Toprak Razgatlioglu ‘much more comfortable’ in the wet after Jerez test

While wet conditions may have affected the second consecutive WorldSBK test at Jerez, Toprak Razgatlioglu was able to make significant progress in an area that has previously been a struggle.

Robert Jones

19 Dec 2022

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha World Superbike Phillip Island

Aside from Race 1 at Catalunya where Razgatlioglu was in contention to win in treacherous conditions, wet-weather races have often seen others come to the fore and the Yamaha rider instead drop back.

Razgatlioglu made further steps in that regard during 2022, as was seen when he remained in contention for victory in Race 1 of the season-finale at Phillip Island, however, consistency to his performance in the wet has not always been there.

Yamaha were expected to try several new parts during last week’s three-day test at Jerez, and while those plans were hampered by the conditions, it meant Razgatlioglu had the chance to build upon the recent improvements made.

"It was a bit too much rain in Jerez, it would have been good to have had some dry time, but it was still fun for me," said Razgatlioglu after taking part on two of the three days.

"In the last part of this season, we have made some progress in the rain, and we could see that during this test in Jerez, where I felt much more comfortable in the wet.

"We have improved, which is a good way to close the season, so I am very happy about that."

Toprak Razgatlioglu , Indonesian WorldSBK. 13 November

The main area of improvement that Yamaha were aiming to make during the Jerez test centred around increased rear grip and acceleration, two areas where Alvaro Bautista and Ducati were very strong throughout 2022.

Paul Denning, Team Principal at Pata Yamaha said to WorldSBK.com: "There was quite a lot of material and developments that Yamaha needed to be shaken down and ideally decisions made on for the 2023 season.

"Even if the wet conditions didn’t allow us to evaluate these fully, we still got some very valuable kilometres and found out some interesting directions both in hardware, with the main target looking for increased rear grip acceleration and with the electronic settings and evolution of the software platform."

Denning also highlighted the improvements made by Razgatlioglu in the wet, after the Turkish star finished fastest.

"One very positive point was to confirm Toprak’s development of speed in the wet conditions," said Denning. "It was his weak point in the past, but he’s improved a lot over the course of the last two years and the test, on day one, re-confirmed that position again.

"He completed a lot of laps and every single lap had a very good pace and was considerably faster than the other riders attending the test.

"This was a positive to take away from it and, for Locatelli, who’s running on the final day of the test whereas Toprak went back home after a day and a half’s running.

"Loka’s taken some good steps on the final day particularly working in the wet conditions with some electronic strategy developments and, again, re-confirming the direction in terms of searching for rear grip with the hardware development."