Xavi Forés fulfilled the expectations placed on him in his first campaign in WorldSBK, and as a result has renewed his contract with Barni Racing Team. In 2017, the 30-year-old will once again be the sole representative of the team headed by Marco Barnabó, continuing the project he started on his arrival to the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the beginning of 2016. After the announcement of his contract renewal recently, WorldSBK.com caught up with Xavi Forés for an exclusive chat about his future plans.

"My main objective was to renew with Barni because, even though it’s not a factory team, I think it is the closest to the official bikes in terms of technical level," explained Forés. "I wanted to have a competitive bike for next year to be able to be ahead and achieve good results and this year I feel that’s exactly what we did."

For the Valencian rider, it wasn’t just about being on the most competitive private package but about continuity and furthering his relationship with Ducati, a brand that he has maintained close ties with for years.

"This will be my fifth year with Ducati,” said Forés. “For me it was important to stay with a brand that I already know and where I have known all the people since I started. For me being in the Ducati family is important, I think it would have been a mistake to leave the marque to go somewhere else. I fought to stay and continue my project with Ducati."

After his podium finish at the Lausitzring, which was also a first in WorldSBK for Barni Racing Team, the Spaniard is determined to back it up next year.

"I'm going to demand a lot more from myself,” started Forés. “We finished last season with good results. Especially in the last races, we were always in the top 5. In some races we were lacking a bit of luck and I think the mistakes we made this year were due to inexperience, so it will be something I have to learn and to improve next season.

"My goal is to be among the top five or six at the end of next year and fight for the maximum possible podiums. This year we achieved one podium, several fourth places and several first row starts. I think that for my first year that’s not bad, but we always want more."

With Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty returning to WorldSBK as well as the arrival of former MotoGP™ rider Stefan Bradl to Honda, together with the incredible level of competitiveness seen in the WorldSBK paddock this season, podiums in 2017 will be a challenging feat to accomplish.

"It's definitely going to be tough and the level of talent in the Championship is going to be high,” said Forés. “There will be new names, new motorbikes and the level is going to rise, obviously, but I think we will be a bit more prepared too. Last year we started from scratch. We didn’t know each other in the team, we didn’t have information on anything, we arrived at most circuits without a base setting on the bike and it cost us more than we expected.

“I think that next year we will be more prepared and our level will be higher in terms of results and as a team. Technically, we should be better off once we get our new bikes that I hope will allow us to be more competitive. Yes everyone else is developing their bikes this winter but I think we're not going to be far off because we will improve too."

So far teams such as KRT, Pata Yamaha, Honda, Grillini, Althea BMW, Aruba.it Ducati and Milwaukee Aprilia have already benefitted from two winter tests at Aragon and Jerez, which Barni Racing Team did not attend. But Forés isn’t concerned since he is still waiting for his 2017 package.

"We will start in January because we are still defining the whole technical side of development and as there isn’t much new material to test on the bike,” explained Forés. “We decided to postpone our test schedule for January when we receive the 2017 bike. So we will start from the base we get next season. We will be in Jerez at the beginning of the year, then in Portimao we’ll test and then again at Jerez before Australia."

For now though, Forés has an even more important preseason schedule to focus on… his impending nuptials. The WorldSBK rider and his long time girlfriend Carla are set to tie the knot today, on Saturday 26^th of November. For Forés, it’s another achievement and dream fulfilled, in a year of success.

"These last days have been more about wedding preparations than anything else,” laughed the 30-year-old. “I am excited because this is also a great project – a personal project in this case – but a stage of my life that must be crossed. I wanted to take the next step with my girlfriend Carla, with whom I’ve been with for many years. We planned our big day for this time of the year in the hopes that these dates didn’t coincide with anything on the racing calendar so we could be more relaxed. Plus, after signing my contract for next year, I had a lot more peace of mind. It was the best wedding gift from Marco!”