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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship returned to the Balaton Park Circuit for the second time this year, with more records being broken and the history books being rewritten once again. With all the action concluded, riders gave their thoughts on the Motul Hungarian Round, reflecting on achievements, incidents and the future.

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati): “16 wins and a MotoGP test sound good! I’m in a very good moment in my life”

More wins and records for ‘Bulegas’, who stated on Sunday: “I’m even happier to win because I know that Iker was very strong this weekend, this is maybe one of his favourite tracks and this is one of my worst. I really wanted to win here as it’s very important for my mental side. On Sunday morning, I wasn’t riding very well, and inside I was thinking, ‘Maybe today is more difficult than the other races’. Before the race, I said, ‘I have to do it, just put more on the table’. I almost crashed two times; I made two good saves. 16 wins and a MotoGP test sound good! I’m in a very good moment in my life. When you achieve great results in your sport, which is everything to me right now, I enjoy normal life at home. In the Superpole Race, Montella arrived maybe 30km/h faster. Fortunately, I heard him because I braked. I understood that someone was coming, and I just released the brake and let him pass. I went wide, and then I was lucky at Turn 5, because I went wide. This month, and maybe the next one, will be very important to decide my future. I don’t know. At the moment, I think it’s 50:50. We will see.”

Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati): “He had to go to the limit the whole race, so I’m happy for that. It’s the first time Nicolo made some mistakes during the whole year”

Another three P2 finishes for the Spaniard, who was feeling under the weather: “I struggled a lot because I didn’t feel like I had a lot of energy; I struggled a lot in the last seven laps and needed to roll off a bit just because I made some stupid mistakes, because I lost focus and felt tired. Bulega did a really good job; he made a few mistakes in front of me, but I pushed him so hard. He had to go to the limit the whole race, so I’m happy for that. It’s the first time Nicolo made some mistakes during the whole year. I prefer the record not to come, I want to win first! If I win, I prefer not to have the record for second places. It’s not important to me. I’m enjoying it, I’m learning the bike and every time I go faster.”

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team): “Holy s**t, dude! I thought I was on the ground, it was such a big slide”

Gerloff returned to the top five for the first time in 18 months in Race 2, and he said: “I felt a lot better on Sunday than I did at Assen; that was one of the worst weekends I’ve had in WorldSBK. It was difficult to explain as I felt pretty good and felt like the bike was working, but we had no speed. We came here, made changes and every change we made helped me feel better. Finishing in the top five is one of the best things I could do for myself and my team. The team made some changes that were a bit different from what the Kawasakis had done in the past, in terms of geometry and stuff. It just made me feel a lot better and helped to improve entry and having less wheelie, so I could have better acceleration, as I’ve been struggling with wheelie a lot. I get to see all the Bimota data, which is helpful in a lot of ways, but it’s a completely different chassis. That can be a big difference. It would be really nice to have a strong teammate so I could at least know how I’m doing compared to somebody with the same package as me. I’m hoping that next year, if I’m still with this team, it’s me and somebody else. Holy s**t, dude! I thought I was on the ground; it was such a big slide. It happened so fast out of nowhere. For half a lap, I thought my traction control was failing. It was just in that one spot, there are some bumps, and if you have a bit too much gas over the bumps, it just chatters sideways.”

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team): “It’s three people going on the same piece of track. If you look at how we all approach the corner, nobody was really being stupid”

The #14 recovered to P6 in Race 2 but reviewed a challenging weekend by saying: “On Sunday was a little bit unlucky. I felt good in Warm Up, then obviously the incident in the Superpole Race. In the restart, I had a problem with the shifter and the lever on the drum was bent. I couldn’t backshift, so I went into some of the chicanes in fourth gear. It was an unfortunate incident. Like this, in the first lap, it could happen. If you look at past races, ‘Loka’ is always really good at starts, really aggressive on the first lap, which I like; don’t take me as complaining. Miguel is also very aggressive on the first lap. It’s not a negative. For me, it’s good. He’s come from MotoGP. I’m proud and happy to see that way of riding. The incident can happen, but incidents will always happen in racing; we’re here to race. I was surprised by the penalty, but if you go deep and then come back, where do you expect the people on the line to go? Of course, you try to go on the line because you’re trying to defend your position, so I was surprised. It’s three people going on the same piece of track. If you look at how we all approached the corner, nobody was really being stupid. We all ended up in the same place. The top two guys were stronger again. I think with a perfect weekend and a better Superpole, I had the pace to be fifth or fighting for the podium. In the early laps, I overheated the front tyre, and then I struggled at the end. This is normal. Now, the level of WorldSBK, to come forward, is difficult.”

Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I think the track layout didn’t really allow us to outline any big differences in feeling with the new fairing”

Speaking after his podium in Race 1, Oliveira said: “It was a good race. We did a great job from Friday to today; we made a good step. We could improve what I was missing for the chicanes. The race was okay. Just a little bit too far from the top, I’m not really happy about the gap. When I go to the grid, I look at everyone as a competitor, not at the machines they have. At the moment, we take these points with a happy approach. I think the track layout didn’t really allow us to identify any significant differences in feel with the new fairing. We’ll continue to gather some data and use it at other tracks to see if we can have some kind of advantage. I think I’m very strong under braking in a straight line. It’s really quite clear that they move forward quite easily, applying power especially at points where you have some wheelie, they perform quite well."

Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team): “After Phillip Island, a podium at Balaton Park was not in my plans… this podium is for a lot of people!”

Back on the rostrum in Race 2, Montella said: “It was a fantastic weekend. I enjoyed it a lot and finishing on the podium means a lot to me after the work we did throughout the weekend. After Phillip Island, a podium at Balaton Park was not in my plans because it’s not one of my favourite tracks for my riding style. I had my mother and my brother here; it was special. It was the first time for them to see me on the podium in WorldSBK. It was also my girlfriend’s birthday, so this podium is for a lot of people! The Balaton podium means more, I think. We know Phillip Island is a track I like. It was easier to think about it before Phillip Island. On Friday, here, my goal was the top five or six.”

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven): “This time, I’ve found a good team in WorldSBK, and I can be one of the top riders.”

Back on the podium, ‘Balda’ said on Sunday: “It was a big relief to achieve these two good results because missing the race on the first lap is a big problem for the following day. You don’t get data from the long run, and you lose feeling because after one crash at 200km/h, I was close to being unfit. It was a relief to get our first Superpole Race podium, and also in Race 2 we could stay on the podium again. We lost time at the start of the race, but I was recovering and I was closer to the podium each lap. The team had to do a lot of work on Saturday evening and night because my bike was completely destroyed. I’m so sorry for them. I didn’t have much expectation for my first year back in WorldSBK. To find a team that is putting you in control, to trust the bike and just think about riding at the maximum, is very important. I was coming from difficult years. I found a very good team last year in MotoE, but it was another story. This time, I’ve found a good team in WorldSBK, and I can be one of the top riders.”

Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing): “I have a dream and here I am living a dream, I have to make steps consistently”

A stunning weekend for the rookie, who said on Saturday after P8 in Race 1: “For me here it's a new world, I am trying to understand the limit and how the electronics work. I was able to stay with the top guys for eight laps. I am happy, then I had some little problems in the second half of the race, I am not used to staying with them. In the last laps, when Locatelli passed me, I kept on riding as if I had a new tyre. We can work to do better. I have to control my emotional side, I am trying to understand the limit, and I did not take big risks. I took home points and data to work on. I have a dream and here I am living a dream, I have to take consistent steps. My target is to win the title, but at the moment, I am not ready for that, nor for winning a race. We'll try to do even better; I have great support and am happy for that. When I was second, I think that Lorenzo Mauri grew some hairs in his head... I tried to understand Bulega's lines, with this bike Nicolo makes a big difference, we have to do something like him.” He also explained on Friday how training with his motard bike helped him for Balaton Park.

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