In 2024, the French Valentine Debise finished 4th in the world championship World SBK Supersport on a Yamaha R6 from the Evan Bros team.
However, he was not retained in his Italian team and had to belatedly seek a solution for 2025.
In this first part, he takes stock of this 2024 season with us...
Valentin, we'll start with a review of this year where, from the outside at least, it's positive since you finished 4th in the world championship on a Yamaha with the Evan Bros team...
« Yes, positive results, let's say. The only box I didn't tick was winning a race. So there you go, if there's a small downside, that's it! Afterwards, in any case, given last year, I've been constantly improving in terms of driving, and that's what's important in the end, it's continuing the progression that I started a few years ago. And then, what wasn't bad either, is that there were years when I finished the seasons badly, whereas there I had my best race in the last race. So there you go, there's a lot of positive."
So you say that you are progressing in terms of driving. Can you give us an example of an area in which you have progressed?
« There are always several subjects that are worked on but let's say that there are certain phases of riding, in terms of position, especially on the right side, where I haven't been happy with the way I was riding for a few years. So it goes from the classic position to the way of moving on the bike. And also, I worked a lot on my braking zones and the way of braking, especially on the brake grip and the pressure that I put on the lever. So those were subjects that were not easy to change because I hadn't necessarily worked on that before, because in fact I was adapting the bike in relation to what I was doing, whereas now I can adapt it with the settings that I want to have a bike that turns a little better, and suddenly that allowed me to gain in performance over a lap. And also I worked a little on the way of accelerating, because I lacked a little progressiveness. So I really tried to be a little more linear on that subject. So these are micro-details that I worked on over the year. Afterwards, the position, let's say that it's just a job that I had in mind, while the rest came more from the team who guided me in relation to their experience.
So we'll take this opportunity to ask you if you're one of the drivers who use the rear brake, and how?
"Yes of course, I use it, especially on the braking phases of the front brake where it is a phase that is always interesting for the rear brake, in relation to the suspension settings so as not to set the bike too hard. And then, I can also use it in other cases, at the start of braking or to exaggerate the slide a little and position the bike in the right direction. So there are several cases where I use it, but there are also corners where I don't use it at all! So we really adapt according to the circuits, and also according to the conditions at the moment T: sometimes in the race I will use it or not, whereas in the tests I used it or not. But in any case, the rear brake is one more element to be able to adjust the geometry of the bike a little. It is one more parameter that we have at our disposal, so we have to use it."
You say that the only small regret is not having obtained a victory...
"Yes, because at the start of the season, given the performance of their bike, I thought I could win a race. Afterwards, it is clear that the parts that Yamaha approved made us lose 3 tenths per lap this year, and I think that if I didn't win a race, it was the 3/10 that I was missing. So it was difficult to be really competitive this year with the Yamaha, compared to this little lack of performance that we had, even if the team really got everything they could out of the bike, and that's why we broke engines. They were at the extreme limit, to compensate for the lack of performance of the approved parts."
4th in the championship, 2nd Yamaha behind 2 Ducatis, but strangely enough it doesn't seem to have opened any doors for you, to put it mildly, nor changed your life...
"No, because it's still a Supersport world championship, so we mustn't forget that it's the least competitive and most ignored speed world championship in the world (laughs), so it's not like you're 4th in MotoGP, Moto2 or Moto3. We really come after all that, so it's not because you've been on the podium in Supersport that it's necessarily going to change your life, especially since I'm considered a senior citizen (laughs). So obviously, it's not going to open any doors for me. Despite everything, I still thought I could stay with the team, but you can see that even if what I did was good, it's not enough."
We saw the message you posted on Instagram. In fact, we'll put it in the article, because you explain a bit about your disappointment and the combination of circumstances that made you think you were going to return to Evan Bros, but then you didn't, even though you had already refused a lot of offers elsewhere. So you had to turn around and you ended up with Renzi Corse who, let's remember, doesn't have much experience in the World Championship, since it's a team from the Italian championship that did the European season last year, that is to say all the races except one outside of Europe, with Simone Corsi. They won the European championship, but with not many points compared to you. And so they are launching themselves this year for the first time in the World Championship, that is to say for all the races of the season.
You did some tests in Jerez with them, switching from a 4-cylinder in-line that you have been used to for years to an Italian V2: what can you tell us about these tests?
To be continued tomorrow…
Valentin Debise Supersport 2024
Valentin Debise Supersport 2024
