Razgatlioglu reveals his cards: “Race today in Portimao? I would win”

Promising test for the BMW M 1000 RR

Toprak Razgatlioglu was the fastest at the end of the two-day Superbike test in Portimao. The BMW rider stopped the clock at 1'39″189, preceding Nicolò Bulega by less than a tenth, the record holder with the official Ducati in the two days of testing in Jerez and on Day-1 in the Algarve.

Razgatlioglu believes he could have even broken the 1'39″ barrier with a better set-up: “I could have lapped in 1'38″ – his words reported by the newspaper speedweek.com – but we had too much grip with the qualifying setup. When exiting corners the bike bounced on acceleration and I had chattering when entering corners. Plus I had several wheelies and so I didn't go beyond 1.39″.

The Turk is definitely satisfied with the performance of the BMW M 1000 RR in Portimao also in terms of race pace to the point of going unbalanced in a hypothetical immediate race in Portugal. In Australia, however, he will change everything: “I set some incredible times with the SCX and SC0 and also in the race simulation. If we had a race in Portimao now it seems like we would win. However, we need to improve the grip of the rear. We were very strong in Portimao, but it's difficult to say how we will fare in Phillip Island, the track is completely different, we need more grip. And the asphalt is new. I can't even say which tire we will use there, whether we will have the SC1 or the SC0.”