Razgatlioglu and Locatelli happy with progress made in Misano

Toprak Razgatlioglu and Andrea Locatelli continued their development for the 2021 WorldSBK season with a strong showing at the two-day Misano pre-season test.
Razgatlioglu and Locatelli happy with progress made in Misano

The two-day World Superbike test in Misano has come to finish, with Toprak Razgatlioglu finishing second behind Ducati rider Michael Ruben-Rinaldi, while rookie team-mate Andrea Locatelli finished fifth. 

Razgatlioglu led three of the four sessions over the course of the two days, and looks to be in great form heading into the new season. 

By the conclusion of day one, Razgatlioglu was already five tenths under the race lap record set by Jonathan Rea in 2015, and only got stronger on day two, even with a small crash at turn 2.

However, he was pipped in the closing hours by Rinaldi who also impressed on the Aruba.it Ducati, as he came within four thousands of the all-time lap record set by Tom Sykes. 

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Speaking after the test, Razgatlioglu said: "Today we tried many new parts. I had a small off in the morning at Turn 2, but we recovered and worked hard on the set-up. 

"We are happy because we did a good lap with the X-tyre, but we don’t know what our ultimate pace is because we couldn’t get a good lap in on the Q-tyre. 

"We will see how it goes at the next test. Thank you to the team, they’ve done a great job throughout the winter and during these two days."

For Locatelli, the test was the perfect opportunity to continue developing the YZF-R1 and building up a good feeling with the bike. 

With perfect sunny conditions on both days, it meant track time was there to be had. The Belgiun managed to complete over 160 laps and was happy with the progress made. 

Locatelli added: "It was a really good test. We managed to do a race simulation today and the lap times were really promising and consistent. 

"We still need to improve our one-lap pace, but it’s the first test and it was important not to make any mistakes and get as much mileage as possible. 

"We will see how it goes in Barcelona, but I go home very happy."

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