Razgatlıoğlu and Yamaha Dominate in Mandalika, as Locatelli Achieves Superpole Podium
Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK rider Toprak Razgatlıoğlu performed a clean sweep of the 11th round of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia today, winning both the Superpole Race and Race 2 to complete “the triple” – as teammate Andrea Locatelli celebrated a third-place podium and superb fourth position to complete Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK and Yamaha’s best ever overall WorldSBK weekend.
After yesterday’s stunning Race 1 win, Razgatlıoğlu went on to claim race honours in all three races – along with fastest lap in each and that incredible circuit-record pole position – in a completely dominant weekend for the Turkish star and his R1 WorldSBK.
Teammate Locatelli returned to the podium with a fantastic P3 in the Superpole Race, the first podium since Assen earlier this year after his first ever WorldSBK front-row start yesterday. The team’s Italian rider completed his best weekend of the season with another fine fourth place in Race 2 to match his Race 1 result and round out Yamaha’s best-ever team points haul in the WorldSBK category since the 10-lap Superpole Race was introduced in 2019.
Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK and the rest of the WorldSBK paddock heads directly to Phillip Island for the season finale next weekend, with track action from 18-20 November. The thrilling southern Australia venue holds fond memories as the site of Razgatlıoğlu’s maiden victory in his first race aboard the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK from Race 1 in February 2020.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – SPRC: P1 / Race 2: P1
“For me it was an unbelievable weekend. I have three wins, this is a really good event for me and I’m very happy! Thanks to Yamaha and my team, my bike was good in every session and I could manage the races in the way I want. Congratulations to Bautista – very good season, we are fighting every race and we have great respect also off the track. Okay, we lose the championship, but I try my best and get three wins this weekend, we could not do more than this today! I love this circuit, now maybe it is one of my favourites and I am already looking forward to come back next year. We keep fighting next weekend in Phillip Island, it is where I won my first race with Yamaha so I have good memories of this track also.”
Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P3 / Race 2: P4
“I’m really happy about today, because in the end after yesterday we understand everything a lot better. We prepared very well and I was feeling confident this morning to push hard in the Superpole Race. It was an important result, we were fighting a lot at the front and to get third position for the Race 2 grid. I never thought that it was possible to get a podium here, but I arrived ready and had a lot of confidence with the bike from immediately on the first day. After a lot of months without the podium, I enjoy a lot! We had a good start in Race 2 also, but I made one very small mistake and fell a bit behind the top three guys. Fourth is still positive and I now take a lot of motivation for the final round at Phillip Island next week. I really like the track and I want to end the season in a good way.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK:
“What a fantastic weekend for the whole team! Toprak just keeps surprising us at how far he can raise his level and despite a bout of either food poisoning or dehydration that was making him feel pretty “second hand” today, he was absolutely dominant. As positive as Toprak’s results were, seeing Loka back up his superb Saturday with his first Superpole Race podium of the year and a really strong fourth position in Race 2, meant that collectively we’ve had Yamaha’s best ever total points haul in a single weekend alongside the utter domination of pole position, three wins and Pirelli Fastest Lap Award in every single race. Sadly, this performance was not enough to keep Alvaro from wrapping up the championship – he and his team have done a fabulous job this year and you cannot take anything away from their title victory. Many congratulations are due and we look forward to the challenge of fighting them for the title again next season.”
