The 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship continues its journey with a visit to the TT Circuit Assen, and there were some hard-hitting quotes coming from Thursday’s interviews for the Pirelli Dutch Round. From the future to expected battles at Assen and a lot more, the best quotes have been gathered in one place…
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I wouldn’t like to go home without racing that model!”
Discussing his future and season so far, two-time Champion Bautista said: “It’s been a strange start to the season because our performances aren’t bad, I feel much better than last year, but we had a crash in Australia and an incident in Race 1 at Portimao. We lost some important points. The most important is the feeling I have with the bike. I want to keep the feeling I had in Australia and Portimao. Nicolo’s very strong and he has a lot of confidence with the bike, and he can ride it at its best. For me, I feel that I’m closing the gap but we’re not at the top with the feeling. We’re recovering it from two years ago. There’s not a big difference in the data, but some places, the big difference is the confidence he has with the bike. When we recover that confidence, we can be close and fight with him. It’s a track I’ve been fast at in the past, but every year is totally different. I don’t have any expectations about the results, but it will be nice if I can enjoy this racetrack like in the past. I’m not thinking about my future. Now, I’m recovering my confidence and I feel strong. At the moment, I feel good on the bike and that I can improve and be a better rider. Next year, Ducati will bring the new model, and for sure I’d like to race with that bike because I started in WorldSBK with the new Panigale V4 R, and now with the new model, I wouldn’t like to go home without racing that model!”
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “As for 2026, I don’t know right now… I hope we have the same support as last year; this year, I think there may be more!”
Coming into Assen after a Portimao hat-trick, Razgatlioglu said: “After Australia, we were very strong at Portimao. I hope I can keep up the same level we had at Portimao, this weekend and going forward this season. Last year I only won here once, this weekend my goal is to win all three races. The fuel regulation is good for the other brands, it will bring more battles I am happy about the situation. I am really happy for the other brands because it will make them more competitive. As for 2026, I don’t know right now. This weekend Kenan will be here, better if you ask him. I hope we have the same amount of support as we had last year especially the Turkish fans, this year I think we may see even more.”
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I think the goal of everybody is to stay together”
Speaking about his 2026 plans and his first look at the 2026 Ducati machine, Bulega revealed: “I feel good. Assen is a track that I like a lot and in WorldSSP, I won two races, had pole position, and it’s a track I like. Last year in WorldSBK wasn’t easy because the weather was difficult. I feel completely different this year. I always have fun here at Assen. For my riding style, I think it’s better than Portimao, but you can never be sure. I just saw the new bike from outside; I wasn’t able to ride it. It looks nice. We’re talking with Ducati and Aruba. For the moment, we’re just talking. My goal is to stay here because I have a very good feeling with my team, the bike and everyone in the garage. I think the goal of everybody is to stay together.”
Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “My dream is to be on the podium!”
Van der Mark outlined his goal of a podium on home soil, saying: “It’s always nice to have your home round and I love being here at Assen; it’s a track I really enjoy riding, especially with how things went in the last round at Portimao, really looking forward to it. I think we could be quite strong. The best thing for us was we had a good test at Portimao. We had many ideas after Australia, and we needed to find something. At Portimao, we had the package ready, and we had something where we feel comfortable; it’s not the best yet but at least we have something we can be very consistent with. I really want to be on the podium here. As we’ve seen before, the field is very competitive and close, so we have to work on details. I think we can be quite strong, and my dream is to be on the podium.”
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “P3 is always changing, it’s a big fight between 5-6 riders!”
Discussing the battle that he expected at Assen, Petrucci said: “I’m arriving really happy to be coming back to Assen after two years because I missed it last year due to my Motocross accident. Except for the weather, Holland is one of my favourite places and especially this track. I want to follow in this good mood that I started the Championship with, our target is to finish at the front in the top five positions. I am happy with how my season has gone so far, Australia was quite good, in Portimao we faced some difficulties. My right arm was giving me issues, then we had a problem with the launch control in Race 2. I was able to recover many positions, and now we sit in P3 in the Championship, but this doesn’t mean much because it’s so early, but I’m still happy to be near the front. I will hope to finish the season in this position, but it will be tough. At the moment, Toprak and Nicolo have something more but P3 is always changing, it’s always a big fight between 5-6 riders.”
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha): “I think we put all the puzzle together and we were ready for Portimao. We need to trust this, and I feel okay with the bike”
Fresh from his Portimao podium, Locatelli is aiming for another rostrum at Assen: “We did an amazing job at Portimao, I feel ok, I’m ready for this round in Assen. I always have had good memories here, in 2021 I had my first podium here. Everything feels very positive on the bike so we will try to achieve the best results as possible, but I feel like we can earn some podiums here. What we did at Portimao worked well on the bike, worked well in the test before the round. I think we put all the puzzle together and we were ready for Portimao. We need to trust this, and I feel okay with the bike. We’re working quite hard on the bike with all the parts we bring, especially at the start of the year. We need to continue like this. I need to try to increase my riding level. Honestly, I have no secret! I just feel good on the track, the flowing, fast corners. I like the track, it’s quite technical. I always enjoy it when I ride.”
Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC): “It’ll be super important to have a good base to start the weekend and try to be as fast as we can from the beginning”
Explaining how Honda made a step at Portimao and hoping to continue that at Assen, Vierge stated: “Really happy to be coming here from Portimao, which was a strong and solid weekend. We’ll try to keep the ball rolling. It’s a track that normally fits quite well for us so let’s try to enjoy the weekend and be as competitive as Portimao. Luckily, we’d tested a lot at Portimao this year, so we were focused on the small details and the team did an amazing job especially on the electronics side. This gave us the opportunity during the race weekend to just focus on that area and have a good plan on the tyres. In Superpole, we were able to make a good lap so starting from the second row helps a lot to have a good race. It’ll be super important to have a good base to start the weekend and try to be as fast as we can from the beginning.”
