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As the 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is just days away from firing up for the new season, there’s been plenty of talking done off-track during the build-up to the year ahead. Fighting talk seen the law laid down and battle lines have already been drawn. Who will take first blood though in the season to come? We look at what was said up and down the pitlane, going door-by-door through the manufacturers and teams, to put all of the big quotes in one place.

KAWASAKI – “The main threat will come from Ducati… anything can happen!”

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) has long said that you have to ‘expect the unexpected’ in WorldSBK, but in 2021, this could be more than ever before: “I think the main threat will come from Ducati, inside the Ducati box. Whether that’s the satellite bike of Chaz or the factory bikes of Rinaldi or Redding, you never know. This is Superbike racing, anything can happen!”

Teammate Alex Lowes could be one of the riders, taking it Rea, stating his target saying: “This year, the target is to be challenging every weekend, doing the best I can every weekend and win some more races, get on the podium and see where we are at the end of the Championship.” As for team manager Guim Roda, he said, “we feel the potential is much higher than 2020, so we’re working on how to make it as perfect as possible.” One thing that is clear is that the new Kawasaki picked up where the last one left off, and that’s a warning sign for the opposition.

DUCATI – “Never say never in this sport… actions speak louder than words!”

Taking the fight to Kawasaki is 2020 runner-up Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who isn’t mincing words for the year ahead: “The priority to me is to do my best to win the Championship this year. By all means, it’s not going to be easy, but I believe with the experience I gained last year, we should be in a situation where we can fight until the end.” He also added in the Ducati feature interview that he just needs to “perfect and repeat” some areas of his performance, whilst he “has a goal and I will risk everything to achieve my goal and when I achieve it, I will appreciate all of the things that have happened to me in my life to get to that point!”

Teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi also hopes for title success, saying: “It’s so difficult to achieve the goal that everybody wants which is the title, but we will try; I have that goal and maybe we can’t achieve it this year, but never say never in this sport.” Representing the Independents of Ducati, Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) kept it short, concise and powerful: “I don’t want to speak too much: actions speak louder than words.”

YAMAHA – “I’m really fired up and motivated… it gives me goosebumps!”

Looking to improve on his fourth overall in 2020, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) stated his title aspirations: “It’s always been my dream to be World Champion…”. Team boss Paul Denning also sets his sights on the top spot in 2021, commenting on the development by Yamaha engineers: “Incredibly positive work by a dedicated group of engineers in Milan and with additional support from Yamaha in Japan. Whether it’s enough to beat the new Kawasaki or the Ducati Panigale we’ll see but our plan is to get out there and do our best.”

To the Independents, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) is a contender in 2021: “I definitely want to win a race for sure, like that is something that I didn’t get to do last year, and I’m really fired up and motivated to try and get on the top step of the podium. I feel like we have everything we need to win races and to be a Championship contender.” In the feature interview, which you can watch in full here, he said: “Thinking of becoming World Champion... it gives me goosebumps!”

HONDA – “HRC and me want to win… the capability of the new Honda can win the Championship!”

It’s fighting talk all the at Honda, with Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) declaring his intentions: “HRC and me want to win and it is our final target. I hope that from here to the start of the season, to make more progress and to try and fight for the victory as soon as possible!” On the other side of the garage, Leon Haslam (Team HRC) didn’t shy away from his expectations: “Alvaro made one podium already so for me, the expectation is to make the podium as much as possible. I think the capability of the new Honda can for sure win the World Championship!”

New team manager Leon Camier also believes in the potential of the project, as he reckons it can deliver to the highest standards: “We’ve definitely made some progression this year with the bike, for sure; we’ve made some big progress and there’s a lot more to come as well. Obviously, the goal for Honda is to win, and I think we can expect to make a big jump in progress this year. The bike is definitely a good step forward, and I think we can be battling for podiums and hopefully at some circuits, for wins!”

BMW – “Significant step… step-by-step on our way to the top!”

“My ambition is to win another World Championship on another manufacturer.” The declaration made by Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) prior to the Catalunya test. “The target is to win that World Championship. There’s a lot of competition and I’m not blind to that, so we’ll keep working but I’d like to start winning some races and being more consistently on the podium.” During the team launch, Sykes also stated the big development that has happened: “It’s quite clear to see that there’s been quite a significant step in terms of engine performance, which is a big relief. It’ll definitely help in the races.”

However, some of the biggest quotes have come from BMW’s Motorrad Motorsport Director Marc Bongers, who talked about the engine power: “It’s a considerable step; we have titanium conrods, two-ring pistons, we have a higher RPM, so these ingredients definitely help us to improve the engine power, which we’ve done considerably over winter. It is good to see here that we have clearly closed the gap to the top in terms of power.” He then spoke about the aims for the year, and wins are on the cards: “It is definitely the target that we aim for the first wins, we are step-by-step on our way to the top.”

With the season just days away, make sure you enjoy the comprehensive 45-minute season preview show FOR FREE, where you can enjoy some more of the biggest quotes and see the new liveries, riders, and line-ups for the year ahead. On top of this, you can enjoy the all-new form guide for the first round, with all of the big numbers and facts ahead of the Pirelli Aragon Round.

Enjoy the 2021 season in fine style with EVERY SESSION, ALL LIVE on the WorldSBK VideoPass!