Razgatlıoğlu Fastest as Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Kickstart 2022 Testing at Portimão

09-02-2022

Razgatlıoğlu Fastest as Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Kickstart 2022 Testing at Portimão

The Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK squad completed a successful first pre-season test for the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve today, with Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Andrea Locatelli completing 288 laps between them.

Following two days of on-track running at Portimão, where the focus was on assessing detailed electronic and mechanical updates, Yamaha will take on board the riders’ feedback and analyse the data captured to continue their pre-season development work. Both riders also had a chance to run Pirelli’s new SCQ qualifying tyre and try some riding position updates from Yamaha.

Razgatlıoğlu was back on track with his Yamaha R1 WorldSBK for the first time since being crowned 2021 World Champion in Indonesia in late November, and made positive progress with the new updates. Although the team’s focus was not on outright pace, the Turkish rider ended the first day second fastest after completing 69 laps. On Day 2, the team continued to refine the set-up, which saw Razgatlıoğlu set a blistering pace to go fastest of all with a lap time of 1’39.616 in the afternoon – the fastest ever superbike lap at Portimão.

Heading into his second WorldSBK season, Locatelli enjoyed plenty of running across the two days. The Italian quickly felt comfortable on the #55 Yamaha R1 WorldSBK, completing 73 laps on Tuesday and going fifth fastest. On Wednesday, the 2021 Rookie of the Year ran another 79 laps with his 1’40.674 placing him fifth overall, pleased with updates provided by the team through the winter and at the test.

Next for the Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK team will be the Aragón test on 3-4 April, where the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team will also take to the track for the first time this year.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: P1 (1’39.616) – 136 lap

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK

After a long time, we ride for first time yesterday and I am very happy to be back with the team and on my bike. On the first day, we try the electronic updates and we work through every session to try to find the best set-up. Also, today we were working a lot to find a good set-up but it is not 100% yet because this is all still very new. This is step-by-step and now Yamaha will look at the data and we try again at the next test. I’m very happy with these two days, we set some very good lap times with the race tyre also. Thank you to my team, they do an incredible job like always.

Andrea Locatelli: P5 (1’40.674) – 152 laps

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK

It was our first days of testing for this year and the feeling with the bike came immediately good for me. We worked a lot with the race tyre, so we didn’t focus on one fast lap, but to work around the bike. We understand a lot more now, and we can for sure arrive in Aragón more ready. Now, we will see what we can do together for the new season. We improved a lot on the rider position as well, which is important for my feeling on the bike. We need to find more on the set-up, but we will also have new parts to try at the coming tests. My team has worked hard and I’m very happy for what they have achieved over the winter, I am sure we will be ready for the first race.

Paul Denning – Team Principal

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK

It’s great to be back at work, especially in beautiful weather in early February at the Algarve International Circuit. It’s been a long time off the bikes for Toprak and Loka, neither have turned a wheel since our fantastic last day of the 2021 season. Yesterday was a case of getting them up to speed as much as it was about the technical details. We didn’t have a big test program here, but the modified riding position parts that Yamaha brought were immediately very positive for both riders, improving the feeling on corner entry and their general feeling to control the bike. We’ve also worked on some electronic updates, which required patience for both riders, but in the end we were able to get through that full program as well with competitive lap times. To end the test quickest was great, particularly considering this is our first running of the year. We’ll just keep working away and we look forward to the next stages of development in Aragón in a few weeks’ time.