Outspoken ahead of Portimao

The tough talking got underway at Portimao with records, futures, negotiations, and the all-new schedule the key talking points

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has landed at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve and the fighting talk has already begun. From discussions about the future, on-track battles and revenge for 2023 plus the sunset schedule, we’ve gathered all the hottest and spiciest quotes from Thursday at the Pirelli Portuguese Round.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “We started to speak after Most and we’re in negotiations… we haven’t signed”

Providing another update on his 2025 plans, Bautista said: “If you read all the media, social commentators for everybody, it’s crazy because one day, I’ve already signed, the next day, my bike is for another rider and the next day we agree together and the next day we are not in the same agreement. It’s crazy! We started to speak after Most, and we are in negotiations. It’s clear that I want the best for me, and Ducati want the best for them. We’re not fighting, but we’re speaking. Everything you see on the social networks is fake. We haven’t signed but we’re on the way. I have good memories from last year because I remember it was a difficult weekend. I felt a lot of movement but, especially on Sunday, it was two great battles against Toprak, and I beat him, both times, in the last corner; one on the inside, the other on the outside. The situation this year is different, especially because we don’t have the same performance as last year. After Most, the feeling with the bike improved a lot and I have the confidence this weekend can help me keep this improvement. It could be good fun to break Toprak’s winning streak! At the moment, I don’t feel like I’m in that situation to break it, but anything can happen. If we can arrive at our best performance, we’ll see if we can fight against him or not.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I feel like it’s my turn this year… because I have wings, maybe I’ll fly this time!”

With history in sight, and revenge for 2023 in mind plus an epic jump in store, Razgatlioglu stated: “I feel like it’s my turn this year! I’m just waiting for the race. I’m seeing the WorldSBK Instagram account was starting to share last year’s last corner battle. When I watched this, I’m more motivated than before! I’m happy to come back to Portimao because I like this circuit, it looks like my favourite circuit. I’m just trying to break the record because Alvaro and Jonny have the same, 11, but if I win Saturday’s race, I’m also at 11 but I need one more! This is racing, this is motorsport, anything is possible. I’m just focused like Most, race by race. Two days ago, I watched my big jump again. With BMW, I’ll try for more. Because I have wings, maybe I’ll fly this time!”

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “I’d like to continue with Barni… we have the potential to win races”

Petrucci revealed he spoke to Bautista after their Most crash, plus stated where he’d like to be in 2025: “I had the chance to talk with Alvaro after the crash and we recognised immediately it wasn’t the fault of anyone, we were just three riders at the same point with different lines. Then I sent him a message to make sure he was okay. I have a good relationship with him and a lot of respect for him. Portimao is a track I like a lot but last year I wasn’t able to be really fast. In the test this winter, it was okay. The new time schedule for this round will be something different and I think it will be surprising because, in the end, it’ll be really hot and with these temperatures, managing the tyre will be the key. I’m eager to see our speed because in every round, we’ve fought for the top five, so I want to continue like this. I think everything will remain like this. From my side, I need to wait for Alvaro’s decision. I have more or less the same bike so I would like to continue with Barni, and I think this will be the solution for the future. We have the potential to win races if we put everything together and I hope I can announce my future soon, in the next few days.”

Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha): “Regularly we need to be in the top five now. That’s the goal”

Rea’s seemingly made progress on the Yamaha R1 in recent rounds and wants to continue this, saying: “Portimao’s a happy hunting ground for me, it’s a track I’ve had a lot of success at in the past. It means nothing sometimes when you change teams. The Yamaha’s a different beast around here. It has a lot of positives but also some areas where we need to work on. The test was good because we identified those areas and hopefully, we can work on them. The bike’s changed since we tested here. We’ve homed in on more of a setup. It’s a different vibe with the evening race. It’s a track that always brings a lot of travelling support from Northern Ireland as well. The key for my weekends this season has been trying to qualify well and we’ll put a lot of emphasis on that throughout tomorrow and Saturday morning. Hopefully we can qualify on those first few rows and make the races a little bit more straight forward. It’s a physical track but the rider can find that last little bit and I know a bit around here so hopefully I can put it to good use. I’ve always been saying the aim is to, step by step, improve the feeling. That’s still the case. I want to battle inside the top five. That’s the next step, to try to be there. I felt I had the pace to do that at Most actually, and at Donington I had a strong weekend. Regularly we need to be in the top five now. That’s the goal.”

Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW): “It’s nice to have something in my back pocket… excited to have an opportunity to stay in WorldSBK”

Reflecting on his new deal for 2025, and his hopes and goals at Portimao, Gerloff said: “I’m really excited to have an opportunity to stay in WorldSBK for next year and especially with them, it feels like it could be a really good thing for both of us. Last year here was really good for me, I remember having some good races and had two fourth places in the long races, which is the best I did last year. I want to have the same thing this year at the very least. We’ve been struggling this year to get the same results with a similar package and we’re not 100% what’s going on. I’m excited not to have to wake up at 6am on Saturday and Sunday! That’s good news for me; I can wake up, get some breakfast, chill, and then show up to the track later for the races. I could get used to that schedule! How we finished last year and how the first test went at Jerez, I was expecting this year to be already a lot better of year and we’ve just been struggling. It hasn’t been an easy year at all. It’s nice to have something in my back pocket, so I don’t have to be worried or anything like that. I haven’t been worried at all about it this year, I hadn’t been thinking about it.”

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing): “My goal is to remain in the paddock”

Rinaldi’s future is up in the air, and he discussed progress in recent rounds plus his WorldSBK future, stating: “The last round at Most was a little bit better than previous ones. We haven’t reached our potential yet and it’s good to arrive at Portimao, a track I like a lot, because last year I was pretty strong. I’m looking forward to finding good feeling with the bike at this track, to enjoy this rollercoaster and it’ll be different because we’ll race at a different time. It’s been more than a few months that I’ve not been jumping on the podium, so I missed that taste. I know last year we had many podiums and one victory. My goal is to get back in the top positions. I need to be realistic and our goal this weekend will be to improve our performance from the last round. We’re missing the results. I didn’t expect to be not competitive for so many races. When you switch from a factory team to an Independent team, everything changes but we didn’t expect this. We’re working hard to come back to the positions I know I can do, and the team can do, because they did a great job last year. For sure, you’re missing some information because I know a little bit more, but I would love to race in WorldSBK and I think there is a good chance. At the moment, no. I’m working on that, but the most important thing is to work on the present which is achieving the best results you can with the situation and team you’re in, to have a good future. My goal is to remain in the paddock.”

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha): “I’m really happy to be the first Yamaha because it shows the progress we’ve made during the past, now and I hope in the future”

Locatelli heads into the Portuguese Round as the lead Yamaha rider, something he’ll hope to continue at Portimao: “It’s really important to be on track immediately after the podium at Most because I think the quality of my riding right now isn’t too bad, so it’s important to continue to show our potential and, in any case, this is a good track for us because we’ve had podiums in the past and we were always fast. It’s another good opportunity. During this season, sometimes we were a bit unlucky, we lost some positions and a lot of points for the overall standings. It’s not so important because the focus for me is trying to be competitive everywhere, try to be fast in every condition and situation. We don’t have a lot of podiums, but we are always close to fighting for the top five and we also know the competition is stronger. I’m really happy to be the first Yamaha because it shows the progress we’ve made during the past, now and I hope in the future.”

Kawasaki confirms Puccetti for 2025 in WorldSBK

Ninja presence in WorldSBK paddock and on race grids maintained.

As an integral part of its ongoing global Ninja marketing and awareness strategy, Kawasaki has announced that Kawasaki Puccetti Racing will be responsible for continuing Kawasaki’s Ninja presence in WorldSBK next season with the race and Championship winning Ninja ZX-10RR package. Via this strategic action, Kawasaki will commit both the “bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team” and the “Ninja ZX-10RR” brands more than ever to the WorldSBK series, while continuing to entertain race fans worldwide.

Fielding the Ninja ZX-10RR machinery currently being raced by the Kawasaki Racing Team in WorldSBK represents a new milestone for Kawasaki Puccetti Racing in 2025. The Italian squad will be the official team to maintain a Ninja presence on the grid of a globally recognised racing series with a huge following and audience reach.

Celebrating twenty years of racing in association with the Kawasaki brand in 2024, the Reggio Emilia based team – who are currently competing in WorldSBK with rider Tito Rabat –  are widely recognised as a driving force in WorldSSP and count significant European Stock 600 and Stock 1000 achievements, plus two WorldSSP titles, within their roll of honour. In addition the team has twenty three race wins in the WorldSSP class plus two race wins and sixteen podium places to date in WorldSBK.  

Speaking of the upcoming season, an understandably delighted Manuel Puccetti reflected on the racing journey of his eponymous team: “On behalf of myself and my team – as well as my sponsors and my family – I would like to express what an honour and privilege this is. Since my first days in racing I personally appreciate the elements that make a rider or team successful.

“I started racing on a 125cc production machine in an Italian cup race in the late 1990s and by 2002 I had taken the challenging step to become a team owner. Just one truck, some motorcycles and a loyal group of sponsors to start with. Yet, from these beginnings, we worked and worked to become what we are now; a team with World, European and National Championships to our credit and a success record that includes over 120 podiums.

“In 2025, we will field current season KRT Ninja ZX-10RR machinery and I can only say this is a dream come true. Rest assured we will do our best to fulfil the ambitions of Ninja fans across the world in the coming season. We are truly honoured.”   

Experienced American rider Garrett Gerloff will join the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team on the Ninja ZX-10RR for 2025, bringing with him proven podium capability and a single-minded desire to achieve even greater results.

For Kawasaki, Shigemi Tanaka, General Manager, Marketing & Sales Division, Kawasaki Motors, Ltd. explained the reasoning for the latest WorldSBK strategy: “Manuel has a unique combination of experience, achievement and enthusiasm and his record of success is testament to his tenacity and professionalism. Already the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team are working closely with KRT in the current WorldSBK Championship, so the channels of communication on WorldSBK issues are firmly established and productive.

“For Kawasaki, it’s important to maintain a presence in WorldSBK with our Ninja brand. With our support for Kawasaki Puccetti and via the transfer on loan of our factory Ninja ZX-10RR race assets – we can publicly show our appreciation of Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and be confident that the Ninja brand will continue to play a significant role in the WorldSBK paddock.”