Toprak Razgatlioglu produces Marc Marquez like ‘save’, calls his ‘lucky’

Despite a magnificent ‘save’ the like of which MotoGP star Marc Marquez would appreciate, Toprak Razgatlioglu leaves Estoril having blown two attempts at winning is first race as WorldSBK champion.

Robert Jones

22 May 2022

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha World Superbike Estoril

The reigning WorldSBK champion, who showed pace throughout the weekend, lost out in race one after a small mistake cost him drive coming onto the start-finish straight.

However, that race was more about Alvaro Bautista using his Ducati’s incredible top speed to blast past the Yamaha rider and extend his title lead.

But come the Superpole race, the final lap was much more about Razgatlioglu making a crucial error than anything else.

The Turkish star pulled out a gap of around one second of Jonathan Rea before losing the front at turn 10.

After pulling off a stunning ‘save’, Razgatlioglu saw Rea cut to the inside which then turned into the outside for turn 11.

And with the Kawasaki rider able to generate better drive coming out of turn 13, the Pata Yamaha man finished a frustrating second.

‘I’m always watching Marc Marquez’

Speaking about his near crash, Razgatlioglu pointed to luck being a big factor: "Always in Turkey at Kenan’s [Sofuoglu] track we are training. Sometimes we lose the front.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Estoril WorldSBK race2, 21 May

"Normally we don’t crash, maybe sometimes we do crash because of slow corners but we are able to pick up the bike, and also the chicane [Estoril] is a very slow corner.

"This time it was not easy because of the heavy bike, but I’m very lucky and happy for this [‘save’] because I didn’t crash and second position, a podium, we took good points, so I’m happy for this.

"I’m always watching Marc Marquez, it’s the same style! I remember 2020 at Jerez, I tried to pick up the bike but I couldn’t, so I had a small crash. However, today I said, ‘I need to pick it up!’ because I’m fighting!"

Razgatlioglu out of the fight in WorldSBK race two

Attempting to make it third time lucky at a circuit he would have anticipated winning at, Razgatlioglu was surprisingly subdued in race two.

The reason… a lack of rear grip around mid-race distance: "Race two we started good and I could follow Jonny [Rea] and save the rear tyre for the last laps, but I’m not happy because after ten laps I feel spin.

"In the last corner I had a big gap and I tried to catch him again, but in the last corner I again feel a lot of spinning. I’m not really happy because in this race I’m not fighting for the win, I’m just fighting for the third position. Anyway, we take good points."