Toprak Razgatlioglu “ready in both conditions” at Estoril World Superbike

Toprak Razgatlioglu faces his first opportunity to win his second World Superbike Championship this weekend, but insists his focus is on winning the race.

The championship leader was dominant on Friday in Estoril, topping both practices, including the dry session in the afternoon by over 0.7 seconds.

The wet session in the morning posed increased risk for Razgatlioglu, though.

“We start very strong, especially in the wet conditions because after a long time I’m riding again the BMW in the wet conditions,” he told WorldSBK.com.

“But we are starting very strong, but I did just three or four laps maximum and then I come back to the box because the team is a little bit scared — because we are fighting for the world title.

“The feeling is good, because it looks like we are ready to race in the wet condition.

“The FP2, for me, is very good, because it’s the first time I ride [Estoril] in dry conditions with the BMW and we started very strong.”

Razgatlioglu explained that being in Estoril for the first time with the BMW M1000 RR meant he needed to adapt the way he attacked the Portuguese circuit.

“The feeling is good, but I need some more laps to adapt more,” he said. “In general, the [BMW] is working well, but in some corners I need to adapt more because last time I ride here was with the Yamaha.

“The Yamaha is a little bit different character [than the BMW], I’m just trying to ride in the middle.”

Although Razgatlioglu topped the afternoon session, rain towards the end meant he didn’t complete all the work he wanted to do.

“[In the dry], I’m feeling good,” he said. “I did seven laps and I did a very good lap time with the SC0 tyre. Then I come back to the box for the new SCX tyre, but it started to rain so I haven’t tried the new tyre.

“But it looks like we are very strong.”

Razgatlioglu’s points lead coming into this weekend is 39, but despite the opportunity to win his second title in Estoril he insists that he is not feeling the pressure.

“I’m not feeling pressure, I’m just enjoying on the bike, especially this morning and afternoon.” he said.

“But, tomorrow looks a little bit strange again, looks like tomorrow morning [it will] rain, and afternoon looks like no more rain. Anyway, we will see. I’m ready in both conditions, I just try to do my best like before, and we will see.

“It’s a very important race weekend for me because I need very good points here, but I’m just focused to win the race, and if I see some risk in the race maybe I say second position is good, but I’m just focused to win the race because I like this circuit.

“Today is a good day for me, it’s a good start, and also I’m feeling better than Aragon because physically now I’m feeling much better and also the mental side more strong now.”

Razgatlioglu added that the chance of a wet race on Saturday provided motivation, because he hasn’t yet won a WorldSBK race in wet conditions.

“I’m almost winning in 2021 in Barcelona,” Razgatlioglu said, “but there was a technical problem. If it rains tomorrow, I will just try to do my best, try to win in wet conditions.

“ This year we did many new things, and why not also win a race in the wet?”