Razgatlıoğlu Immediately Sets the Pace in Argentina Free Practice

21-10-2022

Razgatlıoğlu Immediately Sets the Pace in Argentina Free Practice

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK rider Toprak Razgatlıoğlu once again topped Friday’s Free Practice with an impressive lap time of 1'37.511, as the tenth round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship got underway at Circuito San Juan Villicum nestled in the foothills of the Andes in Argentina today.

No other rider could match the defending champion’s pace set in Free Practice 1 this morning, particularly as temperatures rose to around 28 degrees Celsius (nearly 50 on track) for the afternoon session. Tyre degradation, grip and compound choice became the main topic of conversation.

Teammate Andrea Locatelli also had a positive day finishing P5 in the combined standings. The 26-year-old Italian had a good feeling in the cooler conditions and both riders will work together with their crews and Yamaha’s engineers to take a step in preparation for Race 1 tomorrow, as well as hotter predicted temperatures on Sunday.

Free Practice 3 will start at 10:00 (AST, UTC-3) tomorrow, with Superpole qualifying at 11:20 followed by Race 1 at the later start time of 15:00.

Toprak Razgatlioğlu

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Position: P1 – 1'37.511

“I love it here in Argentina, I love this track and I’m just enjoying riding today – but just one problem, a little bit hot! Tomorrow a little bit better, but Sunday will be hot again. We had a good start, the position is not really important for me – we need the good lap time and good work to prepare for the race. We see what the other riders are doing and which sectors they are strong, but really just focus on our preparation and now I am feeling ready to race. The race is always long, I know, not easy the race here – but we will see. We are fighting for the win and we need good points for the championship here. I am not thinking about the championship, I just focus on the race. I love the fans here, many fans chanting El Turco! I will try my best to win for them.”

Andrea Locatelli

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Position: P5 - 1'38.082

“We started today in a positive way, so this is a good point! This morning was a little easier, the feeling on the track was immediately great – this afternoon was hot and we tried to find something to help in these conditions but it was really difficult to ride. But, I think we understand many things to prepare the bike for tomorrow, we have more data for tomorrow so this is a good starting day for us. I am happy about today, now we can look at what we need to improve. Tomorrow morning the conditions will be different, but in any case we will try to do a good run on the bike to take the feeling and understand if we have improved the bike and make sure we are prepared for the race.”