Indonesian WorldSBK: Toprak Razgatlioglu: ‘I need Jonathan Rea to help me fight Ducati, he will come back strong’

Toprak Razgatlioglu asks for help from Jonathan Rea in a bid to dethrone Ducati and Alvaro Bautista, after the WorldSBK champion claimed his fifth win in six races this season.
Toprak Razgatlioglu Yamaha, Jonathan Rea Kawasaki, Mandalika WorldSBK 2023
Toprak Razgatlioglu Yamaha, Jonathan Rea Kawasaki, Mandalika WorldSBK 2023

While front grip was a huge issue for both Razgatlioglu and Rea in Ma♔ndalika, the former was able to claim podiums in both of the longer format races, whilst 🥀also winning the Superpole Race.

However, for Rea, the six-time Superbik🙈e champion was off the podium in all three races which has not happened since Estoril in 2020. 

On the contrary, Bautista appears to be stronger than ever, as do most other Ducati riders who have been able to get amonওgst Razgatlioglu and Rea during t♚he opening few races, thus helping Bautista gain more points.

And although it remains early in the season, Razgatlioglu has revealed he is seeking help from teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Andrea Locatelli and Rea.

"We will see in Assen and hopefully this season we are focused in🍸 the rac𝕴e with Jonny and we don’t crash," said Razgatlioglu. "We need good positions, especially Johnny. It was not an easy weekend [for him]. 

"I think it’s a similar problem and the front tyres had a big drop. In hot conditions the Kawasaki is not working but Johnny is still very strong. He crashed in the second race but I believe he will come back very strong in Assen.&nb♐sp;

"He’s very strong there. We need to fight Ducℱati and I need him. I need some help. Also, Loka is very strong in the first two weekends and maybe we are fighting Ducati together."

Regarding his own performance at Mandalika, Razgatlioglu was strong throughout the weekend although Ba🥃utista proved unbಞeatable in the two long races.

Toprak Razgatlioglu Superpole race, Indonesian WorldSBK, 5 March
Toprak Razgatlioglu Superpole race, Indonesian WorldSBK, 5 March

Happy to claim his first win of the year, however, Razgatlioglu is still not fully content: "Important for 🤡me is the long race, not short race. But anyway, we did the win. 

"This is not easy because everyone this season is very strong, especially Ducati. All the Ducati are fast and normally it’s Bautista who is the strong rider, but now it’s a very ♛good package - Bautista and Ducati." 

Razgatlioglu confident of landing P2 in third Mandalika WorldSBK race without error from Rinaldi

On the final lap of Race 2 Razgatlioglu was gifted second as a struggling ♎Michael Ruben Rinaldi went wide at 🌺turn ten.

But even without the error, Razgatlioglu, who was rapidly closing, was confident of gaining over half a second in the final two sec𒆙tors to make the overtake. 

"If he didn’t run wide I think I would have passed him in the last sector," said Razgatlioglu. "The last sector I waꦏs much stronger than him. Bautista stayed strong, he did the same lap every lap I think. 

"It was not possible to catch him. In some sectors the Ducat𒐪i is very strong. This weekend we were not strong starting and we tried to find a good set-up. 

"Finally in Race 2 the front tyre stayed good and was not destroyed. In the race I was very strong but not enough because after the red flag I🐼 used again the same tyre. I used the SC0. after a few corners it was spinning a lot."

Read More