WorldSBK: here’s what Bautista, Rea and Razgatlioglu think ahead of Most

The trio comprising Alvaro Bautista, Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu is putting on a real show in Superbike and this week they’ll be in action at Most, in the Czech Republic, for another unmissable round. The Spaniard holds a 17-point lead and this round also marks the halfway point as far as the championship is concerned, which means that all the riders will be very keen to score positive results before they head into the summer break.

First time’s the charm for Bautista?

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The championship leader, who made his first race error at the last round (at Donington Park), admits: “It will be the first time for me on this circuit with the Ducati Panigale V4R. For this reason, it will be very important to find soon the right direction in terms of setup and at the same time start working on different tire solutions”. It will be a unique debut for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider, but morale is high: “However, there is great confidence in light of the good race we had on Sunday at Donington”.

Jonathan Rea: "I expect a strong start"

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Rea didn’t score a win at his home round and had this to say ahead of the Czech round: “Most is an exciting one because it is the last race of the first part of the season. It was a new circuit for everybody last season so we had a lot of learning to do. We hadn’t tested there so it was a more difficult weekend than we expected”. But today he arrives in a different situation: “Armed with all the data we gained last season, and the improvements in the Ninja ZX-10RR, I expect to start strongly. I enjoy the circuit and they have worked really hard to improve it and re-asphalt it in a lot of areas”. Confidence is high and the Northern Irishman concludes by admitting: “The target is to go there to maximise our opportunities”.

The Turk’s expectations and memories of 2021

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Third in the championship, Toprak Razgatlioglu scored a triple win on Britain soil and this has of course helped, but he’s aware just how battle-ready his rivals will be this weekend: “In Most, like always I think we will see Johnny and Alvaro very strong, but we will keep fighting for the victory. I like the track and it was a nice fight on the final lap with Scott last year”. The track has undergone some maintenance recently: “There will be some parts of the track with a new asphalt so we will see on Thursday what the changes are like. We’re not looking at the Championship yet and I just focus race by race, same as always”. At a track where he won two of three races in 2021, the aim is clear: "The goal is only to fight for the win, and after the great feeling and very strong performance in Donington I am excited to ride my R1 again, but we will see what is possible.”

Translated by Heather Watson

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