Rea fastest on day-one at Assen, tyres ‘not working’ for Razgatlioglu
Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea, the top two riders in the World Superbike championship endured a contrasting opening day at the Dutch WorldSBK due to tyres.
Pirelli has introduced new front and rear tyres for this weekend’s event - as they did for Misano, however, championship leader Razgatlioglu is not ‘feeling ready’ for race one due to struggles with the soft and X - X being Yamaha’s preferred option based on the season so far.
"Every rider is very close, and every rider tries good tyres because the X tyre and the soft tyre is not working," said Razgatlioglu.
"We also try the different tyres and also we don’t really try a long run, just we tried the good tyres for the race and also a different setup because I’m not feeling ready."
When asked what was causing the issues, Razgatlioglu was unsure as track temperatures were enough in his view for the X tyre to work.
"I don’t know, maybe it’s the asphalt. Track temperatures were 34-34 (degrees); I think it’s enough for the X tyre. But it’s strange, the X tyre is not working and normally Yamaha likes the X tyre. Now we will try a different tyre for the race." added the 24 year-old.
Rea, who was fastest overall on day-one had know such problems with tyres as his Kawasaki ‘is working in quite a wide window’.
When Pirelli’s new rear compound tyres were introduced in Misano, Rea was one of the fastest with the new sets - resulted in him taking pole - whereas some riders chose not to use them at all.
Rea added: "It just depends track-to-track. We’ve used it in testing (soft tyre) and it’s been great for longevity. We’ve used it in races this year, we’ve used the ‘new generation x’ if you like; don’t know what they’re called otherwise I’d tell you, and then the SC0.
"It all just depends on the temperature, the track, what the track requests, how the tyre drops during the race.
"Some riders want to go away aggressive at the start and manage the tyre, some riders let the tyre come to you. It’s just personal preference and bike setup.
"The Kawasaki is working in quite a wide window and we can use; in reason we’ve used all the tyres so far this year, but it just depends what the track requests."
