Portimao WorldSBK FP2 Results: Toprak Razgatlioglu smokes the chasing pack

Results from Free Practice 2, round nine of the 2022 WorldSBK Championship at Portimao, Portugal.

07 Oct 2022

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha World Superbike Portimao

Toprak Razgatlioglu dominates WorldSBK FP2 in Portimao as Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista complete the top three.

After a small delay due to red flags being shown in the preceding WorldSSP300 FP2 session, WorldSBK FP2 got underway with Alex Lowes setting the fastest time.

Iker Lecuona then went quicker than the Kawasaki rider after setting a time of 1:41.524s, which was his best lap of the weekend to that point while also enough to hold off Rea who jumped in second spot.

Seemingly running into trouble aboard his R1, Razgatlioglu made a quick return to pit lane as Rea went a tenth quicker than Lecuona.

Like Razgatlioglu in FP1, Rea was managing to keep hold on P1 despite being slower in the final sector compared to Lecuona and series leader Bautista.

The Aruba.it Ducati rider, who was beginning to look more and more menacing after a slow start to FP1, then went quicker than Rea by over two tenths, as Lecuona closed in on the six-time world champion for second.

Marvin Fritz suffered a fast crash at the final corner but was unhurt as he got back to his feet immediately.

2022 World Superbike Portimao, Portugal - Free Practice Results (2)
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	1:40.720s
2	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+0.476s
3	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+0.503s
4	Michael Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+0.576s
5	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+0.733s
6	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+0.919s
7	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+1.045s
8	Garrett Gerloff	USA	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+1.074s
9	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	+1.116s
10	Scott Redding	GBR	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+1.127s
11	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+1.138s
12	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	+1.202s
13	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	+1.203s
14	Michael Van Der Mark	SPA	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+1.346s
15	Eugene Laverty	IRL	Bonovo Action BMW	+1.352s
16	Roberto Tamburini	ITA	Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+1.577s
17	Lucas Mahias	FRA	Puccetti Kawasaki	+1.593s
18	Leon Haslam	GBR	Pedercini Kawasaki	+2.030s
19	Jake Gagne	USA	Fresh N Lean Attack Yamaha	+2.040s
20	Christophe Ponsson	FRA	Gil Motor Sport Yamaha	+2.224s
21	Hafizh Syahrin	MAL	MIE Honda Racing	+2.441s
22	Kohta Nozane	JPN	GRT Yamaha	+2.609s
23	Leandro Mercado	ARG	MIE Honda Racing	+2.757s
24	Marvin Fritz	GER	YART Yamaha	+2.905s
25	Luca Bernardi	SM	Barni Spark Ducati Team	+3.087s
26	Oliver Konig	CZE	Orelac Racing Kawasaki	+4.905s

With his front brake issues sorted, Razgatlioglu stamped his authority on the Portimao circuit as he went half a second clear of Bautista with his first flying lap.

Despite his stunning time of 1:40.720s, Razgatlioglu was again less than impressed with his Pata Yamaha machine as he returned to pit lane once again.

Out of pit lane for his third stint, Razgatlioglu was off the pace compared to the time he set earlier, instead focusing on race pace.

As Razgatlioglu and Rea exchanged positions during the final few minutes, the pair began to ramp up the pace as they both went red in the first sector before both lost time as the lap went on and therefore failed to improve.