By achieving pole position on Australian asphalt less heated by the Phillip Island sun than on Friday, Toprak Razgatlioglu thought he had found the solution to all his problems on his Yamaha R1 this Saturday. Unfortunately, the rain came and dissolved the Turk's hopes of a first victory at the start of the season. Plagued by helmet and grip problems with his R1, he had to settle for the essentials, which was still a third place...
It’s a Toprak Razgatlioglu fatalist who summed up his first race of the year like this: “ last year there was a lot more grip and the feel was much better, whereas today in wet conditions there was less grip at the rear, especially in the corners at RIGHT ". He specifies : " I lost time especially in turns 1, 4, 8 and 10, I was slow because I had no grip. I tried to finish in the best possible position and, I'm not particularly satisfied, but I'm happy to have finished in third position ».
« I tried to spend time with Johnny and Alvaro but I had a problem with my visor, the water was coming in and I couldn't see ahead. It's strange, but it wasn't a big problem, because the main problem was adhesion on right turns » analyzes the official Yamaha .
Toprak Razgatlioglu: “ I'm happy to be on the podium again, but my goal is to be able to win in the wet one day«
« I'm happy because I feel like I've improved in the wet, but I don't think so let this be my real position because I feel like the bike is working better and I could have easily stayed in the leading group. I'm happy to be on the podium again, but my goal is to be able to win in the wet one day » he commented. “ I have progressed with the rain: now I ride much better, but the big problem was adhesion. I tried to do my best in the race, trying to change lines in some corners and if I hadn't had this problem I could have easily fought with Johnny and Alvaro. We will see tomorrow ».
On the evaluation of his potential compared to the World Champion on Ducati et winner this Friday in Australia, he announces : " I don't have the pace of Alvaro, because he is faster in the dry, but now I feel better than Friday and during the tests. We have good grip at the rear and good feel at the front. We didn't try to do a race simulation, but I feel a lot better now and I think the bike is good. Today I used the SC0 and it was consistent on time, even after a few laps » finishes the Turk.
WSBK Superbike Phillip Island Race 1: standings
Credit classification wsbk.com
