WSBK
Published on February 25, 2023 • 03:25 PM by Marc Sériau

WSBK Superbike Phillip Island Superpole: Mischievous Toprak Razgatlioğlu, impressive Dominique Aegerter!

The first day of the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship confirmed the leadership of the reigning world champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who was the fastest during the first two sessions on the Phillip Island circuit.

Behind the official Ducati who seems calm, and this is a good surprise, we find contenders who are not part of the trio of Titans, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and  Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) in the morning,  Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati),  Philipp Ottl (Team GoEleven), Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) and Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in the afternoon.

But then they passed Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and Jonathan Rhea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)? 

The two drivers seem to have been victims of the increase in temperatures between morning and afternoon, at the end of the southern summer, and of not having been able to adapt their mount to the 51° reached by the Australian track.

Toprak Razgatlioğlu : " In the afternoon it was incredibly hot. The asphalt was 51, 52 degrees. We tried a racing simulation. Looks like it wasn't exactly fast but it wasn't bad either. We tried new settings for the race. Tomorrow the weather is expected to be cooler, which will help with grip. »

Jonathan Rhea : " As soon as the temperature rose and I did my first ride in FP2, I didn't feel good at all with the bike. »

Unfortunately for them, FP3 is taking place today a little earlier than FP1, and with temperatures expected to be cooler than yesterday, it will hardly be possible to resolve the problem before Superspole.
But conversely, this will take place earlier than FP2 and should therefore be less disruptive to the two drivers concerned.

During FP3, the session was reduced to the last 12 minutes, due to a short downpour that occurred on the exit lap. But the track dried very quickly and the times were ultimately much faster than on Friday, Iker Lecuona achieving 1'29.764 in front of a Alvaro Bautista for the first time surpassed.

 

 

For this 15-minute qualifying Superpole, the temperatures of 24° in the air and 27° on the ground are less hot than Friday afternoon, but what worries the drivers is both the wind which blows relatively strongly and the micro-showers which disrupted Superbike FP3 this morning and more recently the Supersport Superpole.

 

 

When the red lights go out, Eric Granado et Alvaro Bautista rush ahead Loris Baz et alex bassani.

Alvaro Bautista misses in his first flying lap and it's Danilo Petrucci who set the first reference in 1'30.571 before being surpassed by Remy gardner in 1'30.521, Dominique Aegerter in 1'30.439 then finally Michael Rinaldi in 1'30.019.

In his second flying lap, Jonathan Rhea takes command in 1'29.715 and everyone returns to their boxes before a final run which promises to be explosive...

 

 

There are six minutes left when the engines roar again, Alvaro Bautista leading Danilo Petrucci in its wake. The spearhead of Ducati, then third behind his own teammate Michael Rinaldi, dislodges the latter but fails to achieve the best time of the session.

 

 

On the contrary, Dominique Aegerter arouses admiration by registering 1'29.635 at the top of the time table!

 

 

It only lasts a moment and, as we thought, Soil Razgatlioğlu hid his game since he achieved 1'29.400, a time one second faster than his best time of the weekend!

Alvaro Bautista nevertheless manages to insert himself between the two Yamaha riders, which will undoubtedly be important later on, for the initial acceleration at the start of Race 1. It will then remain to manage the wear of the tires, a primordial factor on this abrasive track…

 

 

WorldSBK Superbike Superpole results at Phillip Island:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com