Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Aiming for the Top Step in Misano

As competition heats up in the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Andrea Locatelli head to the Italian seaside for the fourth round of the season at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” this weekend from 10-12 June.

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK’s 2022 team tally has seen one of its riders on the podium in every race held so far (nine). At the previous round in Estoril, all three races were also decided on the final lap, with Razgatlıoğlu missing out on victory in both Race 1 and the Superpole Race by less than 0.2s at the line.

With such fine margins deciding many of the races this season already, the team and Yamaha’s engineers are leaving no stone left unturned when it comes to extracting the best performance from the R1 WorldSBK package. This has included a very productive single-day test in Estoril directly after the race weekend, to fine tune bike and electronics set-up solutions for both riders ahead of Misano.

The 4.226 km Italian circuit, located less than three kilometres from the sea and popular resort town of Misano Adriatico, is a happy hunting ground for Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK and Razgatlıoğlu in particular. After finishing second in the first two races held there in 2021, the defending WorldSBK Champion made a stunning break-through in the weekend’s final full-length Race 2 to take his first win of the season.

For Locatelli, his 2021 breakthrough on the way to WorldSBK Rookie of the Year came slightly later, kicking off a record run of top four results. Following an improvement to his outright lap pace and overall set-up in Estoril, the team expects to see “Loka” put on a great performance for his home race. His target is to continue to close the gap to the front and be in a position to fight for the podium against the series’ lead trio of teammate Razgatlıoğlu, Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki).

The first chance to further solidify improvements to the R1 WorldSBK package found in Estoril will come on Friday morning in Misano with Free Practice 1 scheduled to start at 10:30 (CEST), followed by a second 45-minute session of Free Practice 2 at 15:00. Scattered thunderstorms are forecast for the middle of the week but should clear by Friday, leaving a scorching summer weekend of racing ahead. Those watching at home should also take note of the later Race 2 time of 15:15 on Sunday afternoon.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu:

“We made some good steps in Estoril, first at the race and also in the test – thanks to the team for making this test, it was good for me and the bike! Now, after training at home for two weeks, I am happy to go to Misano, it is a track I enjoy a lot. Before, the Estoril test was very positive because we improve a lot the rear grip which was a problem in the last round. The team and Yamaha is working to improve the R1, and in the last races I can ride more like myself and it was very close and I enjoyed the races! We take good points for the championship, but now I hope we are fighting for the win again in Misano.”

Andrea Locatelli:

“It’s always nice to have a home race in Italy, to see a lot of fans and our friends of the team. I think we can do very well in Misano this weekend! The test in Estoril was a good opportunity for me to ride the bike more, to do many laps to improve the set-up and also the fast lap time. It gave us a lot of data to analyse and the guys have been working to continue to find improvements. I feel very positive about the next races, we arrive ready and the objective is to push to start in a good way on Friday and carry this way of working into the weekend to close the gap to the front group and ultimately to battle for the podium.”