Friday’s action at the Autodrom Most has concluded for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) having the perfect start to the weekend – topping FP1 and FP2. The #54 began his weekend in style, ending Free Practice 1, 0.286s clear of Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and the rest of the field.

Later in the day, Razgatlioglu would improve his time by a further 0.428s in Friday afternoon’s Free Practice 2 session. The Turkish star came into the weekend with added confidence after completing a hat-trick of victories at Misano and Donington Park.

Discussing a dream start to the Czech Round, Razgatlioglu said: “It is a good start again on Friday but not like Donington, it looks like we are strong. I am happy to be come back to Most, it is a very nice circuit. We are using the SC1 rear tyre, everyone is using the SC1 tyre but it was a little difficult as it is not like the SC0 grip. We made a different setup but we are very happy, and in FP1 and FP2 we tried a race simulation where the pace was strong so in general, I am happy.”

“El Turco” completed race runs throughout the day, setting over 20 laps during Free Practice 2. He would set a 1’31.519 and would consistently lap within the low 1’32 bracket throughout his long runs after he was fast throughout all sectors.

Discussing his race runs throughout the day: “I feel that every lap the bike is good and I can keep the pace like this. In the race simulation, I did a 1’31.8, this is a strong time and I just try to show everyone that I have more. In general, I am happy, the race simulation is also important as after 10 laps it is a little harder to ride because the rear tyre starts to drop and we need to change the riding style a little bit.”

It was an iconic top three at the end of proceedings, with the titanic trio returning after Razgatlioglu ended the day quickest, ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in second and Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha), finishing in third, with just 0.514s separating the top three.

Speaking about the top three at the end of Friday, Razgatlioglu now hopes for a battle between the titanic trio: “This is good, it is very important. I am also very happy for Johnny, he is improving and coming and I really missed him here and the last year or two I have always been fighting with him and also with Alvaro. I hope we are fighting together again this year as I really enjoy it like this.”

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