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After the first day of practice in Barcelona, Toprak Razgatlioglu already knows that beating Bautista will take a miracle, or almost one. In the afternoon round, the Ducati champion came in first and took more than a second from the Yamaha rider.
In Assen, the Toprak had predicted that beating Alvaro on his own turf would be a feat.
“It still looks that way,” he confirmed. “I tried to do a race simulation. It didn’t go badly. But I have a big gap compared to Alvaro. The races are always difficult and, after ten laps, he’s always faster than me. I’ll just try to fight for the podium. But I’m happy because my pace isn’t bad, especially in the afternoon with the heat, despite some problems. I think we’ll be able to solve them tomorrow, and I’ll be able to improve by another two or three tenths. We’ll see. It won’t be easy to win, unless my adversaries have problems. But I’m not one who hopes others will fall.”
Stealing away 250 laps from the Panigale didn’t help change the cards on the table. “I heard they reduced the laps for the Ducati, but it doesn’t seem like it affected them,” Toprak stated. Nor did giving just as many to Kawasaki. “I found Alex Lowes on the straight and passed him, but here it’s important to get out of the last corner.”
As if that weren’t enough, he can’t rely that much on the tires either. Starting with the new ones brought to Spain by Pirelli.
“I didn’t try the new tire because it’s too soft when it’s hot and, normally, I don’t like soft tires because I push a lot when braking. For my riding style, I need a hard tire, especially after ten laps. The soft one with me doesn’t work,” Razgatlioglu explained.
He still complains about lack of grip on the rear.
“We always have that problem, and it’s even worse than in Assen,” he confessed. “I can’t open the throttle. I ride with the accelerator at half, especially after twelve laps. Last year, I pushed at the beginning here, to try to follow Alvaro, and I had a huge tire drop at the end. I’ll have to be very calm.”
He’s only placing hope in the short race.
“I can push in the superpole race, but I’m not fast in the long ones. I have to ride very gentle on the gas. This also applies to Bautista, but he’s light, and the Ducati is fine, as well as being one of his favorite tracks.”
If you try to get in front at the start and slow him down?
“I don’t think that’s possible,” he replied. “If I were to start battling it out with him, I’d have to open the throttle early and brake late. I’d overheat the rear tire. I’ve known that since last year.”
His last comment was about his future and the market rumors about him over the past few days.
“That’s not my job, it’s Kenan's job.” He turned a deaf ear. “I’m focused on mine. We have a very long season ahead of us, and I’m thinking about the championship, nothing else. We’ll see what happens in the future.”
