A strong first showing for Team HRC in the opening WorldSBK race of 2022

“I’m really very happy, as we’ve made a very good start in Superbike today. The first target was to complete a consistent race and then, of course, to score as strong a result as possible. I didn’t know what to expect in this morning’s qualifying, as it was totally new for me with these tyres, but it went very well, honestly. I lapped alone and finished seventh, not a bad position at all. Then in the race I didn’t expect P6 to be honest, but I made a very good start and was able to overtake a couple of guys in the first corner, so I immediately realised I had good pace. At a certain point, I lost the leading group but throughout the race my team-mate and I were able to gain a few seconds on those chasing us. We must continue to work and improve of course, but the bike has strong potential. It’s also great to be racing at home and have the fans back here supporting us. Feeling this support is fantastic. Tomorrow we have another great opportunity, so we’ll analyse today’s data and see what we can do in the next two races.”

“I’m really happy because we started this weekend having no idea whether we could finish the race. I broke a rib in testing at Barcelona only a couple of weeks ago and so to finish this first race, and with a good result too, represents a great start for us. I struggled a lot this morning to be honest and then in the race, I just focused on staying calm and trying to ride smoothly in order to reach the line. So this is important, because I’ve understood how to go fast without overdoing things physically speaking. Now we’ll check the data and see if we can take another small step tomorrow. Everything is new for me with the Honda of course, but we’ve improved with each exit and, step by step, I’m learning how to exploit the bike’s potential, so I’m very pleased. I want to thank my physiotherapist for helping me get here today and my team for supporting me in every way.”