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The Tissot Aragon Round was a memorable one for the story of the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as the final quarter of the season ignited. With an eighth different winner of the year and an emotional return to the top step, plus a home favourite and a Championship contender’s return, there was certainly no shortage of picante quotes from Aragon this week.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “My performance was 10/10… it’s the same Bautista as last year”

A Sunday double for Alvaro Bautista, who explained his Race 2 performance and stated that he’s well and truly back to his best: “In Race 2, lap after lap, it was getting better for me and increased the pace. Every lap, it was +0 to Toprak, then I’d set the fastest lap and it’d be +0, shit! In the last laps, he couldn’t follow me so I’m really happy as I felt very focused and very concentrated all the race, arriving to the limit in all the areas. I can say that my performance was 10/10 and it’s the same Bautista as last year – still with a little bit of pain with the ribs. From Most, we changed something and it wasn’t that we went fast straight away because you need to get confidence. This weekend, from FP1, we changed nothing on the bike. We just got the feeling, took the maximum of the bike and we can be confident. I struggle in the beginning more than last year. Now, I feel that I am competitive again because I have a good feeling with the bike but it’s not easy to be patient. At Portimao, I had the opportunity and I wanted to eat Toprak! This is not the Alvaro who won two titles: that one is patient, has a cool head and does the maximum without taking risks.”

Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven): “I won the race of my life”

The 19^th rider to win a WorldSBK race and a MotoGP™ one, Andrea Iannone was a popular winner in Race 1: “I put everything in me; I lived a difficult moment and for sure today is like freedom for me. I felt a good energy and I know I’m a strong man. I won the race of my life, not the race itself. After four years out, I achieve my first win in WorldSBK; we struggled out but now we’ve won. I think on the last lap I could have improved but I ran out of fuel on the back straight. All of the last corner was with the clutch and I arrived for the speed but not with the engine. I think God wanted that I won. I take the clutch, the bike goes off, I released the clutch and the bike came back on. I said “f**k, I don’t win this race?!”. If I wouldn’t win this one, I’d have gone home and not come back.

“Only I know when I struggled during this time, I missed my work, the bike, everything. It’s not easy; I waited for a long time and I’m happy today to achieve this result. For me, as a person, not for my career. For me, as a man, I think this is a great achievement. To comeback, I spoke with Gigi about coming back and he asked me if I’m sure because WorldSBK is so strong now, with it being difficult for Danilo to win a race and after four years away, for you it will be harder. I said ‘for sure, it’s possible I can race and ride fast, like the past’ and he believed in me. He never said it was impossible. He gave me a chance and I think that 80% of this result is for Gigi; maybe without Gigi, I wouldn’t be here.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I feel like I’m 70… we’re not playing in the park”

Making his highly anticipated return to WorldSBK, it was three P2s for Toprak Razgatlioglu, who felt slightly aged at the end: “I feel like I am 70 years old, maybe 80… in the last laps, the rear tyre dropped and Alvaro was very strong in the long corner. I push hard for the rest of the lap but he always made up the same time in the same places. I gave more than 100%, I rode the bike on the limit and I’m happy because we found a good setup and maybe, if we found it on Saturday, we’d have won the race. Anyway, we’ll see next year. In general, P2 is good but after many wins, it doesn’t make me happy. Without the injury or the break, I’d have a good setup earlier and start stronger.

Commenting on the FIM WorldSBK Stewards investigating his pass on Bulega at Turn 15, Razgatlioglu was infuriated: “I saw that they investigated the move I made on Bulega at Turn 15… this was a very stupid investigation because I didn’t touch him, he didn’t go wide and also, Alvaro passed me in the same way and stopped at that corner. It killed me because my bike doesn’t accelerate from there but nobody says anything because it’s racing. We’re not playing in the park and it’s better that the FIM say this; we aren’t playing.”

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) “If it’s not possible to win the title this year, it’s not the end of the world”

Not mincing words or beating around the bush, Nicolo Bulega wasn’t impressed with some of his rivals in the early laps: “Some riders were very aggressive with me, pushing me out. I tried to recover but at Turn 12, I almost took out Van der Mark, so I had to release the brake, go out and then I lost a lot of positions. I tried to recover but to catch Toprak and Alvaro, it was too late. At this track with the new surface, when you go off the racing line, it’s very dirty and difficult to keep the speed. When I almost touch Van der Mark, I went outside and almost lost the front and crashed. Then, when I was outside, I opened the gas and lost the rear and then lost more positions. To overtake here, it’s a bit difficult and also because I didn’t have the perfect feeling when braking. All the race, I was overtaking but it was too late.”

Speaking about how he feels regarding the Championship fight, Bulega said: “If I can win, then everyone – especially me – will be happy. If it’s not possible to win it this year, it’s not the end of the world. It’s my first year, I’m enjoying the battle with these great Champions that have been here for a lot of years and I’m learning, like in the Superpole Race so, race by race, I have more experience and I am happy for this.”

Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW): “I honestly don’t know what was going on at the start of the season”

Talking about his phenomenal form in recent rounds, Garrett Gerloff said: “I honestly didn’t know what was going on at the start of the season; I thought it was me as a rider, I thought I was done. I think there were just some things with the bike that weren’t coming together for whatever reason. Now that everything’s been figured out, it’s simple: I show up, I have speed. Superpole still sucks but besides that, everything feels good.”

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