Razgatlıoğlu and Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Smash Lap Record in Most Free Practice
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu broke the Most WorldSBK lap record in Free Practice today as the sixth round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship began in the Czech Republic.
The defending WorldSBK Champion set a 1’31.506 on Pirelli’s SC0 compound tyre, designed to last full race distance, breaking last year’s WorldSBK record (set on a super-soft qualifying tyre) by nearly two-tenths of a second.
It was a pace marker set during the closing stages Free Practice 2 this afternoon, as the Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK team completed its regular Friday programme of race simulation laps with both Razgatlıoğlu and teammate Andrea Locatelli.
“Loka” was also happy with his day, finishing seventh but not far off the top three on combined times. Despite the extra challenge posed by evaluating two Pirelli SC0 options – the standard SC0 plus a development evolution – Yamaha’s engineers and the team were able to determine a positive base setting and identify improvements for both riders ahead of tomorrow.
With rain forecast from tonight and into tomorrow, Saturday “race day” could be tricky for the WorldSBK field. The first chance to check out track conditions will be during Free Practice 3 at 09:00 (CEST) before Superpole qualifying at 11:10 and Race 1 at 14:00.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: P1 – 1’31.506
“This morning we started well after Donington Park and the bike feels good immediately. In the first session there was some small setting problem, but in the second session we improve the bike, now I am feeling much better and we are ready to race. The lap time is very positive, a very good lap time and also after 25 laps with the rear tyre, I see 32.3 – this is very good for so many laps on this tyre! I am very happy and I set also the lap record with harder tyre! It is the first time this year we don’t use the X tyre, but anyway most important for me is the race and we are working for this.”
Andrea Locatelli: P7 – 1’32.102
“A little bit strange day because the feeling is not so bad, but just something small is missing! Also, we work with a different tyre spec compared to normal, so it’s a new compound and we need to understand the feeling. In respect to Donington, for sure it’s another step. We start with a good feeling on the bike and do a good rhythm on the long runs, so I am confident for tomorrow because we understand what we need to do. But also we hope for ok weather tomorrow because probably it will be raining a little bit. But, anyway, we have a good idea about the bike and we will try tomorrow to push for a good Superpole and then we will try to push really hard in Race 1.”
Paul Denning, Team Principal – Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK:
“An encouraging first day here at Most – the improvements to the track from a year ago are welcome and we’ve been able to translate the Donington pace to a very good start point at this circuit too. The lack of availability of the usual softer X tyre for the races has created some challenges, but the guys have adapted well and found a setting that has allowed both riders to stay very consistent even with a lot of mileage on the tyres. The weather looks a little bit unpredictable for tomorrow but whatever happens, the team and riders have certainly made a good start today.”
