Razgatlioglu was quite happy with the weekend in France, but Yamaha reveals it has filed an appeal over the Bautista-Rinaldi accident.
About Matteo Bellan de Motoracing
Toprak Razgatlioglu arrived at Magny-Cours confident in his abilities and he did not disappoint: victory in Race 1 and Superpole Race, then second place in Race 2. The missteps ofÁlvaro Bautista in the first two rounds helped him, but he still knew how to take advantage of it. Then in the last race he had no way to counter the driver Ducati, who totally dominated. In any case, the situation in the ranking has improved a little: the gap in the ranking between the Yamaha of the Turk and the reigning Superbike champion went from 74 to 57 points. Three days before the end of the championship, the matches are still open, even if the Spaniard is undoubtedly the favorite.
Razgatlioglu admitted that he was not surprised to see Baptist also competitive in Race 2: “ I expected it, because in hot conditions it is really strong. Ducati has made a big improvement on this track, the acceleration is incredible. He did a good job, his pace was really strong and I couldn't keep up with him. I tried, but after two rounds I started to decline. I fought with Rea, followed him and in the last five laps I tried to pass him, but he was really strong. For Race 2 we used different settings, but the bike didn't work well and it wasn't easy to ride. I had a lot of fun with Johnny and in the end I took second place. It wasn't a bad weekend, we did a good job ».
During his career, Toprak found himself in duels with Jonathan Rhea and this also happened in France. He likes to fight against the pilot Kawasaki, who will replace him within the Pata Yamaha Prometeon team in 2024-2025: “ we have great mutual respect and that is something important, I'm happy. He's a Superbike legend. In the past I fought with him and became world champion, a dream come true. I'm happy to fight with a legend and I hope we fight again in Aragon ».
Yamaha: “ we filed a formal appeal, it was a case of irresponsible piloting »
The 2021 Superbike champion reiterated that he is not thinking about the title race, although he once again pointed out that the 20-25 points lost to Most have a big weight on his ranking: “ I don't think of Ducati or Most. Obviously, without hindsight in the Czech Republic, it would be very different, I think race by race. Aragon will not be easy for me, I will try to fight for a good position. We'll see how it goes. The championship is not over. Maybe Alvaro will make mistakes, but I don't expect that to happen because I prefer to fight with him on the track. Sometimes technical problems also arise, as happened to him on Saturday. I'm trying to ride better and win all the races, then we'll see how it ends ».
The team leader Paul Denning revealed that Yamaha had officially requested that Bautista be penalized for causing Michael Ruben Rinaldi's crash during the Superpole Race, but no action was taken: “ we expected a sanction for Alvaro after the contact with Michael. We have filed a formal appeal, but the stewards told us that Bautista couldn't do anything. But he arrived too quickly, braked late and damaged another driver. A case of irresponsible piloting and it was expected that the regulations would be enforced, this did not happen. We were a little surprised and a little disappointed of this decision ».
