Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) led the way on an action packed opening day of the Motul Czech Round at Autodrom Most.
The Turkish rider completed 42 laps of the 4.212km long venue on a day with changeable conditions and red flag delays.
Razgatlioglu completed a 21 lap race simulation in FP2 where his pace and consistency laid down a marker to the rest of the field. In Free Practice 2 Razgatlioglu completed six laps faster than any other rider managed throughout the day.
Four red flags interrupted Free Practice 1 with the highest profile casualty Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). The Ducati rider crashed heavily at Turn 6 after a highside. The Italian completed 24 laps for the day and ended Friday fourth fastest on the combined times.
Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) continued his strong form to end the day second fastest just ahead of Alex Lowes who yesterday re-signed with the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team for 2026.
Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) was ruled out of action for the weekend following his Free Practice 1 crash. The other crashers were Remy Gardner, Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli.
P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“This was my best Friday of the season. I’m really happy. The bike isn’t bad at all and we’ve found a good setup and adapted to the tricky weather conditions. I did a time attack and also a race simulation and I was consistently lapping in the 1’31s, which is a strong pace. The race is always different because you have to manage the rear tyre and make sure you have grip for the last laps. We worked with a race mindset today and it looks like we’re strong. The forecast says rain is likely tomorrow, but we’re ready. I want to win. I need to win.”
P2 – Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team)
“Honestly, I really struggled here last year. It’s nice to come back to this track and feel fast again. My pace was pretty good overall. During my long run, I had to make a quick pit stop to adjust something, but we went back out on the same tyres and we still managed strong laps. I feel like I’m in the mix and there’s still room to improve, especially in Sector 2, where I wasn’t riding very well. We were lucky with the weather and got a lot of dry laps compared to others. It was a positive first day, and I think we can take a step forward tomorrow and stay in the fight.”
P3 – Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team)
“Our strategy went out the window a bit today due to all the red flags. In the damp, I managed to find a decent rhythm and the bike felt good. In FP2, we worked on improving the bike’s turning. We kept the same tyres throughout the session to understand our pace better. Overall, it was a positive day. I had a lot of fun riding the bike. We’re very strong in Sectors 2 and 3, but I’m losing out in the last sector though. I’ll study the data tonight to see what we can improve but if we can fix that, I think we’re in a good position to fight for our best result of the year.”
P4 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It was really important for me to ride again today after the big crash this morning. After a crash like that you need to get back on the bike to rebuild your confidence. It was a huge crash, and I’m feeling the pain everywhere, especially my foot, but I’m lucky it wasn’t worse. In FP2, I didn’t push too much, but the feeling with the bike wasn’t too bad. Of course, we can still improve. It wasn’t easy to ride with the pain because there are so many changes of direction here but I gave 100% every lap. I was still thinking about the crash during FP2, which didn’t help with the lap time. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to put that behind me and focus fully on improving.”
Combined Results after FP2
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’31.318s
2. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.224s
3. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.289s
4. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.375s
5. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.403s
6. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.409s
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