the Ducati will have an advantage. We will see in the races as they’re very important; we will keep fighting. I think the best track will be in Indonesia, as there’re no long straights. However, it’s important here as we’re focussed on this race and this weekend.”

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “We really made a step forward, just not enough… we’ll roll our sleeves up!”

“You’re never out of the Championship until it’s over but I’m so far away now, I’m just thinking about maximising our opportunities and trying to be competitive. I want to be on the podium but also, I want to fight for race wins. Portimao was a weekend where we really targeted to win a race there. We can’t be too hard on ourselves because I feel like we really made a step forward, just not enough. Alvaro and Toprak are incredibly strong right now, together with their teams. It’s up to us to try and close that deficit down and challenge. Nobody deserves to win here in WorldSBK, you have to really earn it and work for it. That’s what we’ll do. We’ll roll our sleeves up, try and put a bike together that can compete with them.”

Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “We can change something quite radical on the bike”

“The super concession is that we can change something quite radical on the bike. What we would change, I don’t know at this moment. There are areas that I would like to change a lot of things, but you get just the one opportunity. You need to make sure it’s the right one for the engine, the chassis, the aero… we need to see. At the moment, we’re just working to find the right direction, so we have the biggest advantage for next year.”

Xavi Vierge (Team HRC): “Next year, we’ll have many new things and new parts”

“It’s a difficult track because it has everything. You have the first sector which has a fast change of direction and quite fast corners. Then you have a very, very long straight. We arrive to sector three and four and it’s the opposite, it’s really tight corners. It’ll be difficult to find a bike that works well for the whole track. We need to work hard and try to adapt as soon as possible. For sure, the super concessions will help us and thanks to this, next year, we’ll have many new things and new parts so we can fight at the top, so for that, I’m really happy.”

Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team): “It’s a special weekend… I won’t continue with MIE Racing in 2023”

“For me, it’s a very special weekend. I’m really happy to be back here in San Juan. It’s very special to have my family, friends and all the fans. For all riders to race in a home round is very nice. I’m looking forward to having a good weekend and enjoying it. I want to have a good weekend, three good races and improve compared to the last races. We have some new things and a new crew chief for this round and the last two rounds. We have many things that need to come together now, but, of course, I want to give my maximum, make a step and enjoy the race weekend here. For next year, I’m looking around. I won’t continue with MIE Racing; we’ll see what the future brings. Of course, I need to be competitive and to have fun, but we’ll see. We have three rounds and then I’ll decide.”