The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship descended on the Circuito San Juan Villicum for the Motul Argentinean Round and it was the Champions from 2020 and 2021 who topped the timesheets as they look to gain ground on their title rival. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) led the times in FP1 as he was straight on the pace while six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was fastest in the scorching conditions of FP2.

As seen so often throughout his time in WorldSBK, Razgatlioglu was quickest out of the blocks as he topped the times in FP1 with a 1’37.511s, three tenths quicker than Rea in second place. The positions reversed in FP2 as Rea topped the times with a 1’37.707s although it was not enough to depose Razgatlioglu from top spot in the combined classification. Razgatlioglu was unable to improve his lap time between the two sessions, lapping two tenths slower in FP2 compared to his FP1 time.

In FP2, when teams and riders traditionally focus on race pace, Razgatlioglu completed a longest stint length of 11 laps with a varied lap time ranging from a 1’37.787s, his fastest in FP2, to a 1’38.932s at the end of his stint. Ten of the 11 laps completed by Razgatlioglu were in the 1’38s bracket as he looked to perfect his race pace ahead of racing action on Saturday and close the gap to Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in the Championship standings.

Reviewing his Friday, the reigning Champion said: “I just enjoyed today, just a problem with the heat. Tomorrow it will be a little bit better but Sunday it could be hotter again. Anyway, it’s a very good start. The position isn’t very important for me, we need a good lap time and a good way of working for the race. We are working and we see the other riders. I’m feeling ready to race but the races are always difficult here. We will see. We are fighting for the win and we need good points for the Championship. I’m not thinking about this, just about winning the race.”

Rea also completed an 11-lap, although only ten could be considered representative, stint during FP2 with his times mostly in the 1’38s bracket as well. Eight of Rea’s ten representative lap times were in the 1’38s bracket, ranging from 1’38.297s to 1’38.950s but the first two laps of his stint were in the 1’39s. None of the laps in Rea’s 11-lap stint were in the 1’37s, unlike Razgatlioglu with two, although he did complete a short six-lap stint at the end of the session with three laps in the 1’37s.

Rea also discussed his Friday. He said: “It was a solid day. We started off with a good rhythm straight away. We got to work quite quickly to understand our bike setup, the tyres and we did a lot of laps with not too many changes with the bike. Tonight, I expect to put everything together with the team to try and make a step forward with the setup. All in all, I was really satisfied with the condition the track was in today. I understood both tyres, front and rear options, to make the choice clearer. The forecast tomorrow is for the temperature to be a bit lower than Sunday. We just need to make a step with the bike setup. I’ve got clever people in the garage and I’m sure they can put their heads together.”

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