Toprak Razgatlioglu on pole at Hungarian WorldSBK but “focused on the long race”

Toprak Razgatlioglu scored the first Superpole at Balaton Park, setting a new lap record by default, but he felt he could’ve been faster.

The session was red flagged with less than three minutes on the clock due to a crash for Tito Rabat.

The Spanish rider crashed at turn eight and his MIE Honda was destroyed. Rabat himself was diagnosed only with bruising at the medical centre afterwards and was declared fit.

Razgatlioglu was in the middle of the first lap of his second run in Superpole, and the current World Superbike points leader said afterwards that he thought a 1:37 might’ve been possible.

“I’m happy,” Toprak Razgatlioglu said in his TV interview in parc ferme.

“We improved the bike, we did a very good lap time.

“But [without the] red flag I think I’m coming with 1:37, new record.

“But, anyway, I did a very good job, and also thanks to the team [that] improved every session again.

“Now we are focused on the long race because this is more important, and I just try to win the race.”

Lowes: “A strange session”

Sam Lowes qualified second, his best Superpole result since he was on pole in Assen, but he felt he could’ve been closer to Razgatlioglu without the red flag.

“I feel good,” he said in parc ferme.

“It was a strange session: the first tyre I didn’t feel amazing, and then I went through the first sector a lot faster on the second tyre but then it was red flagged.

“I don’t know if I could’ve matched Toprak’s [Razgatlioglu] time but it would’ve been close, so this is a really positive thing for me.

“We’ve been fast all weekend and, even though [it was] with a used tyre at the end, I managed to just improve a little bit and get second on the grid.

“It’s been a good weekend and I’m enjoying being in Hungary, enjoying racing here and let’s see this afternoon.”

Locatelli: “I think we can fight for the podium”

Andrea Locatelli qualified third, marking a decent step forward for Yamaha overnight after the Italian was only 10th in FP2.

The Italian said after Superpole that he thinks he can battle for the top-three positions in the races.

“It’s really important to be here [on the front row],” said Locatelli in his post-session parc ferme interview..

“We’re working every weekend really hard and I think this is a good point – new track, new challenge for everyone.

“We showed that the potential is there, so let’s continue like this.

“We have a race today, I have a good feeling with the bike. We need to make 21 laps, so no mistakes.

“It’s a hard track because we have a lot of chicanes, but the bike is doing really well. So, keep going like this and we will enjoy today, but I think we can fight again for the podium.”