Jonathan Rea’s start to life at Yamaha has been nothing short of disastrous after scoring his first points of the season in the sixth race of the year.
After agreeing a new two-year deal with its WorldSBK rider Andrea Locatelli, Pata Yamaha could be in the market for a big-name signing after rumours linking them with MotoGP riders Johann Zarco, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Moto2’s Sam Lowes.
As track temperatures ramped up in FP2, both Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu ran into difficulty, leaving the pair scratching their heads as WorldSBK champion Alvaro Bautista had no such issues.
A lowside crash put Toprak Razgatlioglu on the backfoot during FP1 of the WorldSBK test at Phillip Island, however, the 2021 world champion responded in superb fashion to finish fastest.
Toprak Razgatlioglu had fears of a broken leg following a dramatic turn 13 crash at the Jerez WorldSBK test, but the Pata Yamaha rider was instead fine to continue before finishing fastest with another stunning lap time.
After just one test on a Yamaha WorldSBK machine, Remy Gardner has already pointed to areas which allow him to ride more naturally compared to a MotoGP bike.
Winner of 14 WorldSBK races in 2022 which was one more than his title-winning season, Toprak Razgatlioglu was ‘outstanding all year’ according to his Pata Yamaha Team Principal, Paul Denning.
Unforeseen from anyone before the start of the season, but 2022 aboard the factory Yamaha has turned out to be Franco Morbidelli’s worst season in MotoGP, which is a seat that could have been occupied by WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Defending British Superbike champion Tarran Mackenzie will make his first on-track appearance since suffering a broken leg at Cartagena last January, during this weekend’s official Snetterton test.