WSBK Superbike Estoril FP3: Toprak Razgatlioglu breaks all records, Andrea Iannone heads for the future

Incredible Toprak Razgatlioglu : after a somewhat down Friday, he woke up in Estoril with the appetite of a champion during FP3, the third and final Superbike free practice session, smashing all records (including that of the fastest lap...) by going down to 1'35.202.

De Paul Gozzi / Corsedimoto.com

Nicholas Bulega , the previous day's benchmark holder, remained stuck at four tenths of a second: beating a monster like the Turk seems like an undertaking on the edge of the imaginable. With the fresh asphalt, the limits have disappeared, and Ducati can only hope that the situation changes radically this afternoon (Race 1 at 15 p.m. French time).

A furious melee
The world championship chaser (36 points to make up on Toprak) finished fifth, in the middle of a group of six drivers grouped within a single tenth. The BMW phenomenon challenged himself, with a series of impressive passes. Behind, the melee rages: a good session also for Axel Bassani et Andrea Iannone, who sandwiched Bulega, looking for the technical key to overcome the challenge.

Andrea Iannone is looking for her way
In Estoril, Andrea Iannone is committed on three fronts: to carry out this penultimate round as best as possible, to conclude its two-year adventure with Go Eleven well and above all to plan for 2026. This is currently the biggest unknown. "I will be on the track of the Superbike World Championship with a big project, my brother Angelo and manager Gelete Nieto are working on it", the former MotoGP rider said cryptically. The idea is to create a team from scratch, owned by the Iannone family. In the paddock, they are looking for top technical figures, especially those capable of adapting to the working method of a rider who, in the premier class, has gained experience with official Ducati, Suzuki and Aprilia.

A look at the tires
In this penultimate round, sole supplier Pirelli is introducing a new front tire, called the E0672, which sits halfway between the SC1 (medium) and SC2 (hard) solutions in the range. For the rear, there are only two options: the super-soft E0126 and the SC0 from the range. The front development tire did not meet with much success in Friday's sessions. Toprak prefers hard tires, especially the SC2 front. If Ducati can get Bulega to successfully use something softer, it could prove to be an asset. Estoril is a circuit with few demands on tire life.

Read the original article on Corsedimoto.com
Paul Gozzi

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com

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