Toprak Razgatlioglu flew at Portimão, and not just metaphorically. He was the only one who was able to break down the 1’41” wall, reaching the best time of the day in the FP2s, at 1’40”720. The Turkish rider of the official Yamaha team put on a show with a formidable jump at Turn 9.
Did you like it?
“Yeah. We checked the data. I flew twenty-one meters. How does that affect the lap? I don't know. We just checked how long it was. It didn’t look like twenty-one meters, but they were,” Toprak candidly admitted at the end of the session, revealing the behind the scenes of that move. “At the end, I went a bit wider than the normal trajectory, to exit with more speed. Just for fun. I trained in Cadwell Park before I doint it here. I sometimes watch Johnny’s videos. He's phenomenal.”
Toprak says no to carbon brakes
With a good pace both in the morning and afternoon, and with Bautista ending his Friday with a half-second gap, Razgatlioglu can look forward to the rest of this weekend, during which his goal will be to steal points from the championship leader.
“Today we started very consistently. I like this circuit, and I can’t wait to race on it,” Toprak said. “We tried two different tires this afternoon. I checked the time and sensation, and I think we’re ready to race now. Qualifying will also be important for me tomorrow. We’ll see. But today I’m really happy.”
The best way to start the weekend, even if didn’t always go that smoothly.
“We still had brake problems. We used new discs and a new caliper, but we had a problem. I went back, and we changed them. Now everything’s fine,” the Yamaha rider commented. He had opposed the idea of using carbon brakes, like in the MotoGP. “You don’t have to brake much on this track. You don’t need carbon brakes, because you brake with a finger.”