Toprak Razgatlioglu (P1, P1, P1) – “It’s been an amazing weekend. The weekend didn’t start well on Friday but everyone has worked really hard and we kept improving. The team worked hard on our electronics and all the mechanics, worked so hard. We improved our feeling in the final sector and I’m really happy about that. This is my last weekend at Donington Park racing in WorldSBK so I’m really happy to take the hat trick of wins. That was my biggest target this weekend and I’m really happy we achieved it.”
Nicolò Bulega (P2, P2, P2) – “We knew it would be a difficult weekend on a circuit that doesn’t suit either the characteristics of our bike or my riding style. I have to admit that we weren’t in a position to attack Toprak, but at the same time, finishing a tricky weekend three times in second place is a positive result”.
Alvaro Bautista (DNF, P4, P3) – “I enjoyed the Superpole Race, which allowed me to start with the leading group. As always, however, in the first part of the race, I have to deal with the weight rule, which prevents me from pushing as hard as I would like. From the middle of the race, however, my pace improved lap after lap and allowed me to catch up with Bulega on the last lap. Nicolò closed the last corner well, and there was no point in attempting an aggressive overtaking manoeuvre.”
Andrea Locatelli (P4, P5, P4) – “Overall, it was a good weekend for us – we did a strong job also yesterday in Race 1, so I am happy with the weekend in general. In Race 2 I honestly think we brought home the maximum result we could achieve, we just need a small step in performance to get to the guys on the podium today. I enjoyed the races a lot, especially this morning in the Superpole Race it was good fun fighting with my teammate! In Race 2, I was keeping my lap time consistent, I was trying to follow the front group and in the end, we did a pretty good job. We need to keep looking forward, take all these positive things and bring home good points for the championship. Hungary next will be a new track and a new challenge for everyone, we will try to be fast from the beginning.”
Danilo Petrucci (P3, P7, P5) – “Today was a bit of a struggle. We were faster, but so were the others. It was a tough race, I stayed behind Locatelli the whole time and had to defend from Gerloff. Still, we brought home good points and remain third in the championship. I’m happy with how we’re approaching the weekend and with the team’s work.”
Garrett Gerloff (P8, P8, P6) – “I feel like today we made a big step with the bike, mainly in the electronics. It is just nice to feel that everything is coming naturally. In general it was a good day. I had two good starts and two good first laps, so I put myself in a decent spot and didn’t lose positions. I am pretty happy. Every time I ride the bike I have a clearer idea of what can be changed to make it better. But that takes time so I just need more time riding the bike to figure that stuff out. Everything is pointing in the same direction and we are all on the same page about set-up stuff. There is definitely more room for us to grow. I think if we can make some changes we can make an even bigger step in the right direction.”
Jonathan Rea (P5, P6, P15) – “It’s just a shame to end the weekend the way we did – coming from where we were Friday afternoon, the team did an incredible job for us to have a really strong Saturday, and also this morning I was riding well in the Superpole Race – I had a great fight with Loka! But, in Race 2, I knew from the warm-up lap that I had a problem in the front of the bike as I felt a huge vibration when I applied the brake. I wasn’t quite sure, I thought it might go away when the calipers heated up or as the race went on – but it never went away and it was so difficult to stop, especially when the rear grip dropped from the mid-race distance. We won’t let that spoil the weekend too much because there were a lot of positives to take and when you have issues like this, there’s nothing you can do – so onwards and upwards! Thanks to the team for all their hard work, it was very hot for everybody. Now we don’t have to wait too long to go again in Balaton in a couple of weeks!”
Dominique Aegerter (P7, P10, P8) – “Not a bad way to end the weekend – overall, it was a solid round. It’s a shame we couldn’t grab a better position in the Superpole Race to start from the third row, especially since our pace was good. A tough start dropped me back a bit, but we kept fighting and in the final race, I was able to work my way through and stay close to the top five. It’s been a positive weekend, and I hope we can carry this momentum into Balaton in just two weeks.”
Andrea Iannone (P10, P9, P7) – “This Sunday we made a step forward in terms of feeling and race pace. In the SP Race, I managed to make up several positions and get into the top nine, allowing me to start Race 2 with less gap. In the afternoon, it was a waiting race. I knew I had more tyre in the final stages, so I tried to wait for the right moment to attack. There are few overtaking opportunities here at Donington, and I didn’t have the confidence to do so in the final two sectors. A straightaway in the chicane made me lose my rhythm, but then I managed to move up to seventh place. I felt I could go faster, but in the slipstream, the front tyre was heating up. We’re returning from Donington with some good points in the standings, which will give us confidence heading to Balaton!”
Remy Gardner (P9, P12, P9) – “The long race was definitely better than the sprint. I had a good start in the Superpole Race and felt strong early on, but we struggled a bit in the second half and couldn’t challenge for the top nine. In the main race, though, I felt much better and managed to recover from 15th on the grid to ninth. The pace was solid throughout. It’s a decent result, and we’ll aim for more at Balaton in a few days.”
Xavi Vierge (P11, P13, P14) – “I’m very frustrated with today’s race and with the weekend overall, to be honest. I already knew this would be a tough round, but of course you always hope things will go a bit better. It’s true that we worked well and that we were closer in terms of lap times than in previous years, but unfortunately everyone else has also improved, so even if the gap to the front was smaller, the races were still extremely difficult. Once again, I struggled with rear grip from the very beginning, which made things hard in the battles. I had to fight from far back and every time I managed to overtake someone, they would get back past me as soon as I tried to accelerate. So I couldn’t really move forward and was constantly fighting, losing contact with the group ahead, and having to start over. It’s frustrating because I actually felt good on the bike — the feeling is strong, especially in braking and corner entry — but we’re still missing too much in the drive area, and that makes it really hard to ride the way I want. The potential is there, but we just can’t show it properly right now. That said, the team is working really hard to fix the problem or at least reduce it, and I really appreciate that.”
Axel Bassani (P16, P14, P16) – “Sunday at Donington meant a difficult Superpole Race and Race Two. The feeling didn’t really improve from yesterday, so it was difficult for me to ride like I wanted, to push or to overtake. This meant we were outside the points in both races. Now, we have to understand why these kind of races happen. We will try to improve, continue to believe and never give up.”
Yari Montella (DNF, P15, P13) – “A bittersweet Sunday. The Superpole was compromised by the long lap penalty from yesterday’s race. In Race 2, I struggled a lot in the early laps, I had no confidence in the bike, no grip at the front and the rear was sliding. Things improved in the second half and I was able to fight back up to thirteenth. It’s a shame, as the weekend had started well. I feel sorry for all the hard work we put in. Now it’s time to focus on Hungary and come back stronger.”
Iker Lecuona (DNF, DNF, P10) – “This weekend has been a bit black and white for me. Yesterday we had an electrical issue with the bike. We thought we had solved it, and everything seemed fine during warm-up, but in the Superpole race the same problem arose again. That wasn’t ideal because we missed out on valuable race laps and tyre consumption data. Honestly, I was quite frustrated, also because I wasn’t feeling great on the bike and we needed that information to make some setup adjustments. After that, I told Tom (Jojic) that we had to turn things around and try to reverse the situation. To cut a long story short, from the very first lap of Race 2 I immediately felt a real improvement and the bike felt good, with much more grip than we’d had all weekend, even more than in qualifying. The tyre choice was the right one. Of course, starting from very back on the grid and with such a tight field, there wasn’t huge room for improvement, but I was able to make several overtakes and maintain a decent race pace. At least this afternoon I was able to fight, I enjoyed the race, and ultimately we brought home a not-so-bad tenth place.”
Michael van der Mark (P13, DNF, DNF)– “This has been a very tough one. It seemed that the odds were against us this weekend. There was this crash on oil I couldn’t avoid in FP3, then we were struggling with different technical issues. Everyone worked really hard but the only reward we got was the points from race one. Now we will regroup and then head to Hungary; a new track for everyone and I am sure we can turn our fortunes there again. Toprak has shown the potential of the bike and I am happy for him and the team for the hat-trick. We all will work very hard now and my aim is to be back in the mix before we go into the summer break.”
Alex Lowes (DNF, DNS, DNS) – “Obviously it was a disappointing Sunday for us. After the crash yesterday my foot got caught by my bike’s rear wheel, and I overextended my ankle. This morning we tried riding in the warm up session. There was not massive pain but I didn’t have enough movement to get into the position I needed to on the bike. I also felt my movements were not fast enough. With this in mind, if we could not ride in a proper way we decided to miss the races on Sunday. Not just for me, but for the other riders around me. We just have to take the positives from the weekend – which was the speed that we had, the speed that the bike showed, being able to qualify on the front row, being fast every session and leading a race. The potential is there, the project is growing and we need to keep this momentum for the next round in Hungary in a couple of weeks.”
