Toprak makes massive strides
WSB’s golden boy is rapid at Aragon
World Superbike Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu is brimming with confidence following an extremely positive test at MotorLand Aragon last week. The Spanish track will host the opening event of 2022 on the second weekend of April – and has been Yamaha’s weakest circuit in recent years.
Razgatlioglu has never excelled at Aragon due mostly to the fact the venue sports numerous long corners and not the heavy braking zones in which the Turk makes up most of his time. The 25-year-old was satisfied with a speedy and consistent race simulation. His time of 1:49.746 was just a tenth off Jonathan Rea’s record and, more significantly, over half a second quicker than Yamaha’s best 2021 race lap by Garrett Gerloff.
Razgatlioglu’s next test is Barcelona at the end of the month when Yamaha bring their new bike – and he’s already heralding ‘incredible progress’. For now, they’ve been running a development machine alongside a heavily modified ’21 bike featuring an improved riding position thanks to a new tank plus new subframe and electronics, the latter refining engine braking, traction control and anti-wheelie.
Just 74 thousandths of a second slower than Razgatlioglu in his first test of the year, Gerloff has every reason to be happy. Based back in Andorra for race season, he spent the winter at home in Texas, focusing his energies on a new fitness regime and diet. He adored time at home with family, whom he saw nothing of last season while struggling to deal with rife criticism following a string of controversial on-track incidents.
Last year, Gerloff ran older brakes with which he felt more comfortable but whose reduced stopping power may have contributed to some of his crashes. He’s now on an equal footing, although this was GRT’s first ’22 test so they are one step behind PATA who also tested at Portimao. GRT will be at Misano next week.