WorldSBK Most Friday FP Results | Fired up Razgatlioglu fastest as Most debuts

Toprak Razgatlioglu had the honour of inaugurating the WorldSBK Championship’s first visit to the Most Autodrom as he swept to a dominant top spot by six tenths of a second.

The Turkish rider comes to the Czech venue fired up to regain lost ground in the 2021 WorldSBK title fight after he was dramatically eliminated from action at the start of the second and final race at Assen two weeks ago.

His first DNF of the year, with main rival Jonathan Rea collecting a trio of wins in the Netherlands, Razgatlioglu has slipped 37 points adrift of the Ulsterman.

However, he was in fine form around the high-speed Central European circuit, his fastest time on the Pata Yamaha R1 in FP1 proving head and shoulders above the competition.

He headed up British duo Alex Lowes - fresh from penning a new Kawasaki agreement for the 2022 season - and Ducati’s Scott Redding, while wild-card Marvin Fritz enjoyed a headline-grabbing start to his maiden WorldSBK season with a run to fourth on the YART Yamaha R1.

Andrea Locatelli picked up from where left off with his maiden podium in Assen by going fifth best for Yamaha, ahead of championship leader Jonathan Rea, the Kawasaki man enjoying a relatively modest start to the weekend ahead of Saturday when he will attempt to reel off a sixth consecutive pole position.

Tom Sykes led the BMW charge in seventh, with Alvaro Bautista quickest Honda in eighth; Local rider Karel Hanika on the second of the YART Yamaha wild-cards was ninth best, with Garrett Gerloff rounding out the top ten on the GRT Yamaha before going on to lead the way in the slower rain-affected FP2 session.

Fritz and Hanika are two of four new faces on the 2021 grid this weekend, with Alessandro Delbianco - who competed with Althea Mie Honda in 2019 - returning to the MIE team in place of COVID-19 struck Leandro Mercado, while American racer Jayson Uribe bowed for Pedercini Kawasaki in 23rd.

2021 WorldSBK Most, CZE | Friday Free Practice [FP1 + FP2] RESULTS