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While the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship had a weekend off between the Dutch and Catalunya Rounds, MotoGP™ was in full swing in southern Spain at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the Spanish Grand Prix. During the weekend, five-time World Champion Jorge Lorenzo sat down to discuss WorldSBK, a potential move to the MotoGP™ paddock for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) as well as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Jonathan Rea’s (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) seasons.

ADVICE GIVEN, CHALLENGES LAID OUT: what would Lorenzo say to Razgatlioglu?

Lorenzo claimed three MotoGP™ World Championship titles for Yamaha in 2010, 2012 and 2015 as well as two 250cc World Championship titles in 2006 and 2007 and he spoke about what he would say to Razgatlioglu, as well as laying out the challenges he would face. Razgatlioglu has had two tests on the Yamaha M1 machine, at MotorLand Aragon and Jerez, with the first one heavily impacted by rain. His future, like a lot of the WorldSBK paddock, is not secured beyond the end of the 2023 campaign.

Discussing the advice he would give Razgatlioglu and the challenges the 2021 WorldSBK Champion would face, Lorenzo said: “What can he lose? I think he will always have open doors in WorldSBK to come back in case he doesn’t make it to be a winner or Champion in MotoGP™ but he needs to try. His talent is so big, he needs to give it a try and try to find the best option possible, in the best team he can get. If he’s not good, like Ben Spies for example who wasn’t as good as everyone expected, he can return to WorldSBK.

“I think he will find a way to be competitive on a MotoGP™ bike. It’s a matter of time. Obviously, MotoGP™ bikes have become so complex, you need to manage so many things compared to 20 years ago that all the small details are very important and you need a lot of experience to understand everything and to put together all the pieces to be competitive. He will need some time, but he could not be so aggressive with a MotoGP™ bike compared to a WorldSBK bike, because it’s a completely different type of bike.”

THE PERFECT MATCH: hoping Bautista and Ducati stay together

Bautista made his WorldSBK debut in 2019 with Ducati before switching to Honda for 2020 and 2021. He returned to Ducati in 2022 and he claimed his first WorldSBK Championship last year after a thrilling battle with Razgatlioglu and Rea, with the trio often not separated on track. Bautista’s form has continued in 2023 with the reigning Champion winning eight of the nine races held so far this season.

Lorenzo spoke about the Bautista-Ducati combination, saying: “Having everything match is like when you find the ideal match for you. Everything is easy. His riding style matches completely to the WorldSBK Ducati bike, which is very strong on the straight. He’s very small so he can be so fast on the straight but also be competitive in the corners. It’s a very difficult target for the rest of the teams and the riders so I hope they still stay together for a very long time, because they match perfectly.”

TAKING MORE RISKS: Lorenzo on Rea in 2023

While the race wins in 2023 have been shared between Bautista and Razgatlioglu, Rea has been fighting with them in the early stages of races before dropping back and has three podiums from nine races this season. Despite bringing an engine upgrade for 2023, Rea is yet to stand on the top step of the podium this year and it’s a situation Lorenzo related to when other manufacturers made a bigger step forward.

Discussing Rea in 2023, Lorenzo said: “I was in this situation a little bit in the past, especially in 2011. Honda made a clear step forward with their seamless gearbox that they were so fast on the straight, and I was trying to risk a little bit more with the Yamaha and I had many crashes. I had a terrible crash at Phillip Island and lost part of my finger. Everything becomes more complicated when you need these extra two or three tenths. Like Marquez, with the Honda and it looks like it’s also happened with Rea especially because Bautista and Toprak are very good riders and they have a very strong package. If your bike is a little bit weaker that year and you have very strong rivals, if you want to win, you have to take more risk.”

ON THE CATALUNYA ROUND: “spectators will see a great show”

WorldSBK heads to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for Round 4 of the season, the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round, this weekend. Lorenzo discussed the upcoming round and gave his thoughts on what might happen, as well as taking a trip down memory lane to remember some of the riders he watched when he was younger.

He said: “It’s nice to see WorldSBK again at Montmelo which is a really interesting track. Actually, I really love WorldSBK races. When I was a kid, I was following WorldSBK in the era of Carl Fogarty, Slight, Scott Russell and all these riders. Haga, Corser, Edwards… it was like a golden time for WorldSBK and it looks like now, WorldSBK is growing so much. Interesting races, interesting riders and now, in Montmelo, spectators will see a great show. I’m going to follow the Championship until the end.”

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