Razgatlioglu: “It still looks like it's possible to be champion”

The Yamaha rider is the only other rider to have won a WorldSBK race so far this season, which came during the Superpole Race at Mandalika.

However, Razgatlioglu’s impressive performance has still been overshadowed by Bautista, with the reigning world champion having been in a league of his own through four rounds. 

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Razgatlioglu took his first win of 2022 at Misano, so it’s likely that the Turkish star will again be competitive this weekend, especially after the recent two-day test where his race pace was phenomenal.

Yet, the clear favourite remains Bautista, who like Razgatlioglu was also a winner at Misano last season. 

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Razgatlioglu has not hidden his intentions: "In testing, we did a very good job – especially with race simulation, I am very strong. 

"But, I know Bautista is normally very strong in Misano! My target is to win in the long race, not just the short race. I like the Misano track and the race pace this year is for me much better, but we will see because the race is always different from testing! 

"I try to do my best, this year I am still fighting for the championship and it looks like it is still possible we can be champion. 

"We will see, I will try my best in Misano – if we can win two races, three races, I don’t know we will see – I just try to win every race."

Locatelli aiming to hit the ground running at home WorldSBK round

Third in the standings, Andrea Locatelli has made his best start to a Superbike season since joining the series in 2021.

Much closer to Razgatlioglu in terms of pace, the Italian has been a constant threat for the podium, something he hopes to continue at Misano.

Locatelli added: "It’s more or less my ‘home race’ because we race in Italy even if it is not close to Bergamo! 

"It will be interesting to see if in respect to the last two years we can improve and get some good points – and fight for the podium. 

"After Misano test we understood a lot and I hope to arrive ready to be fast immediately from Friday and try to be in the front group of every session, to be in a good position to fight during the races. 

"It’s a flat track, no up and down elevation or anything crazy but the level of grip is very high and we need to just find a good way to start on Friday to be able to push during the weekend. 

"Of course, we also hope for good weather because there has been a lot of devastating rain in the region recently.

"The goal will be to put on a good show – we have a lot of fans travelling for the event and it is always nice to enjoy this support at home."