\n\tToprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) topped Free Practice 1 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for the French Round, but finished fourth overall at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Despite being four tenths away from title rival Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), \u2018El Turco\u2019 was upbeat following the day\u2019s action thanks to his super consistent race pace which he displayed in FP2.<\/p>\n
\n\tRazgatlioglu returned to a track he\u2019s designated his favourite, and it\u2019s one he\u2019s won eight times at already, with \u2018El Turco\u2019 going in search of a bit of history as he looks to make it a third circuit he\u2019s won at 10 times or more, but it appears he\u2019ll face stiff competition from his rivals. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) topped Friday\u2019s running and was four tenths clear of Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) in second, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in third and Razgatlioglu in fourth.<\/p>\n
\n\tHowever, a look into his race pace shows \u2018El Turco\u2019 is well and truly in contention for victory despite the fourth-tenth margin to P1. With times faster and more representative in FP2, as well as taking place closer to the scheduled race time, Razgatlioglu completed 15 laps in one long stint and he showed incredible consistency across that run, which was six laps shy of a full race distance.<\/p>\n
\n\tTwo of those lap times were in the 1\u201939s and 1\u201938s bracket, so not entirely representative of his race pace, but out of the remaining 13, all but two were in the 1\u201936s. The slowest of these was a 1\u201936.414s and the fastest was a 1\u201936.075s, on the second lap of his run. He also posted two laps in the 1\u201935s bracket \u2013 a 1\u201935.860s and a 1\u201935.861s \u2013 on his seventh and 12th laps respectively as he was able to keep a consistent level across his run.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn comparison, Bulega completed nine laps for his longest stint. His fastest time was a 1\u201936.190s in that run and the slowest was a 1\u201937.212s; he did go faster in his final stint. Lowes had a longest stint of 14 laps, although one lap was in the 1\u201956s so can be discounted, as can his one lap in the 1\u201939s. His quickest time was a 1\u201936.375s while his slowest was a 1\u201937.415s on his first lap. Locatelli, similarly to Bulega, didn\u2019t do a stint longer than 10 laps in FP2. He had one time in the 1\u201942s, while he posted five in the 1\u201936s and two in the 1\u201937s.<\/p>\n
\n\tReflecting on his Friday, Razgatlioglu said: \u201cI started very well because, after the crash last year and not continuing to ride, I\u2019m very happy I started more calmly. It\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve done a race simulation on the BMW at Magny-Cours. It looks like I\u2019m very strong, but we still need to improve some corners and sectors.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI did 15 laps in the race simulation, and it was very strong; I did a 1\u201935s two times. I always stayed in the low 1\u201936s and this is strong race pace. After I got back to the box, I explained it corner by corner because at some corners, I felt some problems especially engine brake. I was just explaining this at some corners, but we didn\u2019t have a lot of time to improve because it was in the last six minutes. I tried some more engine brake, but it didn\u2019t change. We can also improve the lap time because, at some corners, I\u2019m riding on the limit. If we improve and the bike starts to help me, I think I\u2019ll ride more easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRazgatlioglu also acknowledged the gap to him and Bulega on the timesheets, saying: \u201cBulega did a very good lap time, but I didn\u2019t use a new tyre, I used only one tyre in FP2 because I was focused on the race not the lap time. It\u2019s very important for me to have three wins this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n