Intense, crazy, and non-stop… that was the ultimate day of testing for the Superbike World Championship on European soil. Before heading to Australia to start his 2024 season at the end of February, Toprak Razgatlioglu became the fastest rider ever on an SBK at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
After Nicolò Bulega was the fastest on the first day riding the official Ducati Panigale V4R, the second day at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve saw Toprak Razgatlioglu take the top spot on the timesheet for the first time riding the BMW, facing a new challenge in his sports career.
Close to lunchtime, ‘El Turco’ put the SCX compound tire on the rear wheel of his bike and, at the end of a short stint, he set a lap time of 1m39.255s, four tenths below the official circuit record but still about two tenths off the best time set by Álvaro Bautista during the tests here at the beginning of the 2023 season. However, the best was yet to come, and on his final outing, the former world champion even secured a new (unofficial) circuit record with a lap time of 1m39.189s, after completing a long run in the afternoon with the SC0 compound that resulted in a series of laps in the 40-second range and the initial ones always very close to the 39-second mark, showing the evolution of the German bike and the improved swingarm that seems to have helped find the desired traction for both riders on Shaun Muir’s team, as was also evident in the times set by his teammate, Michael van der Mark.
Faster than everyone else on the first day, Nicolò Bulega once again showed his speed and consistency to finish the tests just 86 milliseconds behind Toprak, even though the Ducati team continues to claim that the Italian rider is still adapting to his new bike after being the Supersport world champion in 2023. Behind him… in what we can consider a true balance of power for the new season, Alex Lowes was the best Kawasaki rider, finishing the test in third place after a day where he worked extensively on the electronics and chassis, as well as new suspension solutions that Showa brought to the Algarve.
With four different brands in the top four positions, Remy Gardner was the best Yamaha rider, finishing fourth, less than four tenths behind the leader. He beat Michael van der Mark and Andrea Locatelli. Among the top ten, it’s worth noting the two BMWs from Team Bonovo, ridden by Scott Redding and Gareth Gerloff, who closed the list of the top ten fastest riders, less than one second behind the fast Toprak Razgatlioglu. This confirms that BMW does not make a distinction between the two teams it has on the grid, as all four of its riders have identical equipment to face the new season.
The sound of five o’clock marked the end of the double test session, a day where the MotoGP riders, once again led by Francesco Bagnaia, rode less than on the opening day. It was also marked by the crashes of Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Digianantonio, which caused two red flag situations. The same happened with Danilo Petrucci, who finished eighth in preparation for his second year in the SBK world championship. It’s also worth noting Álvaro Bautista’s 15th position, as he complained about traction difficulties on his Ducati. He is defending the world title in the discipline for the second year.
The top 10 fastest riders
1st Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’39.189s
2nd Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.086s
3rd Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.332s
4th Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.377s
5th Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.428s
6th Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon) +0.469s
7th Jonathan Rea (Pata Yamaha Prometeon) +0.496s
8th Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.767s
9th Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) +0.946s
10th Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) +0.947s
*absolute times at the end of the two-day test
