Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) topped Free Practice 1 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for the French Round, but finished fourth overall at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Despite being four tenths away from title rival Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), ‘El Turco’ was upbeat following the day’s action thanks to his super consistent race pace which he displayed in FP2.

Razgatlioglu returned to a track he’s designated his favourite, and it’s one he’s won eight times at already, with ‘El Turco’ going in search of a bit of history as he looks to make it a third circuit he’s won at 10 times or more, but it appears he’ll face stiff competition from his rivals. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) topped Friday’s running and was four tenths clear of Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) in second, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in third and Razgatlioglu in fourth.

However, a look into his race pace shows ‘El Turco’ is well and truly in contention for victory despite the fourth-tenth margin to P1. With times faster and more representative in FP2, as well as taking place closer to the scheduled race time, Razgatlioglu completed 15 laps in one long stint and he showed incredible consistency across that run, which was six laps shy of a full race distance.

Two of those lap times were in the 1’39s and 1’38s bracket, so not entirely representative of his race pace, but out of the remaining 13, all but two were in the 1’36s. The slowest of these was a 1’36.414s and the fastest was a 1’36.075s, on the second lap of his run. He also posted two laps in the 1’35s bracket – a 1’35.860s and a 1’35.861s – on his seventh and 12^th laps respectively as he was able to keep a consistent level across his run.

In comparison, Bulega completed nine laps for his longest stint. His fastest time was a 1’36.190s in that run and the slowest was a 1’37.212s; he did go faster in his final stint. Lowes had a longest stint of 14 laps, although one lap was in the 1’56s so can be discounted, as can his one lap in the 1’39s. His quickest time was a 1’36.375s while his slowest was a 1’37.415s on his first lap. Locatelli, similarly to Bulega, didn’t do a stint longer than 10 laps in FP2. He had one time in the 1’42s, while he posted five in the 1’36s and two in the 1’37s.

Reflecting on his Friday, Razgatlioglu said: “I started very well because, after the crash last year and not continuing to ride, I’m very happy I started more calmly. It’s the first time I’ve done a race simulation on the BMW at Magny-Cours. It looks like I’m very strong, but we still need to improve some corners and sectors.

“I did 15 laps in the race simulation, and it was very strong; I did a 1’35s two times. I always stayed in the low 1’36s and this is strong race pace. After I got back to the box, I explained it corner by corner because at some corners, I felt some problems especially engine brake. I was just explaining this at some corners, but we didn’t have a lot of time to improve because it was in the last six minutes. I tried some more engine brake, but it didn’t change. We can also improve the lap time because, at some corners, I’m riding on the limit. If we improve and the bike starts to help me, I think I’ll ride more easily.”

Razgatlioglu also acknowledged the gap to him and Bulega on the timesheets, saying: “Bulega did a very good lap time, but I didn’t use a new tyre, I used only one tyre in FP2 because I was focused on the race not the lap time. It’s very important for me to have three wins this weekend.”

Can Razgatlioglu convert his race pace into victory in France? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now half price!