Toprak Razgatlioglu ‘ready to race’ after blistering WorldSBK test pace

Toprak Razgatlioglu says he is ‘ready to race’ with two weeks to go until the opening round of the 2022 WorldSBK Championship at Motorland Aragon after giving his rivals something to think about with his fierce pace at the Barcelona group test.

Ramping up preparations for his title defence with the Pata Yamaha with Brixx team, Razgatlioglu was in fine form around the Spanish venue with a fastest time of 1m 40.571s set during the second day prior to rain arriving.

Putting him three tenths clear of the opposition - headed up by Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista - Razgatlioglu was pleased with the turnaround from an initially difficult start to the test to get into his groove come day two.

“Friday for me was not an easy day because we tried to find the set up, but the feeling was not so good. But, next morning [Saturday] the start was very positive because we found a good set-up and could see the problem – and also very good lap time for me! 

“After, we try also the new tyre from Pirelli but then the rain started. We could try the new electronic in wet condition, which was also working very good. 

“We are also improving set-up again with electronics and I’m very happy today. It’s a good feeling and looks ready to race. We have one more test in Aragon, where we will try some new set-up and new parts.”

Team-mate Andrea Locatelli, meanwhile, endured a more difficult couple of days on the sister Pata Yamaha R1 but was satisfied with the progress made as he prepares for his second season in WorldSBK.

"On Friday morning we were fast and the feeling was great! I had a small crash in the morning, but it was ok. In the afternoon I struggled a little bit with the feeling and we had some problems which meant we lost a lot of time on track. It was quite a strange day for us but today we tried to restart fresh. Unfortunately we had another small problem and lost more time in the morning.

"In the middle of the day it started to rain and it meant we could do some laps in the wet. The feeling was good and in general after the two days I am really happy.

"Now in Aragon, we will reset everything and start again – not from zero because we have a base set-up and a lot of good parts – but we have two days to focus on the bike in the official test and prepare.

"In the end we were a little unlucky here in Barcelona but it’s the life! We’ve already tested in Aragon so we have more of an idea, we will finish the work there and start ready for the first race of the season."