Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) topped Friday’s MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship running at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, but it wasn’t a day without complications for the reigning Champion. He did not take part in Free Practice 1 due to a technical issue, before he bounced back in style in Free Practice 2 to claim top spot by three tenths and lay down a marker for the Pirelli Portuguese Round.

Razgatlioglu’s day got off to a terrible start in FP1. He didn’t set a lap time and, on his first flying lap, ran wide at Turn 1 before returning to the box. He tried to get back on track shortly after but mounted and then swiftly de-mounted his M 1000 RR before it was swiftly returned to the box for the team to work on. ‘El Turco’ wasn’t able to take part in FP1 at all, while rivals Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and his teammate Alvaro Bautista completed 20 laps lap.

During Free Practice 1, Team Principal Shaun Muir discussed the issue, stating: “He’s got a small issue, we're not sure what it is at the moment, the guys are working on it now, but Toprak felt it right away. We went from test engines back to race engines. The last time we used this engine was Race 2 at Phillip Island. We're working on it now, we're pretty sure he won’t be able to return for the rest of this session, we'll take out time, work on the problem, find out what it is to get better prepared for the second session and just put it behind us.” He then went on to confirm in FP2 that the engine wasn’t taken out of the allocation as it was an electronics setting issue.

In Free Practice 2, Razgatlioglu was one of the first riders out on track as he looked to make up for the lost time in FP1 and wasted no time in getting up to speed in the second 45-minute session. He set a 1’39.995s as the only rider in the 1’39s bracket across the weekend, as he finished three tenths quicker than Bulega in second place while teammate Michael van der Mark was just a few tenths behind the #11 in third.

But it wasn’t just Razgatlioglu’s outright pace that caught the eye during Free Practice 2, it was his long-run pace. His first stint was seven laps long – initially, Team Principal Shaun Muir had stated there would be two 10-lap runs – with his times ranging from 1’40.735s to 1’41.081s across the run. In his second run, the times were quicker at the start, ranging from a 1’30.995s on Lap 2 to a 1’41.219s on Lap 9. In total, Razgatlioglu completed six laps in the high 1’40s and five laps in the low 1’40s, plus his 1’39.955s. In comparison to Bulega, his first run times ranged from 1’41.346s to 1’40.767s; this was his longest stint, although he did two more totalling seven representative laps which ranged from 1’40.294s to 1’40.663s. The #11 had nine laps in the high 1’40s and four in the low 1’40s.

Reviewing his Friday as a whole, Razgatlioglu said: “I was very surprised in FP1 that I wasn’t riding the bike, just watching in the box! We started FP2 immediately as I needed to do a race simulation, and we have two different tyres. I need to understand which tyre is better for the race. In the first run, I tried a different tyre, and did a 10-lap run, half-race simulation, and after I put the other tyres to understand which one is better. We did a good lap time, and the pace is very good. I need to improve in some corners because, in the hotter conditions, it isn’t easy for anyone because the bike balance is changing, the setup is changing. You feel less grip and on the engine brake, you need to change something. I’m still liking the bike but I’m not 100% happy with some corners and tomorrow, I hope we improve the engine brake and the bike balance.”

He continued: “I don’t care about FP1, it’s only Friday! I believe in my team because everyone is working really hard. I just waited for the second session. I’m not happy when I’m just sitting inside but I saw everyone tried their best, as always. We did a very good job. If I started to ride in FP1, now we’d find a good setup. We’re coming but one session back. It’s no problem. This is a technical problem and a mechanical sport, this is normal. I’m just focused on tomorrow and FP3, I need to improve something and a good lap time for Superpole.”

Can Razgatlioglu convert his phenomenal race pace into pole and victory on Saturday? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass!