The spicy quotes ahead of the Acerbis Italian Round are here as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid gathers at the Cremona Circuit. There’s a long-awaited return, riders looking to put disappointment behind them and others looking to bounce back, so make sure you grab your popcorn and find out what riders have been saying…
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I don’t know what to expect… after 10 laps, the bike behaves completely differently!”
Previewing his first time racing at Cremona, Razgatlioglu said: “I’m really happy to arrive at Cremona after I missed competing here last year. I did test here last year but only ran maybe 40 laps maximum. I know the track, but we don’t have a base setup. I don’t know if the track particularly benefits BMW or me, but I like the track, I only did 35 laps maximum, but this is not a race simulation, I think I will do ok, but I know Ducati is strong here. Assen was tough for Bulega, having two tech issues is hard, but the second one when he was close to winning the race is disappointing. It was good for me for the points, but I am never hoping for him to suffer a technical problem. He and the rest of the Ducatis are very strong this year, but we will see at this circuit, if we can improve something on out BMW maybe we can get back to winning, but this has been a very difficult season for me, especially at Assen, after just 11 laps, my rear tyre was destroyed. I was trying just to finish with a good position. I hope we see a good result here because last year I didn’t compete here, I don’t know what to expect, because after 10 laps the bike behaves completely differently, we will see tomorrow and hopefully we are near the front.”
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I think Ducati understand the issue and we’ll see if it works here”
Discussing his mechanical issues at Assen, Bulega said: “After Assen, I went home, and I needed some days to relax because it was a bit difficult on Sunday. I was quite happy because I watched the races at home, and I was very fast in all races, especially to start P10 and get to P1. I want to take the positives and bring them to Cremona. I think Ducati understand the issue and we’ll see if it works here. Maybe Toprak struggling at Assen was worse for me because it won’t happen too many times that he doesn’t get a strong result! For me, it was important to gain some points. I arrive here confident. At Assen, I was very strong and also the races before. I don’t really like this circuit because it doesn’t match very well with my riding style.”
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “From 0-100 of how difficult it would be to repeat, I would say a 99, but it is clear is that it would be impossible to improve”
Last year’s hat-trick hero, Petrucci, said: “2024 Cremona was one of the best weekends of my career, it was incredible to win in Italy, especially being my first races, and a hat trick! I have really good memories and it will be tough to repeat but I will try. From 0-100 of how difficult it would be to repeat, I would say a 99, but it is clear is that it would be impossible to improve. I would need to get pole position on Saturday to improve from last year’s result. There is more pressure because of last year’s success, but for me, I want to treat this like any other race. The podium would be a good target but if not at least fighting for the top five. I lost a lot of points on Sunday in Assen, so I want to score as many points as possible to recover.”
Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha): “As soon as I sat on the ’25 bike in November, I felt competitive…”
On his comeback, Rea said: “It’s good to finally be back. It’s been a long journey but in reality, I’ve only missed a few races, every day I lived to try to get back as fast as possible. It was nice to watch from afar as well as ‘Loka’ got his first WorldSBK win. Yamaha has been competitive as well in these first races so that gives us some confidence and motivation that all our hard work in the winter is paying off. Now I get to sample that tomorrow for the first time and blow off the cobwebs as fast as possible to get out there and enjoy riding the bike. The first weeks of course I was in a fixed cast, so it was tough as well, the pain was incredibly bad. Hours and hours were spent daily in the hyperbaric chamber. As soon as I could start training, I got myself out to Barcelona, and I spent the last 3-4 weeks there. When you’re down and out and really injured it’s hard to see a way forward, but the important part was, once you start feeling better, it got better so fast. As soon as I sat on the ’25 bike in November, I felt competitive, really good all through the winter, it felt like one of the fastest bikes on race pace, so I knew there were signs things were starting to happen. We’re seeing that right now so massive kudos to Yamaha for their hard work. feel functionally strong, I feel fit, but I don’t want to touch the bike and be thinking about my foot. I want to go and get the first laps out of my head and get down to business. Uri and the crew have a great plan for the weekend, hopefully the weather plays ball.”
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “Next year we have a new Ducati bike coming, and for the moment I feel like I would like to ride that bike”
On a mixed start to the season, Bautista said: “It’s been an extreme start to the season, sometimes on the podium, but also three races without points; so it’s not easy to recover from these three mistakes, but we have to move forward, and the important thing is that the feeling with the bike is much better than last year. Here at Cremona, it is a new leaf because it is a unique track, and most of us don’t have much experience here, we only started racing here last year for most of us. I feel like I have more of a margin from last year and that I don’t have to always be on the limit like last year. In Australia, it was a mistake from me because I didn’t feel the wind changing. At Portimao it wasn’t my fault, then at Assen I felt like I could be faster than the group I was in and made the move I was trying to make wrong and made a mistake. I am really enjoying this year more than last year, at the end what is important for me is to keep enjoying my racing. Next year we have a new Ducati bike coming, and for the moment I feel like I would like to ride that bike, but still nothing to speak about. The atmosphere is good in the team but there is no news yet.”
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha): “Important that Jonathan can come back on the bike… Everything is positive with Yamaha!”
Reflecting on his first win and looking to the future, Locatelli said: “I’m quite happy to be back at home for this round. I live close to Cremona, so it’ll be great as many people come to cheer for us. I want to continue this trend, score as many podiums as possible. Let’s try to do like Assen, always pushing hard, and try to win again; why not? You have a million emotions at that winning moment, and you enjoy it, but at the same time, when I came home, I enjoyed a couple of days then started working again. It’s true it’s my first victory but, for me, it’s not enough; I’m dreaming, I’m working hard and trust myself. I want more. It’s important that Jonathan can come back on the bike and try to ride again. It’s necessary for the team to have a good reference inside the box and I’m quite happy to have a strong rider alongside me. It’s early but, like always, it’s never early! We start talking about the future shortly after Phillip Island. Yamaha are happy to keep me in the team because I’m building my career around Yamaha. Everything is positive with Yamaha and I’m more than happy to work with them. At the same time, we need to consider all the teams that I could change to or not, and we need to look for other options. I need to understand the best solution for me, my target and my future in general. At the moment, I’m quite happy with Yamaha.”
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team): “We need to finish on Saturday, it’s been the wrong day for us!”
Montella has one goal in mind at Cremona: end his Saturday ‘curse’. He said: “I was thinking recently because here, I came here to Cremona some years ago with my training bike when I was 13 or 14 because it was a tricky circuit. Now, I’m here for a race weekend in WorldSBK, it’s a bit emotional. Our goal is a bit different to Danilo’s, I think! We need to continue our improvements. We have, more or less, an idea on the area we need to work and also my riding style. We have the situation clear. We need to finish on Saturday, it’s been the wrong day for us! The Championship standings don’t respect our potential because I have some zeroes, I crashed on the Saturday in Australia, Portimao and Assen. Every Sunday, I finish more or less in the top ten, in the points.”
Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team): “If we continue to work like we did at Assen, we can do a good job”
Looking ahead to his first home round of the season, Bassani said: “Last round at Assen was quite good, the first time for us in the top five. For a new bike, it’s a really good goal we achieved. Race 1 was good at Assen, but I made a mistake, so I’m sorry for the team. It’ll be our first time at the circuit for us with this bike, so I don’t know what can happen. If we continue to work like we did at Assen, we can do a good job. I hope to continue in the same way here. There’s a long straight so for us it’ll be difficult as we have some problems in that area, we’re missing some speed. At the same time, the mix of the track and corners, we are quite good, and the bike is working well. The level of WorldSBK is really high and everything can change day-by-day. At the end of last year, I was starting to be quite fast, but my problem was always Superpole. At Assen, we did a good job, and I took the slipstream of Toprak because we need that at the moment. If we start in a good position on the grid, we can have a good race, because we need to start at the front as, for us, it’s difficult for us to overtake.”
