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With the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship descending on the Circuito Estoril for the third round of the 2022 season, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) have given their thoughts on the weekend ahead after Friday’s two practice sessions where the pair finished first and second in the combined classification, separated by less than two tenths.

Razgatlioglu led the way after Friday’s two 45-minute practice sessions as he posted a 1’36.290s in FP2 to move to the top of the timesheets, 0.173s clear of Bautista in second place. Razgatlioglu was able to find around half-a-second between FP1 and FP2 to show his hand for the weekend with his best time coming in a six-lap stint towards the end of the session where all but five of his laps were in the low-to-mid 1’36s bracket.

Commenting on his chances of victory, which would be his first of the season, Razgatlioglu said: “Normally, MotorLand and Assen are not really strong for Yamaha. Jonny is also always strong. This year, I am trying for a good position. Bautista is very fast. We are very strong at this track and I am, again, fighting for the win. We will see because every race I am fighting for a good position. After Assen, for one week I didn’t ride a bike. After I started a really good training and riding in Turkey. Now I am fully ready and ready to race. Races are always different.”

Like Razgatlioglu, Bautista’s best lap time came in a final stint at the end of FP2 where he posted four lap times between 1’36.463s and 1’36.954s; the former his fastest time of Friday’s action across both FP1 and FP2. It was Bautista’s longest run of laps in the 1’36s bracket in FP2, with previous stints mostly made up of laps in the 1’37s.

Reviewing Friday’s results and looking ahead to racing getting underway on Saturday, Bautista said: “I think it has been a very positive day for us. In the morning, I just did some laps to have a reference with this bike. We made some small adjustments, typical adjustments when you go from one track to another. In the afternoon, we made some bigger changes on the bike and it was definitely better for me. It was easier to ride and more comfortable. We tried the front tyre, both specifications, and I didn’t find a big difference so it will be difficult to choose one for the race tomorrow. In any case, it has been very positive and I’m happy with the feeling I have riding my bike. Let’s see tomorrow if we can make some small changes to improve my pace and also the lap time.”

When asked about his main rival for the weekend and whether it would be Razgatlioglu, Bautista said: “Definitely! He’s very strong at this kind of track, especially Estoril is a track that fits him very well because there’s a lot of hard braking and this is his style. This track needs a bike that turns very well, and this is Yamaha’s strong point. Definitely he’s the biggest rival this weekend. Also, we can’t forget Jonathan, because he won in the past here and he wants to stay in the fight.”

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