In the 2022 Superbike World Championship, Toprak Razgatlioğlu was the last to try to stop the relentless march ofAlvaro Bautista towards the world title, then after having passed the baton to the Spaniard in Indonesia despite his three victories, the Yamaha rider released the pressure somewhat at the Phillip Island circuit, failing to win any of the three races in Australia.
Second in Race 1 behind Jonathan Rhea, the Turkish driver concluded his weekend and his season with a second place in the Superpole race won by Alvaro Bautista and his winning bet to start with slicks on the wet track, then fourth during a Race 2 cut by five laps.
The Yamaha R1 of the Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK team therefore raced for the last time with number 1, despite 529 points and 14 victories obtained in the season, with, to console itself, second place in the drivers', manufacturers' and manufacturers' championships. teams, as well as the overall Tissot Superpole Award for 2022, starting from pole four times, winning seven Superpole races and only starting outside the front row a very small number of four times in 36 races.
The 26-year-old also became the most successful Yamaha rider in WorldSBK with 30 wins to date, surpassing the previous record held by Noriyuki Haga, et 2022 l’a vu célébrer 14 victoires pour faire “mieux” que la saison historique de l’année dernière, malgré un événement de moins dans le calendrier de cette année. Mais ça n’a pas suffit à reconduire son titre face à l’inarrêtable Alvaro Bautista.
The Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK team and Toprak Razgatlioğlu seront de retour en piste pour un test privé de trois jours au Circuito de Jerez du 13 au 15 décembre afin de travailler de façon intensive pour la nouvelle campagne du titre 2023, afin de tenter de reprendre la “Triple Couronne” acquise en 2021 et perdue en 2022.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu : " We tried in each session to find good grip and good settings, and also the last race was very strange because after ten laps I felt a big drop in the rear tire. I also saw Alex, he was also attacking a lot and after two laps I saw his rear skating, so I told myself I was going to pass him in the last two laps. But then we got the red flag. But I'm very happy for him, he needs this bonus because he has two babies! He was very strong this weekend and we finished the last race in fourth position but second in the championship. In the Superpole race, Álvaro made a good bet, but he was already world champion, so he could take the risk! We were still fighting for second place in the championship, so we put the same tire as Johnny and we fought with him. I saw at the start of the race that everything was dry, so I thought Álvaro was going to win. Congratulations to him again for the championship and also to Jonathan, because this year we are fighting together in every race. It has also been a very good season for the fans, everyone watches incredible races every weekend. I'm very happy because I'm part of it and everyone appreciates my style! Now it's very nice to share with fans and make many stoppies! Three wins at Donington and Mandalika is incredible for me, and a big thank you to my team and Yamaha. We are very strong and we will see next year if we can win the championship again. »
Paul Denning, Team Director Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK: “ We had a tough Friday at Toprak, so finishing the weekend with two podiums and potentially another one without the red flag this afternoon is an encouraging set of results, and a good basis for further improvement when we return here in February. Thank you to everyone in the Yamaha organization in Milan for their support and personal commitment, to Yamaha Motor Europe and, of course, to our very dedicated team. We will try again next year and do our best to snatch the title for Yamaha. »
Results of the Superpole Superbike Race at Phillip Island:
Results from Superbike Race 2 at Phillip Island:
Classification credit: WorldSBK.com
