Phillip Island WorldSBK Test: Toprak Razgatlioglu crashes then tops FP2
On track at separate times to WorldSSP riders unlike at Jerez and Portimao, the likes of Razgatlioglu, Bautista and Rea had four hours of testing in total as FP1 and FP2 were split into two two-hour-long sessions.
It was Razgatlioglu’s teammate Andrea Locatelli who put his Pata Yamaha atop the timingsheets following the first session of the day, as Razgatlioglu instead took a tumble at turn 10 with just minutes remaining.
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Locatelli was unable to improve his time in the afternoon session, which was far from the case for Razgatlioglu as the Turkish star found more and more pace and finished with a time of 1:30.674s.
Continuing his impressive pre-season, Aruba.it Ducati rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi was once again the closest challenger to Razgatlioglu as he finished second - +0.099s down on the 2021 world champion.
Third fastest was Bautista, who after showing incredible speed at Portimao, was again in strong form despite a turn four crash in FP2.
Bautista’s fall was one that was quickly followed by Rea who went down at the same corner.
The Kawasaki rider rounded out the top four but was over two tenths down on Razgatlioglu’s time.
| 2023 World Superbike Phillip Island, WorldSBK - Test Results (day one) | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK | 1:30.674s |
| 2 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.099s |
| 3 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.134s |
| 4 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +0.215s |
| 5 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK | +0.422s |
| 6 | Philipp Oettl | GER | GoEleven Ducati | +0.921s |
| 7 | Remy Gardner | AUS | GRT Yamaha | +0.926s |
| 8 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Bonovo Action BMW | +0.997s |
| 9 | Dominique Aegerter | SWI | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +1.054s |
| 10 | Michael Van Der Mark | NED | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +1.158s |
| 11 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +1.230s |
| 12 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Barni Spark Ducati Team | +1.373s |
| 13 | Scott Redding | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +1.447s |
| 14 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Ducati | +1.532s |
| 15 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +1.604s |
| 16 | Tom Sykes | GBR | Puccetti Kawasaki | +1.714s |
| 17 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Action BMW | +1.763s |
| 18 | Xavi Vierge | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +1.812s |
| 19 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac Racing Kawasaki | +1.887s |
| 20 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | GMT94 Yamaha | +2.713s |
| 21 | Eric Granado | BRA | MIE Honda Racing | +3.790s |
| 22 | Hafizh Syahrin | MAL | MIE Honda Racing | +3.909s |
In what were some of the standout performances from day one, Phillip Oettl was the quickest Independent rider after finishing sixth, while GRT Yamaha riders Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter were impressive as they finished seventh and ninth.
While fast and competitive lap times were one of the headlines from day one, so were the amount of red flags as on-track action was halted five times.
