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The Superbike spotlight is ready to be turned back on again, because in a week's time it will already be time for Portimao. Ahead of the Portuguese round, the teams and riders took to the track last week for a two-day test that saw Toprak and BMW top the timesheets.
We talked about what happened in Algarve with Serafino Foti, who we caught up with on Thursday evening in Milan at the Superbike Bleisure Reunion event, dedicated to sponsors and media linked to the world of production-derived racing.
"Unfortunately, the tests were again affected by the weather," said Serafino, "Toprak proved to be very fast, but we need to understand what kind of work has been done. I am referring to the tyres. Pirelli brought development tyres, but not everyone used them. Just to give an example: we only used one, so as a result we don't know how the others performed. So we will have to wait for the race weekend to get a clearer picture of the situation."
Were you surprised by Toprak? In Australia he was quite annoyed as we saw....
"Toprak was very fast and I had already anticipated this at the end of the Phillip Island round. In my opinion it was perhaps enough to wait instead of making all that fuss that was made after the race in Australia."
How can Ducati stop him?
"We will do everything to be competitive, aiming to beat him as happened in Australia. As I said at Phillip Island, you always have to wait for Europe to get a clearer picture of the situation, as the BMW is a very competitive bike and Toprak was not at the top of his game."
Will it be a two-pronged Ducati in Portugal?
"Alvaro was looking pretty good in Australia and I am confident. At the same time everyone expects to see Bulega up there at the front and I can well understand that. However, I remain of the opinion that there will be other strong riders like Petrucci and Iannone as well as the Bimota. Obviously Toprak is the rider to beat, but let's see what will happen."
Having mentioned Bulega, can we say that you are close to an agreement for 2026?
"We have been talking about it for some time now and the interest of both of us is to continue together next year as well. With his manager, Alberto Martinelli, we are discussing it and we are confident."
