Hot Imola Pace in Free Practice for Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK’s Locatelli and Razgatlıoğlu

Andrea Locatelli and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu finished Friday Free Practice in fifth and sixth position respectively on the combined timesheets of the opening day of Round 7 of the 2023FIM Superbike World Championship at Imola today.

In sweltering summer conditions, track temperatures at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari reached well over 52 degrees Celsius during the all-important Free Practice 2 this afternoon. The session which normally allows teams to complete a “race simulation” in similar conditions to those expected during the weekend was plagued with red flag-stoppages, as many rider struggled with a lack of grip due to the extreme temperature. The Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK group kept out of trouble to complete a productive day despite the challenges, and preparations are well underway for qualifying and the points-paying races.

Alarms are set for FP3 tomorrow morning at 9:00 CEST with Superpole at 11:10 and Race 1 at 14:00.

Andrea Locatelli: P5 – 1'47.592

“It’s a good track for me, I have good memories and the feeling today was great. We started in a really good way from FP1, we found a good base set-up and just tried to ride a lot and do some fine tuning around my R1 – because the feeling is really good. I think we can be fast on this track – we just need to work on generating rear grip, especially for this temperature. If we can find a little bit more grip, something to help me be more relaxed on the bike, I think we can be really competitive. I’m feeling strong and now it’s important to continue like this. We know the rider that finished at the front was on the Q tyre, and we didn’t use it. So to finish the first day like this is a good Friday for us! Every weekend the objective is to try for the podium, but also to stay in the top five and take points for championship.”

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: P6 – 1'47.661

“For me, it was not a bad day just I am feeling less grip with the rear tyre. I hope we are improving for tomorrow, but in general we did a good job – it looks like just Bautista and I tried a race simulation today with many laps. I did 14, 15 laps – even with the red flags and good lap times. Just two or three of my laps cancelled! Also my best lap was cancelled because I think I touched the green on Turn 22. But, I am happy – we just need to improve the rear grip and we will see what is possible. I am just thinking about the race now, 19 laps and you need good pace! It looks like we are strong, but for me it is not quite enough – with more rear grip we can ride more relaxed and ready to fight.”