The words of the Turk at the end of the Portuguese weekend
October 1, 2023
Are not you happy
“Usually I’m positive and optimistic, but this time I’m not at all. I did everything to win, but compared to Bautista’s Ducati my bike doesn’t have enough power and acceleration. Today I felt like I was riding a 600. Bautista was faster than me when going down the stretch and especially when exiting corners. When he opened the throttle, his bike slipped a little, but accelerated strongly, while mine didn’t have enough acceleration.”
Impossible to beat him
“If he had tried to pass me inside the corner I could have countered, but he overtook me in acceleration and I couldn’t do anything about it”
Will anything change next year when you drive a BMW?
“I hope so. I hope to have more speed and more power. If this is the case I will have a better chance of winning. Yesterday I gave 110% today 200%. In some corners the bike slipped front and back, but I kept open because I had no alternative: I just wanted to win. At the end my front tire was really at its limit and I couldn’t ask for more. I gave it my all but he is a very fast rider and he knows how to get out of the last corner. I knew he would wait for the last corner because if he had passed me first I would have replied.”
Are you more angry or disappointed?
“I am both angry and disappointed, because I fought with him for 20 laps, always giving my all, and I only lost because he overtook me coming out of the last corner. He is a very strong driver but above all he is able to take advantage of the his bike which is extremely high-performance”
