When the chequered flag dropped on Friday to bring an end to two days of testing on the Adriatic Coast, the dust cleared and once again, Toprak Razgatlioglu was top of the timesheets. “El Turco” set out in the morning session with a point to prove, having not been in action since Assen. The ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team rider initially set a 1’32.918s to claim top spot. Then, towards the end of the day, Toprak took to the track on his standard setup M1000 RR, equipped with an SCQ qualifying tyre. He then proceeded to blitz his own best time, scoring 1’32.535s.

“I NEED MORE SETUP FOR THE NEW SWINGARM”: Toprak talks setup

Following Friday’s conclusion, Toprak offered his insight and view into the developments and progress made by the Bavarian manufacturer since Assen. One of the key talking points has been the development and testing of a new swingarm, a component which has been extensively worked on by both Toprak and Dutch teammate Michael van der Mark. Speaking about the new swingarm, the #54 rider said: “I need more setup for the new swingarm. I feel too much rear grip, with the rear of the bike pushing the front. I rode my base bike with a SCQ tyre, and I did a 1’32.5s with the old swingarm”. Interestingly, Razgatlioglu offered more specific insight into the behaviour of the new swingarm and how it affects the rest of his setup. He said: “It jumps a lot because of too much rear grip. We also were unable to work on the suspension setup, because the Ohlins guys were sick.”

MISANO GOALS REVEALED: an Italian hat-trick the dream…

Toprak took some time to discuss the upcoming race weekend at Misano, as well as hopes and ambitions beyond. Speaking about the Adriatic facility, the former World Champion said: “In general, it looks like we are ready to race. We did a really good lap time. Sometimes you need to forget the problem and just ride the bike. But overall, for me it’s a very positive test. We have very good data to understand all the parts.” Discussing his ambitions for Misano and beyond, ‘El Turco’ said this: “In general, I’m very happy with these last two days. I hope we win all three races. This is my dream with BMW!”

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