Domi Aegerter admitted after his best result of the season: “I thought about quitting”

Jeremy Alcoba has made Kawasaki the most successful manufacturer of the final quarter of the season. Up until the summer break, the Greens had managed just one podium finish, with the Spaniard finishing third in the first race at Donington Park. In Cremona at the end of September, Alcoba triumphed in both races, whilst at Estoril he finished third and first. In Race 1 on Saturday in Jerez, he was just half a second behind the winner and world champion Albert Arenas (AS Yamaha); Alcoba finished second after a strong comeback.

Following in his wake, Dominique Aegerter also improved significantly from Cremona onwards, securing a top-10 finish in northern Italy as well as at the subsequent round in Estoril. At Jerez, the Swiss rider on his Kawasaki finished fifth, achieving his best result of the season on the final weekend.

“We found something during the last test at Cremona; before that, the overall package wasn’t quite right,” Domi explained in a one-on-one interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. “It was a bit off in terms of throttle response, a bit off with the suspension, a bit down to me, and a bit down to the team. It’s all about tenths of a second; now I’ve got a better feel for it and therefore more confidence – the bike has come on.”

In 2021 and 2022, Aegerter became World Champion in the middleweight class, winning 27 of his 44 races – he stood on the podium 35 times. Commenting on the level of competition today, the 36-year-old says it is much higher than it was back then. “Back then there were ten strong riders; today there are five more, but the bikes are also much closer in performance. Fifth place is my best result this year, so I can be satisfied with that. But when your team-mate is faster, that’s always a bad thing. He’s been a winner in the last five races; since Estoril, I’ve been building up my confidence. Midway through the year, I thought about quitting; I was completely shattered mentally. When you don’t even finish in the points, it’s very bitter. It’s only just happened last weekend, but better now than never. The last two years have been tough; I had to rebuild my confidence first.”

Everyone in the team was delighted for Dominique; his crew chief, Manuel Cappelletti, kissed him on the forehead. And team principal Manuel Puccetti said that it could easily have been a podium finish if he hadn’t lost a bit of ground at the start.

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In fact, starting from fourth on the grid, the veteran was dropped back to ninth place within the first five laps; from there, he fought his way back up to fifth place over the remaining twelve laps. “The others have better grip in the first eight or nine laps and can make the most of their torque,” said Aegerter, explaining the disadvantages of the 636cc Kawasaki compared to the larger-capacity bikes. “In the last six or seven laps, however, they’re worse off. Alcoba managed to overtake two rivals right at the start and had that extra confidence in his bike, which allowed him to brake two metres later. That’s why he was one or two tenths of a second faster. I couldn’t attack at first – and when I was able to, I managed to make up the ground.”