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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visit to Donington Park is done and in the history books, but there was still time for some debriefs after a historic Prosecco DOC UK Round. Riders reviewed the weekend, from making massive gains after Friday to home rostrums and a new leader in the title race. We’ve gathered the best quotes from Donington below.

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati): “I don’t know why but this weekend, in all three races, I had a bad start”

Three P2s for Bulega, who lost the lead of the Championship to ‘El Turco’ for the first time this year. He said: “Every race was a step more, but still it wasn’t enough. The biggest problem was the start. I don’t know why, but this weekend, in all three races, I had a bad start. It’s strange because usually I start very well, every time in first or second. I asked the team, and we have to try to check why. I think it’s related to the feeling with the clutch. The first part is very aggressive, and then it starts to wheelie two or three or four times, and I lose acceleration. The first part of releasing the clutch isn’t good. I don’t know why, but after Cremona, I think Toprak and BMW made a step. Until Cremona, maybe I was a bit faster, or we were very close. After Cremona, they started to be more competitive, and it was more difficult to stay with him. The last two rounds were very good for Toprak and BMW, so I expect some races that can be better for me. My mentality is always the same. Try to improve every day, maximise what we have now and try to always be the first Ducati and try to fight for the Championship; this is our goal this year.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “My target before coming here was trying to get a hat-trick because this is my last weekend at Donington”

Reacting to a record-breaking hat-trick, Razgatlioglu said: “Still, we’re breaking some records! This weekend, it looked like everything was under control, but Friday wasn’t. We didn’t start at 100% because I felt a lot of problems. The bike wasn’t turning or gripping, and I had electronics problems. Bulega’s also strong, especially the bike helps him a lot. The Ducati always has good grip, good turning and good electronics. There are some tracks he doesn’t like for his style, and it’s the same for me. Donington with my style, I like it. Next race, Balaton, we don’t know; I like it but maybe he starts very fast. My target before coming here was to get a hat-trick because this is my last weekend at Donington. I’m happy because I did it. I know where I’ll be next year. I’m just riding and enjoying, and it’s helping a lot. Deniz’s aura farming celebration was strange; I was smiling when I saw it because he mixed it! My one’s the real one. I saw the video and said, ‘If I win, I’ll do this’. It’s nice.”

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati): “I’m happy with my performance… not with my result, I think we can fight for better results”

Bautista claimed P3 on Sunday in Race 2 and said: “With two laps to go, I made a mistake at the Foggy Esses because I wanted to be close to Nicolo, but I braked too hard, and I went long. I lost three tenths at the chicane, and I missed those three tenths to be closer to him at the penultimate corner. I’m happy because I was third, but I was not third by more than 10 seconds; I was third by a couple of tenths. At the last corner, it’s a really tricky corner because when you brake, you don’t see the corner. You can’t adjust the braking because you only see the corner when you go in. He knew I was there, and he closed the corner very well. It would’ve been a stupid manoeuvre to go inside. I’m happy with my performance. Not with my result because I think we can fight for better results. I’m quite calm. I think I’m doing my best and my performance is good, but we’re not in the same situation as other riders.”

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha): “We didn’t make any mistakes; we gained some points and closed the gap to the top three in the Championship”

Three top-fives for Locatelli, who reviewed the weekend by saying: “We did an amazing job on Saturday, and we had a good Race 2. We were suffering a bit more in the Superpole Race compared to Race 2, but we need to bring all the positive things. This is a positive weekend but we’re a bit far away and it’s not easy to stay there. We’re still missing a little bit. I was spinning a lot on the exit of the corner. I think I did my best job like always. I need to look at the best things from the weekend and the best lesson and then look forward to Balaton. We didn’t make any mistakes; we gained some points and closed the gap to the top three in the Championship. I was trying to do my best to start further in front. It was a good fight with Jonny. I tried to do my best and in the last couple of laps, I was able to close the gap, and I tried to overtake him. I managed to stop well at the chicane. This is a big point and it’s easy to make a mistake and touch the green; if I touch the green, I was losing everything.”

Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing): “It’s nice to show everybody our potential is there, and we just need a bit of time”

A strong home weekend for Vickers after consistently fighting for the top ten: “The whole weekend, I’ve been comfortably inside the top ten. I was P7 in Superpole, which was really good. In all three races, we were in the battle and that’s the main thing. In the Superpole Race, I made a little mistake, but I think everyone did in that race, especially at the end. It was just whether you got away with it, and the last corner doesn’t have much room for error. I was comfortably keeping up with Petrucci’s pace and fending off Iannone quite easily. I’ve got to be happy with that. It’s a massive improvement compared to where we’ve been all year. Just shows what a little bit of track knowledge does! It’s nice to show everybody our potential is there, and we just need a bit of time. A little bit of track knowledge coming here, you benefit in FP1 and FP2. Normally, I’m trying to dial the bike in while learning the track. That’s difficult to do with the bike when you don’t know the circuit. I was able to get the bike good in FP1 and FP2 and then we could focus on Superpole and FP3.”

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team): “Shame to get taken out in Race 1. Nothing to do with me; it’s Turn 1, it’s racing and part of the game”

Two DNFs for the #14 with a Superpole Race podium sandwiched between them. He said: “I’ve had a positive weekend. I’ve been fast in all the sessions. Shame to get taken out in Race 1. Nothing to do with me; it’s Turn 1, it’s racing and part of the game. My shoulder was sore so I wasn’t sure what I could do on Sunday. I had a good Superpole Race on the SC0. I wasn’t sure if it was the right tyre. Toprak used it as well. I knew I had to get a good start in Race 2 because I’d probably struggle a bit at the end of the race. I got pulled a bit into Turn 1 and just went down. It’s only my second crash of the year in a race. It looks bad after Saturday, but I’ve been a bit unlucky in races this year; I’ve been taken out by Alvaro and on Saturday by Montella. When I was in the race, I thought I wouldn’t have beaten Toprak but now I know they were on the SCX, a podium was possible.”

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team): “Every time I ride the bike; I get a better idea of what could be better… From Saturday to Sunday, the big step was electronics”

Gerloff took his best result in green with P6 in Race 2. He said: “I feel like we made a big step with the bike, probably the electronics. It’s nice to feel like everything’s coming naturally and I’m not having to try so much. In general, Sunday was good. I had two good starts and two good first laps. Every time I ride the bike, I get a better idea of what could be better. That takes time; I just need more time riding to figure that out. Everything’s pointing in the same direction now and we’re all on the same page about that stuff. There’s more room for us to grow. If we can make some changes or they can bring some development parts, we can make a bigger step in the right direction. We have a lot more room in electronics to make a big jump. From Saturday to Sunday, the big step was electronics, and they changed how the whole bike worked. That’s what’s frustrating as a rider sometimes. If I have problems turning, I go straight to suspension or geometry when a lot of what we’re doing is affected so much by electronics that we made some changes that made everything feel so much better.”

Next up, Balaton Park! Don’t miss out on WorldSBK’s 1000^th race using the WorldSBK VideoPass – NOW HALF PRICE!