Toprak Razgatlioglu identifies a “10% difference” to Fabio Quartararo at Austrian MotoGP
Toprak Razgatlioglu has identified a “10% difference” to Fabio Quartararo as he works to improve his Austrian MotoGP corner exits.
Toprak Razgatlioglu was left at the bottom of the MotoGP timesheets in both Friday practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring.
However, the Pramac Yamaha rider slashed his best lap from 1m 32.363s to 1m 29.982s across the two sessions.
That put him 1.6s from KTM leader Pedro Acosta and 1.1s from the leading Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo.
“I‘m happy because we made a big step during the day,” Razgatlioglu said. “This morning was difficult because I didn‘t have a good feeling with the bike, but in the afternoon I improved a lot and I feel much better now, especially under braking.”
"Ten percent more"
Razgatlioglu continues to study the data of Quartararo, who put his M1 inside the top ten on Friday for direct access to Qualifying 2.
The reigning WorldSBK champion highlighted Quartararo’s ability to pick up the bike “ten percent more” on corner exit.
“We are still comparing the data with Fabio, and I can see some areas where I can improve, especially with the way I pick up the bike and accelerate out of the corners," he said.
“Fabio is riding very well, especially when he picks up the bike. In some corners he picks up the bike ten percent more than me. This makes a big difference.
“I'm trying to adapt to this, but it’s very difficult.
“We will see tomorrow. I feel much better now, but I need to improve corner exit. Especially in the last sector.
“We did a good step. Especially on the brakes, I feel much better at stopping the bike. But now we are focused more on acceleration and need to pick up more.”
Corner-exit performance is particularly important with the harder-construction rear tyre used at the Red Bull Ring
“Now I adapt to the front [tyre]. That's perfect. But the rear, I still don’t really understand the grip area,” he explained.
“I feel just spin. The others know the tyre character more and how to find the grip.
“This morning until now I made a big step, but tomorrow I hope we find something because I need a little more pace.
“When I see Fabio’s lap times, he is riding very well with the used tyre.”
Razgatlioglu’s team-mate Jack Miller was just 0.033s ahead in 20th place.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
