SBK, Stefano Cecconi, Aruba.it Racing Ducati: “Bautista is more unique than rare”

An extraordinary season for the team Aruba.it Racing Ducati the one just concluded sealed by triple crown which marks the conquest of the three titles up for grabs: pilot, builders And team. A world championship decided to Jerez in game 1 during the last round of the Superbikes 2023, but already “secured” on the weekend of Portimao thanks to the three victories of the world champion which gave the Spaniard of the red team an advantage of 60 points over Toprak Razgatlioglu. We interviewed Stefano Cecconiteam principal Aruba.it Racing Ducatijust got off the plane returning from Jerez, and this is what he told us…

First of all, congratulations on the splendid hat-trick, tell us, how did this season go?

“On paper it might have seemed easy, we started with the bike and the reigning world champion rider and everyone was expecting the result. In reality we worked really hard because Toprak Razgatlioglu is an incredible opponent, for many many stages he was there Jonathan Rea too, then he had a bit of a decline at the end, and two of them were left fighting, but the level, if anything, was even higher than last year. We had prepared it well during all the winter tests , everything we could do to prepare we had done with good results. There were some evolutions on the bike, but nothing too important, no upheavals. We were prepared, but it wasn’t a walk in the park, even if it may have seemed so given that we reached the last stage with a good advantage. The last races in Portimao and Jerez were proof of this, epic races to experience, not so much in the pits, but from home I think they were fun.

When did you feel it was done this season?

“I started to be relatively optimistic, I’m a coach, it’s not that optimism is really part of my DNA, in Portimao, because they knew that that was a track where we knew that Toprak Razgatlioglu would be very strong and would aim for the hat-trick, instead exactly the opposite happened. Alvaro, instead of playing defense, played attack and managed to win everything. In Jerez I was much calmer, beyond a bit of nervousness, but I knew that the track would be , I’m not saying favourable, but certainly not Toprak’s “home”, as Portugal has always been. We arrived quite calmly, but we still had the heart attack until the last lap in race 2. Even with the final twist that we didn’t expect and we also won the team title in daring fashion: equal on points with Yamaha and with the results during the season in our favour. I wasn’t optimistic there, Yamaha has an excellent team and had even a little bit of an advantage. This title also arrived, I couldn’t ask for more.”

There was a moment, right towards the end of the season, in which you had some small difficulties, at Most and Imola, but also with the tenth place in race 1 at Magny-Cours and the retirement again in race 1 at Aragon as have you overcome this situation?

“Let’s say that Alvaro made us overcome them because now he has a very different awareness and maturity from what he had in 2019. As long as the mistake, however unpleasant it is when it occurs, has an explanation. When the rider comes back and tells you he knows perfectly what happened, why, how it went and everything is confirmed by the data, don’t panic. The problem is when the driver returns to the pits and something has happened and he can’t tell you why, or even worse he tells you he didn’t do anything nothing different or wrong, I crashed and I don’t understand why. Well, this actually gives rise to a bit of concern, but it has never happened this season. Even when we made mistakes, both us as a team and him as a rider, we made We immediately realized why, so we didn’t panic and we went ahead, not calmly, because we are not calm in racing, but calm”.

Two consecutive world titles: what did the first teach you that was useful in winning the second?

“Maybe exactly this, never panic. The opponents are very tough and Toprak Razgatlioglu is exactly what Jonathan Rea was for many years, a hammer, always there, if he can’t win he still puts you second. It seems rhetorical, above all when the riders say it, Alvaro also says it in interviews, I don’t think about the championship, I look race by race, but it was truly the right approach, that is, instead of doing a lot of calculations and being accountants he tried to do the best possible even if it wasn’t essential. He always said I’ll see if I can win, maybe there’s a five point difference between first and second, but at the end of the season those five points could be fundamental. So much so that, I have to admit it, if we won the teams title on equal points with Yamaha is because he was never satisfied with second place and when he could he still won, even if, from an accounting point of view, it wasn’t necessary. I’m starting to get a few years old, perhaps past examples come to me a little fashion. Alvaro doesn’t race like Prost, he races like Senna.”

Let’s talk about Alvaro Bautista, a rider who has grown a lot…

“Alvaro is more unique than rare. You can’t say anything to him, he is an absolute professional, both in terms of preparation on the track, with the team, with his teammate. He has always gotten along with everyone, even off the track, during the many commitments with sponsors. He never arrives a minute late, he always arrives a minute early, he is practically close to perfection from this point of view. And as a driver, what he has done during this season has arrived to a degree of maturity… I don’t know if it will be possible to still see some improvement, but we are certainly now at the best version of Alvaro since he started racing. He says so too, he feels in the best state of shape and serenity he has had during his career. And this translates into results. However, when this serenity, awareness, a few things are missing, good races can come out, but it’s difficult for a perfect season to come out.”

A united team and an almost perfect bike…

“Considering how Gigi Dall’Igna thinks, you can always do better. This is Ducati’s approach. They continue to work despite dominating practically all the championships in which they participate, we also won the Supersport. In Superbike and MotoGP it is the bike of reference, but I see that they work a lot and continue the development of the bikes to smooth out all the small imperfections that are always present in a project which are then identified as potential weak points, without ever being satisfied. It is this perennial “dissatisfaction” that is bringing results. One could also afford to slow down, to invest less, but that is absolutely not what they are doing. We are already working towards 2024. We haven’t had time to finish the championship and we are already back on track with testing. Improvements will also be made to adapt to the new regulation which is a bit of an unknown. Safe adjustments will be necessary from the point of view of the bike and the way the riders ride. Alvaro will have an important burden to manage compared to this year.”

What do you expect for next season? With new rules and tough opponents, what about the team changes of Rea and Razgatlioglu?

“Next season will be a big unknown. We will have Toprak Razgatlioglu on a BMW and we don’t know at all what to expect. He could go very fast or have difficulties, especially at the beginning. Jonathan Rea on the Yamaha is the same. The rider cannot be discussed, the bike ditto, we fought until the last corner in Jerez in race 2, but we don’t know what to expect, what their strengths and weaknesses will be. From this point of view, there will be many to discover and understand. On the regulations , on paper, Ducati is technically already doing all the necessary reasoning to understand how to manage this increase in weight, in particular for Alvaro and possibly how to intervene on the bike in terms of balance and set up. During these tests Alvaro will also have to understand, we will upload the bike as necessary to see how it changes to ride. He knows the current bike perfectly, he will tell us how he feels with the weighted bike. On paper we know it, but between theory and practice we will have to see. We will find out something this week with these tests and with the upcoming winter tests. At that point we will understand how ready we will actually be for the new season. Instead we have to wait to see Toprak on the BMW because he won’t test the bike straight away, this will remain an unknown for a while.”

And Bulega? What do you expect from him?

“From Nicolò, let’s say that a somewhat particular situation has arisen because it is not customary to bring a rookie in the category directly into an official team. Normally, as happened in the past with Michael Ruben Rinaldi, we try to introduce a rider into a new category with less pressure, moving from a satellite team, following a more gradual growth path. Nicolò will have a considerable baptism of fire. He will find himself in a new category, with the bike and his two-time world champion teammate. Zero pressure cannot be considered an approach for him. We will do everything possible to help him, so as not to make him feel under pressure, under scrutiny, but working with a view to growth, not expecting immediate results. But at the same time it is the right thing for us too , having Alvaro available in the state of form he is in, it would have been difficult to place someone even stronger alongside him. If he is the reigning champion it means that at the moment there is no stronger one. It wouldn’t have been that useful to play with two strikers, beyond the cost, playing with two top riders would also be a significant expense, but also not necessary at this moment, so it’s a somewhat unique opportunity to make this move , introduce a rookie directly into the official team. As far as the result is concerned, we are focusing on Alvaro, our guarantee, on the other hand we can do this job with Nicolò. Having said that, given how he rode, how he dominated the Supersport and the tests already done with the Suoperbike, some expectations have been created. Nicolò goes fast, he is very serious, he is also a great professional and, despite being very young, he has great experience, he has been racing all his life, he was a child prodigy, raised by the VR46. Zero pressure, but it made our mouths water a bit, so a rookie season, but where, in my opinion, we will also get some satisfaction from him.”

“Yes, relatively, because if anything, one of Alvaro’s “flaws” is this, even on the evening that he wins the world championship he goes to bed early and in the morning he wakes up at half past five to go to training. Let’s say that on how to enjoy it we have to work on it a bit, it’s one of the points that needs to be improved in the future. Jokes aside, he was already focused on the tests so he didn’t want to overdo it and then perhaps not be 100% for the tests which, being the first ones we’ve done, are very important for setting up the work. Let’s say that he contained himself in the celebrations to give everything in the tests, certainly before Christmas he will have the party and there we will see him 100% also from that point of view, once a year he too can afford it. Then in a We’ll start again a bit, Alvaro’s wild card in Sepang in MotoGP will be available.”