Razgatlıoğlu Wins Shortened Portimão Race 1

08-10-2022

Razgatlıoğlu Wins Shortened Portimão Race 1

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK’s Toprak Razgatlıoğlu took a dominant win in Race 1 of the ninth round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal today.

Another record-breaking Superpole qualifying saw Razgatlıoğlu net P2 and Andrea Locatelli equalling a career-best P4, after the Yamaha official teammates went 1-2 respectively in this morning’s final Free Practice 3 session.

Then, as Race 1 was delayed and then shortened to 14-laps due to an incident in WorldSSP300, the defending WorldSBK Champion rode a text-book “Toprak-style” race as he followed and watched Jonathan Rea in the opening laps before passing the Kawasaki rider into Turn 1 on Lap 5. He also set a new record-fastest race lap on Lap 3 of 1’40.328.

For Locatelli, a hectic start saw him pushed back to P7 and delayed by Scott Redding, but the Italian rider locked onto the back of the BMW rider to take P6 on Lap 4. As the pace increased at the front, “Loka” lost the front group but, with the help of his #55 crew, hopes to be able to take another step tomorrow.

Sunday will see Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK start a 15-minute Warm-Up session at 09:00 (WEST, UTC+1) before the 10-lap Superpole Race at 11:00 and 21-lap Race 2 from 14:00.

Toprak Razgatlioğlu

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Position: 1st

“I like this circuit and this weekend we start very strong – also thanks to my team because I am feeling the bike is perfect and we were able to ride well and finish at the front! Today we win, but we are not really happy because of the big crash in WorldSSP300 today, and now we are waiting for good news about Victor Steeman.”

Andrea Locatelli

Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Position: 6th

“In the end it’s not the best result that I want to get but it was a good race and the rhythm compared to yesterday was much better and my rhythm was fast – but we need to work for tomorrow and to prepare the bike to find something to be a little faster especially in the first part of the race, this is important to fight for a good position. In general, I am happy with how it is going because we are fast in every session - this is a good point for me and for my crew. Like everyone in the team, I am hoping for positive news about Victor Steeman.”

Paul Denning

Team Principal, Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK

“After today’s long delays, both riders kept their heads together and the team did a great job to make sure the bikes were as good as they could be for the shortened 14-lap race. Toprak did exactly what he said he was going to do, manage the situation carefully for two or three laps and then push – and it was good enough to win. Congratulations to him and his team, a great performance and equally, there are some improvements that we feel we can make for tomorrow’s 20-lap Race 2. Loka rode a great race, got a bit hung up with Scott Redding for a few laps which cost him a fair bit of time. But after he passed Scott, his rhythm was really good and that’s his best main race for a long time. It should really help him grow his confidence going into tomorrow and the rest of the season. On behalf of everyone in our team and at Yamaha, we extend our best wishes and support to Victor Steeman and his family, as we keep our fingers crossed for positive news after his accident in the WorldSSP300 race.”