Italian version here.
The field of Supersport 300 World Championship for 2024 season includes as well a rider who proved his talent in Spanish and Junior World Championship, but needed some redemption after struggling last year in Moto3 World Championship: David Salvador.
Here we are talking about a talented guy, who won multiple Spanish championships and scored wins and podiums in Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.and Moto3 Junior World Championship (today known as JuniorGP), as he was as well runner-up in the latter in 2022 despite a shoulder injury. It is then normal that when Salvador stepped up to the MotoGP paddock in 2023, there were huge expectations on him. However, on the KTM lined up by CIP Green Power Team, the Spaniard was only capable of few exploits like in Silverstone (6th place) and generally struggled during the whole season with lack of performance, crashes and injuries. A difficult time that Salvador talked about as well in an episode of the Fast & Curious podcast (co-led by former World Supersport 300 rider Mika Pérez).
After finding himself out of the MotoGP paddock, David Salvador found a new home in Supersport 300 World Championship with Yamaha MS Racing Team and even if 2024 has been so far highs and lows, the youngster from Madrid has been able to show again his talent and score some valuable results, including the 5th place he got in Race 2 in Most after falling to last position during the first lap.
This new chapter in his career, his season in Moto3 WC and an eye on the future. These are the main points that Palmen in Motorradsport discussed with David Salvador in a nice, pleasant interview.
David, 2024 represent a new chapter in your racing career. How is it going in the Supersport 300 World Championship?
Talking about the team and the championship, I’m very happy in this paddock. The truth is that I didn’t know it and I’m surprised, because there’s a very good atmosphere and I like it a lot. Above all, I’m enjoying myself and that’s why I really get on a bike, right? It’s true that everything is a bit different, starting from the way you work with the team and from the bike, which has nothing to do with Moto3 and not even with the bikes I rode in European Talent Cup or PreMoto3. It’s true that sometimes I still ride as if I was in Moto3, so I still have to polish some details, but even if we haven’t got yet the best results possible, I am showing that the speed is still there and this is the most important thing at the moment.
What are the main reasons why you are not consistently in the front positions?
We are not doing well in the Superpole session and we are also a bit late in adjusting our setup for the race, which penalises us especially in Race 1 on Saturday. However, in the end this is my first year in this series and it’s also the first time that the team works with me, so we still need to improve. We can continue to make progress and work especially on the details where we know we are failing.
You talked about details that you still have to polish in your riding style. What are you referring to?
I’m kind of used to stopping the bike inside the corner, but with the Supersport 300 you can’t ride like that. At least with Yamaha, if the bike loses a bit of revs, then when you accelerate you fall a bit behind the other manufacturers. On circuits where acceleration plays a crucial role, you have to compensate with your riding. Me, I’m a rider who has a lot of confidence in the front end, brakes all the way in and stops into the corner and such a style doesn’t suit this category, so I am trying to adapt.
You are working on this areas to get closer to your goal, which is…?
The goal is always to win. The team has already won quite a lot in this category and I consider myself a good rider. I think we are one of the strongest pairs in the field, but we have been a bit unlucky so far. The start of the season was difficult: in Barcelona I was fighting for the win, but I finished out of the points following a touch with Jeffrey Buis; in Assen, the chain came off during the first race and I crashed in Race 2. Those events put us a bit behind in the standings, but we are improving and I am also refining my riding style accordingly, as I usually adapt very quickly to everything. In any case it’s difficult, also because it’s my first year in WorldSSP300 and I am racing against riders who have been there for some years already, although I am getting used to it.
And looking back at the time you had in the Moto3 World Championship, what can you say about that year?
It was very difficult for me, after I came as runner-up in the Moto3 Junior World Championship with Team Laglisse and fought with guys like José Antonio Rueda, Collin Veijer and David Alonso. The only one who was able to beat me in that year was Rueda. Therefore, I could not imagine it was going to be that bad and I couldn’t imagine I would have the crashes and injuries I ended up suffering. In the end, they sacrificed me a bit and for reasons I can’t understand yet, they didn’t give me the opportunity to ride in another team and the two-year contract I had with such team was “forgotten”. On top of that, the manager I had back in the day wasn’t able to defend my position regarding that contract, so I ended up leaving Moto3 World Championship after just one season.
After all, however, thanks to this experience I am here in WorldSSP300 and I have realized that I am still competitive and I really have the speed. Maybe in Valencia last year I would have told you that I was very angry, also because some things were said about me that were not true. I think that I have always behaved like a gentleman off the track and I have not spoken badly of anyone. However, some people still spoke really badly about me. But well…when it comes to the team I raced with, we can see that even with two different riders and a different staff, they keep scoring quite bad results. After all, I am very grateful to have gone through that stage, since it made me the person I can be now.
And what did you learn from that experience?
In the end you learn a lot, because I fought hard to get there, I made it where I wanted to be, but I ended up in a situation where they made life impossible for me on all sides. Such experience made me grow a lot and I could achieve a level of maturity that maybe I didn’t have. That season made me see things differently.
Thinking of the future, where would you like to be in the upcoming years?
I personally train and fight to win, so the most essential thing for me is to be involved in a project that can bring victories. Secondly, I don’t come from a rich family and I can’t bring any significant budget: if I had had money, I would have continued in Moto3. In the end I do not have anything clear right now. I only know that I want to grow as a rider and win.
Would you like to race, for example, in Moto2?
I cannot say that right now. For sure it would be another big change, but if you think about it, my career has all been about changes and changes and changes, so I would also like to stick with the same team and project for more than one year. In Moto3 Junior World Championship, I was first with Cuna de Campeones on MIR Racing and then KTM machines, then I moved to TM and a completely new bike, then to Team Laglisse and so again a different team and again on a KTM. In any case, I would definitely like to race in Moto2 one day, since Moto2 bikes are more powerful and it’s easier to see who is really talented. Moreover, since I was a little kid I have been fighting with riders who trained on bigger bikes like Pedro Acosta or Adrián Huertas. I also train with a Yamaha R6 and sometimes I also ride together with Moto2 riders…and in the end, I know I have the speed. We will see, but as I said before, the most important thing is to be somewhere I can win.
Have you already been in talks with any team for next year?
At first I would like to talk with my current team, which is MS Racing, and ask them about their plans. That way, I can understand their project and if they can fit me in, then from there we’ll see. Some other teams in the WorldSBK paddock have already contacted me, and I am considering alternatives, but the priority would be to stay in the team I am currently racing with. MS Racing is a team I really feel comfortable with: they are from Madrid, like myself, and the team boss and all the guys are very nice to me. We have the potential to win and fight for something important and that’s why I came here.
In conclusion, would you like to say “thank you” to anyone in particular?
It is true that I have had to work hard to get here, but without the support of many people I wouldn’t have made it. So, I am very thankful to my parents as well as to any person who gave me a little help, like the journalists who published videos and articles about and with me and any mechanic who has helped me so far. I could mention as well Julián Miralles, who has also done a lot for my career and is still helping me, and TM and Team Laglisse, for putting their trust on me in Moto3 Junior World Championship. And you know what? I am even thankful to the team who first offered me a two-year contract for the Moto3 World Championship and then failed to comply with it, because they still helped me by paying for my 2022 season in the Junior World Championship.
Palmen in Motorradsport is grateful to David Salvador for his availability and kindness and wishes him all the best for the remainder of 2024 season and the future.