Carl Fogarty: ‘They all like each other’, believes WorldSBK is worse off for it

Alvaro Bautista completed his first WorldSBK hat-trick of wins last time out in Catalunya to extend his championship lead to 59 points. 

Putting the disappointment of Magny-Cours behind him when he was taken out by Jonathan Rea in race two, and therefore saw his championship lead greatly reduced, Bautista accomplished his first hat-trick since 2019. 

Toprak Razgatlioglu and Rea are Bautista’s title rivals with just four rounds to go but Foggy, who Crash.net spoke to recently about all things WorldSBK and MotoGP, feels the trio’s battle for glory will be less entertaining than it was during his time fighting at the top of WorldSBK.

The outspoken four-time champion has never been shy from causing a stir on track or off it and concedes today’s stars conduct their racing in a much friendlier manner.

"There’s always great racing, whether it was in my era, before me, or now," Fogarty told Alex Brundle during a filmed interview put on by headline sponsor Adrian Flux at The Classic: 2022 Silverstone. "I think maybe it’s lost that sort of, I don’t know, personality. Everyone seems to be really nice now. They all like each other and go riding and cycling together. I liked it when there was a bit of an edge to it and people didn’t really like each other.

"When it was Aussies against Brits and Americans, I think the English-speaking nations always had this thing. But now there’s not really many Aussies or Americans anymore for whatever reason. 

"In World Superbikes it’s a lot of Brits, Italians and the Spanish. They don’t seem to have the same sort of aggression to fall out with you or to win or to say what’s on their mind."

John Kocinski, Scott Russell, Colin Edwards and Aaron Slight were all rivals to Foggy while also creating some of the most memorable moments the world championship has ever seen.

James Witham was considered the “one good mate” to get into the Blackburn-born rider’s inner circle - even if it did become temporarily larger at the end of a race weekend.

"I don’t think any of us really liked each other, unless that was just me," Fogarty added.

"Having said that, after a race weekend on a Sunday night we’d often find ourselves in the same hotel, bar or pizza place having something to eat and a few beers and everything would seem to be ok. 

"Then on a Monday you thought; ‘I hate these guys again, I’ve got to think about the race next week’.

"It’s just different now. It’s a lot more politically correct now. Maybe the guys can’t be the personalities they want to be because they are controlled a lot by the teams, sponsors, the media - obviously social media plays a big part in that."