Heading to the third round of the season, Turkish star Razgatlıoğlu lies second in the overall Riders’ Championship standings following his triple podium performance in Estoril – including an incredible fight-back to the podium after serving a double long-lap penalty for a jump start in Race 2.
The team, and Razgatlıoğlu, have both found success at Misano in the past, although this will be Toprak’s first race event at the track on the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK. At the last round held on the Adriatic Coast in 2019, Razgatlıoğlu engaged in a titanic battle with defending champion Jonathan Rea for the win in Race 2 which ultimately netted second place, while the blue marque has taken to the Misano podium on three separate occasions since Yamaha’s return to WorldSBK in 2016.
This season’s Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK line-up of Razgatlıoğlu and Andrea Locatelli took to the 4.226km circuit together in March for two days of testing in anticipation of the Italian Round ahead, with very encouraging test results.
It will be local hero Locatelli’s first chance to race in front of a home crowd in the WorldSBK Championship, a special moment considering that there was no Italian round in 2020 due to Covid-19, while he was dominating the FIM World Supersport Championship category.
Friday’s Free Practice sessions are scheduled to start at 10:30 (CEST) and 15:00 both lasting 45-minutes long, and a final Free Practice 3 of 30 minutes at 9:00 on Saturday before that all-important Superpole qualifying at 11:00.
