Superstock 600: More Turkish delight in The Netherlands?
Toprak Razgatlioglu has a 100% win ratio. Now he wants to extend it.
An apparent phenomenon controlled Superstock 600 proceedings in Aragon, either running away from the pack or forcing his rivals into mistakes as they pushed too hard to keep up. Toprak Razgatlioglu has taken the series by storm, with his Magny-Cours 2014 win and Aragon 2015 double meaning he has won each of the three races he has entered to date.
Mentored by three-time World Supersport Champion Kenan Sofuoglu, Razgatlioglu leads the way for the Puccetti Racing Kawasaki squad. The 18-year-old hails from Sakarya, overlooking the black sea and 150 kilometres from Istanbul. He now aims to return there with Dutch silverware, buoyed by the fact that he knows Assen from his experience last year in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.
Who is most likely to halt the Turkish march? One may look first to Federico Caricasulo (Pata Honda Junior Team), considering the Italian was the only other rider to collect two podiums in Aragon. The other pair of rostrum finishers were Belgium’s Gauthier Duwelz and Italy’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi, although the latter blew any chance of overhauling Razgatlioglu when he crashed out on the last lap of the second race. Incidentally, from Assen onwards Superstock 600 returns to its usual format of one race per weekend.
Last year’s Assen winner was Niki Tuuli, collecting his first and so far only victory. Two places behind, Marco Faccani finished third en route to the Superstock 600 crown.
