In the spotlight of World Supersport Championship since his double victory in Portugal, Valentine Debise continued his exotic adventure on the ZXMOTO 820 RR at Assen, Balaton Park and Most: his victory in Hungary and his new double in the Czech Republic now place him 2nd in the world standings, and we were able to interview him before the round at Motorland Aragon.
And as usual, issue #53 analyzes the situation with its usual lucidity and frankness…
Access the first part here Supersport Interview with Debise
(I.e. 50% of the wins. So you're forced to start thinking about the championship now. You're second, 19 points behind, which is less than a race away…
Valentin Debise: “Of course! I’ve been thinking about it from the start anyway. I said, ‘Next year, I can be world champion,’ knowing that I think I could have been last year. But once again, with my circumstances, it wasn’t possible, and so this year, I’ve been thinking about it from the start, even though it got off to a bad start.”
After that, we have to stay grounded, I repeat, “it’s a new project, there are many things we can’t control.” For now, things are going well for us, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point we struggle a bit more, so I’m staying grounded.
The goal is to try and optimize every race we do without making any mistakes, and above all, try to finish 5th or 6th like I did at Assen, if I can't do better. So I'll have to be on form until the end of the year.
Of the competitors, Arenas is clearly the clear leader: he's very strong. He's had a lot of success so far, a little less so in the last race. And then there are the others, Öncü is very strong, Masia, as long as his bike is 10 km/h faster than the others, he'll be there.
And then, this year, there are a lot of good outsiders, like Booth-Amos, Mahias, Garcia, and so on. This year, it's very competitive, the pace is very fast, so there could be plenty of surprises. And if there are surprises, let's say I'm in front and my direct rivals are behind, at least that will create some points gaps. So that would be good, but it could also go the other way. So you have to stay focused because the competition is really very tight, very high-level.”
🎤 So, outsiders who can create a surprise, isn't that a sign that, all things considered, the Balance Of Performance is well balanced this year?
“But anyway, that’s exactly it: it’s a balance of performance. So that means if you have a rider, a motorcycle brand, and a team that are less skilled, they have a bike that’s a dragster, so they manage to be ahead. And a good team is limited in power, and therefore, they can’t be ahead. So yes, balancing the performance of everyone does indeed work. It’s a bit frustrating as a rider, but as I’ve always said, for the public, it’s great. So as long as there are people watching and enjoying the races, well, we have to put the riders’ pride aside.”
🎤 Because the downside, while it makes for great races, is that it doesn't highlight the driver's qualities?
“Well, no, I don’t think so. Then again, I hope there are people who are observant and trackside who understand. But yes, there’s an imbalance, that’s for sure. Anyway, you just have to be observant and see which riders switch motorcycle brands, and look at how the results vary. And then you can start to judge the level of the bikes and the teams.”
🎤 You're involved in a new project with the brand new ZXMOTO. You said at the beginning of the year that the bike was very close to the production model. Are there any small changes coming?
“So for now we're riding with the most basic version. In China, I think it costs €5000, something like that, and there's another version—I don't remember the exact number of Rs—but it has lighter wheels, a different fork, different brakes. And I think, I don't want to say anything wrong, but I think there are one or two different parts in the engine, but I'm not sure, so don't take my word for it. This version will be homologated soon. But for the moment, since it's working well with this bike and we don't have any time to do the tests, because we were supposed to do tests at Misano this week and we didn't go because at some point the mechanics need to rest: given the work they've done, we decided for everyone's sake not to go. So we have to We're waiting to do tests to validate the motorcycle, and then homologate it with the FIM. So, it's not urgent, because we're starting to understand the current bike better and better. So we don't necessarily need to change everything right away. But I think changing the two or three parts that are coming will give us an advantage. But, of course, you always have to validate it on the track before homologating it.”
🎤 Some of your rivals raced at Misano the day before yesterday. That should give them a slight advantage for the Italian round. But before that, there's Aragon, with its long straight. How are you approaching that?
“I’m approaching it with a fair amount of calm, because last year I managed to win with a bike that was really slow. So I think it’s a circuit that suits me well, because there are a lot of left-hand corners. But again, just because things went well one year doesn’t mean they’ll go well the next, and I know what I’m talking about. So I’m going there with my feet on the ground and I’m going to try to have fun, because I love this circuit. And then, as I said, if I finish in the top 5, I’ll be very happy. So there you have it, the competition is going to be really tight once again, because there are a lot of Spaniards, and even the Italians are good on these kinds of circuits, very fast circuits, because that’s what they have there.” So there are going to be a lot of customers, like last year when there were guys we weren't used to seeing up front, and they were. So, we'll have to do our best and have fun, and then we'll see how it goes at the end.
Thanks Valentine! Supersport Interview Valentin Debise Supersport Interview Valentin Debise
Supersport Interview Valentin Debise