Toprak opens the Czech weekend in top form

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completed 38 laps on Friday and led the way across both sessions.

The BMW rider’s time of 1’31.519 was over a tenth of a second faster than the rest of the field. An 18 lap stint at the start of Free Practice 2 will have left him well prepared for Race 1 tomorrow.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) completed more laps than anyone else and ended the day pleased with his speed. Having been just one tenth of a second slower than Razgatlioglu the Ducati rider will be confident of challenging for his first win since Round 3 at Assen.

Having had his first podium as a Yamaha rider, Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) ended the day in third position. Rea was 0.514s slower than Razgatlioglu and completed 38 laps.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) made it four different manufacturers inside the top four positions on Friday. The Englishman continues to build on his strong start to the season.

On his first visit to Autodrom Most Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) improved as the day went on. The Italian, second in the championship standings, ended the day fifth fastest. He’ll be hoping to maintain his impressive Superpole form tomorrow with a sixth consecutive front row start.

P1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
“My weekend started well on Friday. It looks like we are strong again. I’m very happy to be back at Most because it’s a very nice circuit. We are using the SC1 rear tyre but it;s a bit difficult because . it doesn’t have the same grip as the SC0. We made some adjustments to the bike and we’re very happy. We also tested the SC1 and SC2 front tyres and I did a race simulation. Our pace is very strong. In FP1, I tried the standard SC1 rear tyre and in FP2 I tried the new SC1 rear tyre. These two tyres are very similar, and I haven’t decided yet which is better for the race. But overall, I’m happy with today.”

P2 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“This season we are struggling a lot but today I’m really happy because we made some changes on the bike since last weekend at Donington Park and I have a good feeling with the bike again. We made some changes to the setup of the bike and it has allowed me to force the bike more. I have more feedback from the tyres and it has helped me to find the limit more. I have now started to ride the bike as I wanted to from the beginning of the season. I feel that I can do it now.”

P3 | Jonathan Rea | Pata Prometeon Yamaha
“We didn’t have any issues and I was able to go out this morning and find my feet with the Yamaha here at Most. I was impressed because the bike works quite well here, and we just had to tidy up the electronics to get the bike to stop the way I want it to. This a track where there are so many compromises you need to make. The bike needs to be agile and change direction fast. You also need it to stop really well in turn one and in the last sector. We worked well in the garage and we could use both rear tyres and understand them. We have a clear idea which one we like, but we haven’t done a lot of laps on one option but not the other. Today is a good start to the weekend and we just need to keep that ball rolling.”

WorldSBK Combined Results after FP2
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’31.519s
2. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.103s
3. Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +0.514s
4. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.533s
5. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.552s
6. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.591s

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