Toprak: ‘Bike felt different at Phillip Island, again! Completely changing…’

Toprak Razgatlioglu says his Yamaha R1 ‘felt different’ at Phillip Island, just as it did when WorldSBK raced at the Australian circuit last November.

Robert Jones

02 Mar 2023

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha World Superbike Phillip Island 2023

As the 2023 WorldSBK championship heads to Mandalika - a circuit Razgatlioglu has called his favourite after winning all three races last season - the 2021 world champion is in need of a telling response following Alvaro Bautista’s opening weekend hat-trick.

The Ducati rider took three comfortable wins while Razgatlioglu was on the podium twice before being involved in an unfortunate crash with Alex Lowes in Race 2.

Not wanting to fall behind in the championship as he did early on last season, Razgatlioglu is hoping to rebound by challenging for victory in Indonesia.

Speaking ahead of this weekend, Razgatlioglu said: "I have good memories. This year, we will see. The first round was not really a strong weekend for me, but this circuit is my favourite.

"Last year, I had the same feeling when we went to Phillip Island. The bike felt different because we used the harder tyres and it’s a different track. It’s not like my style.

"My style is usually hard braking. Mandalika is my favourite circuit and I try to do my best again last year. Last year, we had three wins.

"This year we will see because everybody is very fast and very strong; everybody’s improved their bike. Normally, we are very strong here. I hope we have a strong start and are fighting again for the win."

Harder tyres the problem for Razgatlioglu in Phillip Island

Toprak Razgatlioglu Superpole race, Australian WorldSBK, 27 February

On the softer tyre during the Superpole Race, Razgatlioglu felt as though the performance of his R1 was back to its best, but when fitting the harder tyre for Race 2, the Pata Yamaha rider was struggling to get the better of riders around him.

"The big problem in Race 2 was everybody was using harder tyres," added Razgatlioglu. "In the Superpole Race, everybody used SC0 tyres. With this tyre, my bike is unbelievable, and I had a very good feeling.

"If we had one more lap, maybe I pass Michael [Ruben Rinaldi] because he started to drop. In Race 2, we used the harder tyre, and my bike was completely changing.

"In the first laps, I didn’t feel the grip and the bike wasn’t turning. I just tried to keep the rear tyre.

"I followed Jonny and tried for the best position. We crashed with Alex; it wasn’t his fault. I went wide a little bit to keep a good line, he crashed and hit me."