Toprak Razgatlioglu “feeling positive” despite Portuguese WorldSBK bike problem

Toprak Razgatlioglu’s Friday in Portugal was going to plan until the final minutes of FP2, when he suffered a technical problem with his BMW M1000 RR.

Razgatlioglu was not the only rider to suffer bike issues on Friday at Portimao, with Nicolo Bulega and wildcard rider Hafizh Syahrin both suffering problems in FP1, before Garrett Gerloff and Remy Gardner were hit with technical issues in the evening session.

Razgatlioglu’s was perhaps the least impactful, though, as his occurred with only 10 minutes remaining in FP2. Bulega’s and Gerloff’s, on the other hand, both happened with only a few minutes on the clock in FP1 and FP2, respectively.

In any case, it cost Razgatlioglu track time, despite which he finished third in FP2.

"I had a technical problem in FP2 and I had to return to the box,” Razgatlioglu said. “Unfortunately, I couldn't ride the bike for the last ten minutes.”

Razgatlioglu expanded vaguely on the issue, and said that there was no way for him to continue in the final minutes of the session.

“I started feeling some problems after 3-4 laps when I used the new tyre and I realised there was a technical issue,” he said. “I had to return to the box, but very slowly. We'll see how things go tomorrow but the first day is done and I'm very happy because not every session or race weekend goes perfectly. Now we're starting a little differently this weekend but I'm feeling positive. I'm just waiting for tomorrow."

However, despite the issue, Razgatlioglu maintained his confidence with the M1000 RR, especially regarding his race pace. “Overall,” he said, “my feeling wasn't bad with the bike. Before the technical issue, I was using a used tyre, and I'm very happy with how the bike performed on it.

“This is positive for me because our pace was good and I did a very good job with the used tyre. After 18 laps (full race distance is 20 laps), I was still able to do a 40.9 lap which is really good in these hot conditions.”