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The double Top 10 result in Australia is a sign that Yari Montella is adapting well to the Ducati Panigale V4R of the Barni Spark Racing team. In his debut weekend among the big boys of World Superbike, the rookie from Campania was able to put himself in the spotlight with an excellent progression and a positive Sunday. The best way to start this arrival in the premier class with a smile and look forward to Portimao and the next rounds of the season. The expectations for Portugal and the emotions felt on his debut were just two of the topics we talked about with the 25-year-old, who told us with a cool head about the feelings with which he left Australia.
Yari, how would you sum up the Round at Phillip Island in one word?
"Satisfactory. I am quite happy with what it was and especially with the improvement we are making. From the first tests in Jerez to the race weekend, we were always improving and closing the gap with the leaders. I'm very happy with that, because we chose to adopt a gradual learning method, thinking it will benefit us later on."
It seems that the fruits are already beginning to be seen.
"Yes, I am happy because I feel more and more comfortable riding and with the bike. I understand more and more things, I'm moving the limit a little bit further and, as I ride, I feel I still have some margin. The weekend in Australia, in and of itself, was positive. Apart from Saturday in Race 1, we were able to finish strong on Sunday with two very good races and another improvement between races. This also gives me hope for the future, because after each session everything is becoming more automatic for me: I'm finding the same feelings again and I'm starting to understand the changes we make to the bike and how to work with the electronics to refine it. I'm also happy with the way the team is working, so I would say everything is pretty positive at the moment."
In what do you think you have matured the most so far?
"I'm not getting too excited, too eager to prove that I'm ready for this change. I am more focused on learning than proving, because I am convinced that the more I learn, the more I can prove, bringing results."
What did Barnabò and your mechanics say to you after the good performance you achieved?
"They were all satisfied, because no one expected it. Least of all me: in Race 2 I was almost amazed that I was able to maintain such a pace, which I had not been able to do even in the Sprint race. As I said, I was able to improve within the same day, and after Saturday's crash, a Sunday like that was good for everyone a little bit."
Did debuting with a crash put more pressure on you on Sunday, or did it not affect you?
"I will tell you that in Race 1 I felt a little more nervous, because obviously it was my first race. The crash, however, was more a matter of judgment: I had always been riding alone over the weekend to work on the details, and when I was in the pack in the race, with the slipstreams, I got to the end of the straight much faster than usual. And having the wind in my favor, too, was a nice change. I tried to brake slightly earlier, to get the right speed with which to go through the corner. But I was slightly more toward the center of the track than the ideal line, and I hit some bumps that I didn't know were there, and my front locked up. It was a mistake due more to inexperience than anything else, because once the lights went out I felt comfortable."
You had said after testing that your goal was to fight for the Top 10 in Australia, so was it the weekend you expected?
"Eighth and ninth place were close to my goal of getting into the Top 10. I'm very happy with how it went, though, because finishing 1.2s from fifth in Race 2 was a good feeling for me. Irrespective of the ninth place itself, which can be a more or less good result, my main goal is to be closer and closer to the best and I got to learn so much from riders much more experienced than me. I am proud of what I have done and the goal always remains to stay permanently in the Top 10, because now I need to reconfirm myself on different tracks and in different conditions and to shave away something, little by little."
Now comes Portimao, which is another track where you have always gone well. Do you think the results will be in line with Phillip Island, or will the values in Europe, without the flag-to-flag, be different?
"Portimao is a track I like, but it is very different from Australia. The flag-to-flag has shuffled the cards a little bit but not even that much, because in the end the starting positions were reconfirmed. In my opinion, what will change is that there will be more riders going harder, because it is a better known track and less particular than Phillip Island, which is a unique track that you can adapt to or not. Portimao is already a more driven track, with more braking, more hairpins and more mixed sections, where you can maybe make a difference. Now, fortunately, we have two days of testing before the race and it will be interesting to see if we will be able to repeat everywhere what we did in Australia, or if there is still a little something to work on."
How much margin do you feel you still have?
"I don't know, but I'm sure I have some margin because I haven't had any crashes yet because I was pushing too hard. I'm gradually getting to the limit and now I'll be maybe 80 percent. Closing this 20%, and getting to have full understanding of the vehicle, is the part that is a little bit more difficult. I don't know how long it will take, but I am convinced that with the work we are doing in the box, and the mentality we have, we can do it. To improve, I have to try to have as much feeling with the bike as possible, to get to know it and trust it, because in Australia we saw that the points where I was furthest away were the fast corners, and there you can see the difference between those who know the bike and trust it and those who are still wavering. At the moment, I continue to have respect for my bike: we are still getting to know each other, these are just the first few dates (smiles ed.)."
When you were asked for a prediction on the 2025 World Champion, you were the only one to bet on Bulega without hesitation. What do you think Nicolò has more than Toprak and the other Ducati riders?
"I bet on him because his performance last year was important, since it was his first year, and we riders tend to express ourselves better in the second season, because there is not everything to discover anymore. So, I thought that if he was already fighting for wins already last year, he would do it this year by making even less effort. He manages to be very fluid and so clean in his riding, and that's another aspect that I also found in the data. I kind of expected he would be strong right away, although I was impressed with the difference he was able to make a little bit on everyone. For me anyway, it's fortunate that he's there, because I can see what he's doing through sharing data, studying and learning from him, not just seeing him on the track."
You said he was your reference in Supersport as well. What did you learn from him that is still helping you today?
"A lot of little things, such as how to use the brake, which I saw him do in Supersport and tried to do in my own time. Those little things I'm carrying them forward and I saw him do it too, because they work in Superbike the same way they worked in Supersport."
After Round 1, people are already starting to talk about a Ducati Cup. Do you expect that some action will be taken in the coming races, to rebalance the championship?
"If it continues like this, I expect that some decision will be made. But it will definitely affect all Ducatis, and as long as I am the fourth or fifth Ducati rider, I will be more focused on trying to close my gap with them than on the rest."
Photo credit: Barni Spark Racing Team
