WorldSBK Test Catalunya-Barcelona, Spain - Results (Final)

Is Toprak Razgatlioglu in even better shape than his 2021 world championship winning season after convincingly topping the two-day Catalunya WorldSBK test?

The current WorldSBK champion has found Yamaha’s new electronics packages to be a huge step forward, as is the case for other Yamaha riders Garrett Gerloff and Andrea Locatelli.   

But before crowning the Turkish sensation as the runaway favourite, heavy rain at the Spanish circuit brought proceedings to an early finish, meaning riders such as Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista were unable to challenge his best effort. 

Before rain hit, Razgatlioglu set a time of 1:40.571s which was enough to put him clear of Bautista by close to four tenths. 

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Starting day-two the way he ended Friday’s opening day of WorldSBK testing in Catalunya, it was Ducati’s Bautista who was once again the early pace setter. 

However, the Spaniard was not top for long as Team HRC rider Iker Lecuona showed what appears to be much improved performance from Honda to go fastest. 

At the conclusion of the first hour, Lecuona set a time of 1:41.708s, which was just +0.023s quicker than Toprak Razgatlioglu in second. 

Taking advantage of the grip that was put down after eight hours of continuous WorldSBK action, Lecuona’s lap time was also half second quicker than he went at any time on day-one. 

But in typical Bautista fashion, whether it be 11 days ago at the two-day Misano test or here in Catalunya, the former MotoGP rider responded by clinching top spot come the end hour #2.

Although lap times suggested conditions were perfect for testing (before rain fell), grip was an issue throughout the two-day test. 

One of the riders that highlighted this was six-time world champion Rea, who despite the low track temperatures, was able to confirm the 'positive results' found during Jerez and Portimao.

Speaking after the test, Rea added: "I had a good feeling here. We confirmed the items that we had found positive results with in both the Jerez and Portimao tests. 

"The weather conditions were not perfect here and the temperature was quite low, but we were able to make a lot of laps, especially on Day One. 

"Day Two was colder but we kept working with the base of the bike. I did some more practice starts on Day Two, so that is getting better. We made some progress in that area. 

"I ended the test with a good feeling on the bike and I am really excited to go to Aragon. Everybody there will have the same strategy - to set-up for the weekend and then go into Free Practice 1. 

"It has been a long but exciting off-season, with a lot of testing, and I have been healthy throughout."

With Yamaha, Ducati, Kawasaki and Honda all showing themselves towards the top of the times, the only manufacturer missing was BMW. 

Off the pace on day-one, and by quite some margin it must be said, things took a similar course of action as Scott Redding was over two seconds down for most of the morning. 

The ex-British Superbike champion did manage to climb as high as fifth, before that became seventh following significant improvements from Gerloff and Michael Rinaldi.