Toprak Razgatlioglu looking for more after second place in Australian World Superbike Race 1

After finishing a distant second to Nicolo Bulega in Race 1 at this weekend’s Australian World Superbike round, Toprak Razgatlioglu is hoping to find improvements in bike setup to improve his potential for Sunday’s two races.

Razgatlioglu was able to match Bulega’s pace in the second stint of Saturday’s Race 1, but in the opening stint the Italian had been able to open up a lead of around six seconds, while Razgatlioglu was sucked into a multi-rider battle for second.

“For the Superpole Race I need some setup because today everyone was pushing harder,” Razgatlioglu told WorldSBK.com after Race 1 in Phillip Island.

“I hope we find something and are fighting again with someone.”

Could that someone be Bulega?

“[Nicolo] Bulega is very strong at this circuit, he rides alone,” the reigning champion said.

“But, maybe at the beginning of the race, two or three laps maybe, I can try to follow him, but after I’m sure he’ll ride alone.”

Although he was left trailing Bulega in Race 1, Razgatlioglu was at least happy with the progress he had made compared to Friday, when he was complaining of a lack of grip and turning in particular.

“I feel very good because finally I start smiling and I didn’t expect this race, but we did a very good job,” Razgatlioglu said.

“Thanks to my team because we have improved the bike; especially in the beginning of the race I’m not really strong, but the second [stint] after we changed the tyre I feel much better grip and a little bit better turning, maybe the fuel is less.”

The pit stop marked a clear pivot point in the race, but Razgatlioglu’s own 20 laps in Race 1 were the perfect example of how a flag-to-flag race can result in races of two very different halves for some.

By staying out one lap longer than the likes of Alvaro Bautista, he was able to emerge after the pit cycle with a gap of almost one second back to the group he was battling with before the stops.

From there, Razgatlioglu was able to manage the gap, although Bautista was within 0.3 seconds of him by the chequered flag.

“The flag-to-flag I’m really enjoying,” Razgatlioglu said.

“This time we didn’t do a mistake because I got a penalty. But this year I did a very good job, the team did a very good job.

“I didn’t follow Alvaro [Bautista], this time I did one more lap because I felt that I was a little bit faster than Bautista, so I did one more lap and I pushed more than 100 per cent.

“After [the pit stop] I’m immediately starting at 100 per cent to push the gas because the race is only nine laps [so] I don’t need to save the rear tyre – it’s not bad.”

Razgatlioglu started second after missing out on pole to Bulega by 0.094 seconds, but his initial plan of trying to follow the factory Ducati rider was disrupted by the presence of a number of other Ducatis, which are no longer dealing with reduced maximum engine speeds to balance performance thanks to the introduction of the new maximum fuel flow regulations.

“I try to follow Bulega,” he said, “but when I started the race all the Ducatis passed me on the straight.

“I don’t understand [how] Ducati is still very strong on the straight, but the new rules don’t cut the RPM… [the Ducati is] still fast on the straight.

“But, [...] when I changed the tyre I found the rhythm and I’m riding more relaxed on the bike.

“Every session we are improving the bike, very small steps. Tomorrow we have two more races, we will see.”