Resurgent Razgatlıoğlu Fastest in Most Free Practice

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK’s Toprak Razgatlıoğlu was the fastest rider on track in Free Practice, while teammate Andrea Locatelli was fifth-quickest, at the opening day of the Czech Round of the 2021 FIM Superbike World Championship held at Autodrom Most today.

Razgatlıoğlu bounced back after the disappointment of Race 2 in Assen to draw a clear line in the sand in Free Practice 1, with an impressive lap time 0.6s clear of the next closest rider at the new WorldSBK venue.

On the other side of the pit box, Locatelli continued in positive form following his career-first WorldSBK podium in Holland to complete his best Friday performance of the season so far, finishing fifth fastest and less than 0.3s from second place.

Rain dampened proceedings in the afternoon with only 14 of the 23-strong WorldSBK field choosing to venture out on track in anger. Both Razgatlıoğlu and Locatelli completed a handful of laps each in order to test wet settings on their respective Yamaha R1 WorldSBKs, and gain further experience of the circuit in different conditions.

The Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK team and its riders are keeping their fingers crossed that the weather forecast continues to improve in order to provide the Czech fans with two days of thrilling racing this weekend. One final Free Practice session of 30 minutes at 9:00 (CEST) tomorrow will allow any final set-up tweaks required before Superpole qualifying at 11:10 and the 22-lap, full-length Race 1 at 14:00.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: Combined P1 1'33.022

“Today was the first time I ride at Most circuit, but I like it! It’s like “my style” track because of the mix of slow and very fast corners. I’m happy because today for me was a good day. The plan was for a race simulation in the second session but then it started to rain, so we ride some laps in the wet conditions. We are happy with this though, it was the first time I was a little bit faster and also the confidence in these conditions is growing. I am feeling now that I am ready for a race! So we will see tomorrow what we can do.”

Andrea Locatelli: Combined P5 1’33.861

“It was a strange day because in the second Free Practice we rode in wet conditions, but also the feeling is quite good even in the wet. This was interesting because maybe the weather during the weekend could be a bit crazy. I’m so happy about this morning because we worked very well, put in the laps to learn the track and the bike felt so good in the dry. We hope for the good weather tomorrow morning to be able to continue to work to prepare for qualifying and the race. I feel confident and with P5 it was the best Friday for us for sure, it is a new track for everybody and so maybe tomorrow we can do very well.”

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

“It’s nice to be back in the Czech Republic and at a new circuit for the WorldSBK Championship. The first day here in Most has gone pretty smoothly. Both Toprak and Andrea are enjoying the track and the base settings of the R1 WorldSBK seem, at least for now, to be working well. The weather forecast looks a little more settled for the next two days, so we’re hoping to translate today’s positive performance into good races and put on a very good show for the enthusiastic Czech fans!”