Our attention taken by the magnificent clashes of the Thai Grand Prix MotoGP and the last duel 2023 between Alvaro Bautista et Toprak Razgatlioglu in Superbike (but what a weekend!), we only gave time to Supersport where, in any case, the opposition to the couple Nicholas Bulega / Ducati is only episodic. And afterwards, we preferred to relive this last round from the point of view of the now only Frenchman in the category, Valentine Debise, 5th in the championship.
Thanks to him for this interesting insight, in many areas…
Valentin, we're going to relive last weekend from your point of view. So if I summarize the context, you arrive at Jerez, the last round of the championship, in 6th position in the general classification after having missed a weekend due to a virus, plus a race afterwards where you were not 100% physically. That's it ?
Valentine Debise :
“No, no, it was only the weekend where I couldn't participate and then there was a race or two, I don't know, where I had mechanical problems. »
Okay, so what state of mind do you arrive in? As you are 6th, do you look at the ranking where we see that you are 8 points behind Sofuoglu and 9 points ahead of Tuuli?
“Well yes, of course! Well afterwards, I knew that Tuuli was in a less good phase lately, with the big game he took in Aragon and all that. So Tuuli, I wasn't really worried. Afterwards I knew I could get 5th place. And Sofuoglu, I mean, he had a season a bit like mine, with races where he rode well and races where he fell. I didn't fall but I had less good races and all that, and often we fought together, so that's why we finished almost together in the ranking. So obviously I see Sofuoglu and so I drove a little with him during testing to see how he rode, and I saw that he was in a little difficulty. So there you have it, I knew I had my chance of finishing 5th. »
From the trials, do you observe your opponent?
" Of course ! I mean, everyone puts pressure on themselves: when we go to sign autographs together at the Paddock Show, everyone sends each other a bit of 'carrots' to create misinformation. Well there you go, it’s competition, it’s part of the game (laughs). »
So let's talk about testing. First session, almost no one rides because it's wet, but you go out anyway and you do 2nd...
" Yes. In fact, it pisses me off to be on a circuit and not ride. The team didn't really want it but I pushed it and in the end it didn't change anything. The only thing is that normally we keep sets of spare tires in case there is a red flag, but two red flags is an almost impossible case. So the only advantage of not driving is that I would have had 2 sets of tires. But that means that the set of tires that I used during testing in the rain on Friday morning was a set of tires that I was not able to put on during warm-up because in the first race we didn't didn't get a red flag. So in the warm up they all went on new tires and I on old tires, but in fact it didn't change much, except that I drove in the rain, so if it had rained, I would have had surely an advantage because we had noted information regarding the settings of the bike. »
In the Friday afternoon session, you finished 5th so ahead of Sofuoglu who is 9th and Tuuli who is 16th, so that comforts you for the championship? What are your impressions of the bike, the circuit, all that?
“We know that in Jerez there are always corners, notably the 2nd, the right after the return straight, the long left and the last corner, where there are always water stains that don't dry after almost never. And there, that's what happened; we left and there were water spots which were quite substantial, and as we drove, they dissipated. So the start of the session was very slow. I'm lucky that it's a circuit that I know very well so I knew where the water stains were and it didn't bother me a lot even though there were quite a few guys who fell on the stains. of water. Afterwards yeah, I had a little difficulty with the hard tire and when we switched to the soft tire, it's true that I managed to ride quite fast and be quite comfortable. We went with the Aragon settings because it's a Spanish track and the grip is quite similar on the two tracks with the Pirelli. It slips quite a bit when accelerating, and so pretty quickly I felt comfortable and ready to attack. »
We arrive at the Superpole on Saturday, where you are 9th, 1/10 ahead of Sofuoglu. Why 9th?
“Well anyway, all year long it was a bit of my big fault, qualifying. I always have trouble doing a quick ride straight away. I arrive, if I find a good wheel, I get behind and I manage to follow, but doing it alone, I always have difficulty. So that’s something I’m going to have to work on this winter. Seen that. I don't have an unlimited budget, I spend a lot of time driving on old tires you see. I still had quite a few new tires that the team had given me at the start of the year, but afterwards I often drove on recycled tires, so it's true that that's why in I'm good at racing, because I've trained a lot, and on the other hand, achieving a good time over 2 laps with new tires, I'm having trouble. I'm having trouble exploiting the extra grip, so that's something where I'm going to have to spend a little more money on tires this winter and practice switching tires and trying to figure out how to pilot. This is an area of improvement for next year. »
Ah yes, honest and interesting. Tell us about the first race, where you finished 5th, after having been 4th for a long time, one second from the podium...
“There were always these water spots, so we will say that on the trajectory, by being very precise, we manage to drive in a normal way, but I know that there are several turns where I put the wheels at 5 or 10 cm of water stains each time during testing, so in the race it was not easy to do. I was able to ride pretty much alone, but riding in a pack was a little more complicated. In the first lap, Manzi came across a water stain because he was being overtaken. In fact, as soon as you get overtaken, you go over a patch of water and you lose a lot of time, and depending on the turns, you lose more or less. And as a result, I managed to get a good start and slip through. I had opted for the short gear and not the long gear, so that means that at every start I left the grid well. I found myself in the good pack, but I overtook Huertas, he overtook me, I overtook him, so I lost the podium pack a little. In 2 or 3 laps, I get back on the podium quite quickly and there Manzi overtakes me, and he overtakes me in the worst place. So there I lose, I don't know, a second and a half. Afterwards, it's okay; It was only him who overtook me and we put a gap on Huertas and I spent the whole race chasing. I managed to get back not very far from the podium, I was at 2 or 3/10 so I really had a good pace. »
At that time, you were 4th and you came back behind Caricasulo's Ducati, which made the Dorna Sports commentators scream...
“There you go, I was 4th at that time, and then I made two consecutive errors in the same lap. In fact, since I was close, I decided to put the collar back on even though I was already hanged. So that was my mistake in wanting to do even more, and in doing that, I lost the front twice, I passed over the water stains twice, so there I didn't lose bad time, and having lost the aspiration I really struggled to do fast times. And I also think that I had hit my rear tire quite a bit, so I couldn't get back into rhythm, and as a result I was caught and overtaken by Navarro on the last lap.
So there you have it, I'm a little disappointed because I think I had a possible podium. Finally, I would have been happier to finish close to the podium and not make it, than to be 5th and a little further away. »
