Razgatlıoğlu Flies to P1 in Friday Free Practice at French WorldSBK Round

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK rider and 2021 FIM Superbike World Championship leader Toprak Razgatlıoğlu continued his title campaign in fine form as he topped the timing sheets with the fastest lap in Free Practice 2 at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours today.

Razgatlıoğlu, teammate Andrea Locatelli and the rest of the WorldSBK field found their normal Friday running programme disrupted by a wet track surface this morning after heavy rain overnight, as many chose to wait for a drier race line to develop than take any unnecessary risks in Free Practice 1.

In order to “catch up”, the Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK team made the most of the fully-dry afternoon session with race-pace simulations for both riders, managing the 45-minute session carefully to minimise any lost running time with changes in the pit box.

Locatelli had the most catching up to do of all, having never ridden at Magny-Cours in dry conditions. Despite finishing the day just outside of the top 10, the young Italian was only 0.688s from Razgatlıoğlu’s fastest overall time.

Tomorrow, both riders will be back in action with Razgatlıoğlu aiming to fight for another win to add to his already outstanding 2021 results, while Locatelli has the goal to improve on his run of fourth-place finishes and to contend for another podium in his rookie WorldSBK season. Free Practice 3 starts at 09:00 (CEST), before Superpole qualifying at 11:10 and Race 1 at 14:00.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: P1 - 1'37.138

“Today in the first Free Practice, with the bad conditions it was not a really an easy start and for me it is also the first time I ride a Yamaha at this track in the dry conditions. We change some set-up for FP2 and I am feeling much better! I tried a race simulation of 15 laps – which was very, very positive. We are happy because we found a good improvement in the afternoon, the R1 is working very well here and now we are ready to race. We need to win again, and I aim to fight for the victory.”

Andrea Locatelli: P11 1'37.826

“It was a difficult first day in the end, but also I am happy - we don’t see a top position overall but we work very well. We tried to make a long run this afternoon, it is my first time here in Magny-Cours with this bike and the pace was not so bad! For sure we need to try to search for a little bit more speed, especially in sector two, but in general I am happy because it is the first time. We need to work a little bit around the bike and also I need to understand the track, but tomorrow we can improve. It’s not easy, I have never seen the track in the dry because last year in WorldSSP I only ride in the wet conditions, but we will see what is possible and for sure we will try to get the maximum.”

Paul Denning, Team Principal – Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK:

“Despite yesterday’s high temperatures and bright sunshine, Magny-Cours ran true to form this morning when we were greeted with a wet track meaning that FP1 was a little bit meaningless. Nonetheless, we got some very solid work done in FP2 with both riders maximising track time and making two runs each and minimising the time in the box. Toprak’s team made some important improvements to the chassis balance between the first and second run during FP2 and he did a very impressive 15-lap run with his fastest lap overall coming in the final two laps. There are some small details still to work on but today was a very solid start. Andrea has only ridden here on the Yamaha R6 600, and only in the rain. So only 45 minutes of dry track time is a lot of catching up to do with the guys who have a lot of experience here, but he again did a very solid job. With a night to think about improvements and studying the data, he will be able to make a step tomorrow.”