French Redemption for Razgatlıoğlu with Magny-Cours Double Win

11-09-2022

French Redemption for Razgatlıoğlu with Magny-Cours Double Win

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK’s Toprak Razgatlıoğlu turned disappointment into triumph today with two terrific race wins at the seventh round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship at Magny-Cours in France.

After a stunning fight-back to 11th place yesterday, Turkish ace and defending WorldSBK Champion Razgatlıoğlu was on a mission for redemption in the 10-lap Superpole Race – engaging in an almost all-out brawl with regular rivals Alvaro Bautisa (Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) before delivering a decisive victory this morning.

But it was the second full-length Race 2 that proved most thrilling. After a clean start from P1, the 25-year-old fought with Bautista yet again before retaking the lead on Lap 2. Behind him, a dramatic clash between Bautista and Rea halted the Ducati man’s hopes of challenging Razgatlıoğlu for the win.

A tussle with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) precluded an intense game of cat and mouse against a charging Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ducati) until Rinaldi made a mistake, running on at Turn 11, and Razgatlıoğlu “put the hammer down” and pushed on to victory once again.

Teammate Andrea Locatelli found his own form of redemption in Race 2, fighting back to a solid seventh place after a couple of mistakes prevented him from taking a top nine result (and improved grid position) in the Superpole Race. The 25-year-old Italian fought hard against Yamaha compatriot Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha) and pipped him at the line.

Now, with the second half of the season well underway, Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK will return to Barcelona in a fortnight for the Catalunya Round, taking place from 23-25 September.

Toprak Razgatlioğlu

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Position: SPRC: P1 / Race 2: P1

“Yesterday for me was very bad luck, but today here we are very strong. Superpole Race we win and important for me Race 2, because we take very big points and I am winning. I am very happy, this is my favourite track and normally my dream is for three wins this weekend but yesterday for me was bad luck. Today we changed all the braking kit and I am feeling much better, we also improved the bike and I just keep fighting for the win. I see Rinaldi, the last 10 laps, I am just watching but he started to slide with the rear tyre and I say, okay, now I pass him and try a good pace. Sometimes it is good planning in the race! But we are winning again and I am happy.”

Andrea Locatelli

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Position: SPRC: P10 / Race 2: P7

“In Race 2 we improved a lot in respect to yesterday and also to the Superpole Race this morning, especially because in the sprint race I did some mistakes in the first lap and the last lap. We lost the opportunity to start Race 2 from P9, so we started again from P12 but was a different story today! I could improve on the lap time and the rhythm, so this was a big improvement and also I fought a lot until the end to try to stay in front and finish P7. For sure, the results were not my expectation for the weekend but this is what we could bring home in the end. Now we need to go from here and push again for Barcelona to close the gap and start closer to the front again.”

Paul Denning

Team Principal, Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK

“Sport can be strange! A bit of a nightmare at the circuit yesterday became a dream day today. I can only say congratulations to Toprak and his team for reacting so positively to yesterday’s disappointment both to take such a hard-fought win in the Superpole Race and to dig deep to ensure victory in Race 2. There are still many races to go this season, a lot can happen in either direction, so we’ll just keep treating each race as an individual event and do our best. Loka also had a much better Sunday and in particular, Race 2 was a great step: converting a 10-second deficit to his Yamaha compatriot Garrett Gerloff yesterday to beating him in Race 2 this afternoon. Loka had a great test at Barcelona recently, one of his favourite circuits, and the recovery in form he made this afternoon is a great base to go back to Spain in two weeks’ time.”