WSBK Mandalika: Losing To Bautista, Toprak Blames Tires

Pata Yamaha racer, Toprak Razgatlioglu. (Photo via Antara/Ahmad Subaidi)

JAKARTA - Pata Yamaha's toprak Razgatlioglu failed to repeat his success at last season's Mandalika Circuit. Toprak only finished second during the 2023 World Superbike (WSBK) first race, Saturday, March 4.

The Turkish racer must recognize the superiority of Alvaro Bautista who is the winner with a time of 32 minutes 44,093 seconds.

Toprak is 4,809 seconds adrift of Bautista. He revealed that the front tire problem was one of the factors that made him have to admit the rival's superiority.

"The speed from Alvaro (Bautista, Aruba.It Ducati racer) is very good, but I feel there is a problem on the front tire. After eight or nine laps, I tried my best to finish in a good position," Toprak said when met after the podium, as reported by Antara, Saturday, March 4.

Despite having a strong start on at least seven laps early, Toprak had to admit a drop in the front tire that required him to be more careful especially when trying to pass through a sharp bend.

"My front line is not good, so it is not possible to turn (turn) well. I don't know what the problem is exactly but it looks like it's on the tires," said the Turkish racer.

In addition, Toprak said today's track conditions were not too good because they tended to be dirty considering the location of the circuit is close to the beach and strong winds.

"For me this is not a strong start, considering that our lap time was better last year. The track conditions weren't very good either. I like this circuit, but it seems that with this condition I can only finish in second place," he said.

Agreeing, Toprak's teammate Andrea Locatelli said the start of the race was also not too good for him. He felt not very comfortable while riding his motorcycle.

"Today is not an easy day. Besides we have to be fast on every lap, we also have to have a good feeling during the race and reach the podium. I started slowly and lost a lot of positions, so in the first lap it was difficult to overtake because other riders were also very fast," said Locatelli.