Toprak Razgatlioglu finished fifth in the first race of the Superbike World Championship in Phillip Island. This was the Turkish rider’s debut with ROKiT BMW, having fought for top positions on a challenging track for him – he crossed the finish line in fourth, but a 1.225s penalty dropped him to fifth.
The 2021 world champion analyzed the race in an interview with the championship’s official website: ‘The start wasn’t bad. I stayed at the front and the feeling was good at the beginning of the race because we did 1m30s and then we started doing 1m29s. But we were riding in the high 1m29s. In the last three laps, I attacked harder and I was still riding with my bike, preserving the rear tire, trying to save it because this track is very demanding on the rear tire – and especially with my bike, I use the rear tire a lot. We did ten laps, but in the last two laps, I was feeling vibrations. Anyway, we finished the race in fifth‘.
A pit lane violation resulted in a penalty for Razgatlioglu, preventing him from finishing fourth: ‘I saw 0 on my display, and I immediately left the pit lane. And also Alex [Lowes] overtook me at the pit lane exit. But I didn’t gain any advantage. Anyway, I started in fifth and finished in fifth. Fourth place is better than fifth, I hope we improve for tomorrow‘, he explained.
Despite the result falling short of the desired outcome, the Turk acknowledged that he did not expect an easy race: ‘We had a race with BMW. I am not happy with fifth place, my goal was to be on the podium in the first race. But we realized, especially yesterday, that this would not be an easy race because after ten laps this tire is destroyed. Maybe especially with my bike I use the rear tire a lot, but it seems easier for the other bikes. Anyway, we have some race data, which is good, we are starting to work on improving. I hope we improve tomorrow and have better races‘.
Asked if he could have another chance to get on the podium tomorrow, Razgatlioglu replied: ‘I hope so, this is my goal, the first podium – especially in Australia, because it is not an easy track for me and for BMW. I hope we get a podium tomorrow‘.
