Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) has put himself in prime position in search of a first win at MotorLand Aragon in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship after dominating Friday’s proceedings with incredible race pace and one-lap pace. The #1 set the fastest time of the day in FP1, a 1’48.385s, to secure top spot on the combined timesheets, even though title rival Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) was fastest in FP2.

Razgatlioglu’s first stint in FP2 was a long run as he completed 12 timed laps, although the last was his in lap as he returned to the pits. He set two laps in the 1’50s bracket – his first and third laps – with the remaining nine laps quicker than that. He set five laps in the 1’48s, ranging from 1’48.929s to 1’48.748s, while there were four laps in the 1’49s bracket. His slowest from the 1’49s was a 1’49.255s. While his longest stint was 12 laps, including his in-lap, he went back out on track on the same tyre to bring his total to 16 laps.

In comparison, Bulega did his longest stint in FP1 and his times were mostly in the 1’49s – like ‘El Turco’, showing consistency, but slightly slower than his BMW rival. Bulega’s fastest time in that run was a 1’48.920s and this was his only lap in his longest run in the 1’48s brackets. All but two of the remaining 10 laps were in the 1’49s bracket, with the final two in the 1’50s. In FP2, Bulega set the session fastest time with a 1’48.736s, although this wasn’t as quick as the 1’48.385s Razgatlioglu set in FP1.

Discussing his race pace, the reigning Champion said: “I’m very happy because we tried a race simulation. In the race simulation, on I think Lap 12, I felt a mechanical problem because the shifting has some problems. We changed the shifter. I rode afterwards on the same tyre. We did a good lap time at the end of the session, and we did almost 19 laps. It looks like everything is good. I felt the bike was good. We still need to improve in some corners because the engine brake still isn’t enough, in hot conditions especially. I said in France, I had a big target at Aragon to win. But this is only Friday.”

It appears that Razgatlioglu has the early advantage heading into Saturday’s action, in terms of race pace. Aragon is a circuit the #1 has never won at in his WorldSBK career but he heads into Round 10 on the back of 12 consecutive wins. Victory in Race 1 would give him his 13^th in a row, equalling his record from last year, while it would also end Ducati’s run of nine consecutive wins at Aragon.

Talking about his chances of a head-to-head with Bulega, ‘El Turco’ said: “Especially on the back straight and last corner, the Ducatis are always strong. I’m losing sometimes 0.2 or 0.3 seconds. It’s no problem. I’m always fast in the other sectors. I’m trying to push more to have a gap. Nicolo did a shorter race run and after he put in a new tyre; he did a good lap time. I’m just focused on my race pace. I’ve started well. The team and everyone is working hard and everyone is happy and positive.”

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