‘I don’t understand why’ - Razgatlioglu confused by FP1 fall

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.

Robert Jones

20 Feb 2023

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha World Superbike Phillip Island 2023

Razgatlioglu produced a time of 1:30.674s to finish a tenth clear of Ducati’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi, although the Pata Yamaha rider had to bounce back from a turn 10 crash during the closing stages of FP1.

A session that lasted two hours, Razgatlioglu saw teammate Andrea Locatelli surprisingly lead the way heading into FP2, before ramping up the pace as the day went on.

"Today was not an easy day for me because we tried the new parts again," said Razgatlioglu. "Finally, on the last lap, I’m happy. We will keep working because we are testing again tomorrow.

"This morning and in the afternoon we were working a lot and, finally, we found a good setup. Tomorrow we will continue working. I hope we can improve more tomorrow.

"We will try to find good grip because rear tyre grip is a big problem at this track. I’m happy but tomorrow we will try for more improvement. I will try a race simulation."

‘I don’t understand’ - Razgatlioglu suffers another WorldSBK testing crash

Toprak Razgatlioglu Australian WorldSBK. 20 February

After crashing at both the Jerez and Portimao tests, Razgatlioglu, who is not known for making mistakes, went down in what was a lowside at turn 10.

Discussing the fall, Razgatlioglu said: "I had a very small crash. It was a lowside. It was a very strange lowside because I entered the corner and I released the brake and crashed.

"I don’t understand why. It was very small. It’s just a problem because I don’t have many suits and one suit is destroyed now because the airbags worked. But it was a very slow crash."

Although he failed to break into the top four by the end of FP2, Locatelli was again within half a second of Razgatlioglu, just like on day two in Portimao as steps forward appear to be made during his third pre-season as a WorldSBK rider.

Andrea Locatelli Australian WorldSBK. 20 February

"It was a really good day, a good first day here at Phillip Island," said the former WorldSSP champion. "I had a really good feeling from the first lap. Also, last year I had a great feeling in difficult conditions, but I think, at the end of four days of testing at Jerez and Portimao, we found a really good base setup and the feeling with the bike was really good.

"We arrived here and we started working again and the feeling was really great. It’s important to continue working tomorrow, to understand it more and try to be ready for the weekend. I can’t wait to start the weekend."