A big ‘off’, but Razgatlıoğlu still Dominates Proceedings in Jerez

The Yamaha WorldSBK teams depart the first two-day test of 2023 at Jerez in confident mood, after strong performances from both seasoned WorldSBK campaigners Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Andrea Locatelli and class rookies Dominique Aegerter, Remy Gardner and Lorenzo Baldassarri.

Pata Yamaha WorldSBK’s Razgatlıoğlu once again led the way, stamping his authority on proceedings by topping the timesheet on both days, with his lap time of 1’38.269 on day two tantalisingly close to the circuit lap record. Teammate, Andrea Locatelli, focused on evaluating development parts first tested in wet conditions back in December but made a significant improvement on the second day to finish seventh on the timesheet.

The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK duo of Aegerter and Gardner completed a true ‘marathon’ on track, racking up a total of 382 laps between them over the two days. Both riders started on the 2022 specification R1 WorldSBK, as they continued to familiarise themselves with the characteristics of the bike they’ll race for the first time this season but moved on to test the 2023 development parts late on the opening day. Both riders ended the two days comfortably inside the top ten but are confident of further improvement with two more days of testing in Portimao.

For Lorenzo Baldassarri the Jerez test was his first outing on the GMT94 Yamaha WorldSBK R1 he’ll race this season, so familiarization was his only focus during the two days. The Italian had a permanent smile on his face throughout the two days and is keen to repeat the experience next week in Portimao.

All four Yamaha WorldSBK teams will now head directly to Portimao for two more days of testing before heading down under to Australia for the opening round of the season at Phillip Island. In Portugal they will be joined by the Yamaha Motoxracing Team and rider Bradley Ray, who this year will contest the European rounds on the WorldSBK calendar.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – 1’38.269
Pata Yamaha WorldSBK

“A very big crash this morning but I am very lucky, just a little pain in my left leg but now the feeling is coming better. We improved my R1, with good acceleration and good grip – I was trying today for 1’37 for the record, but I did not see! We used a Q tyre today and I see best lap, 1’38.2. In general, good testing for me – in Portimão we need to try some more set-up because we are happy but also we are not stopping. Just we try to keep making everything better – thanks to my team, every day they are working and now we start to see how the level of the bike is and I am very happy.”

Andrea Locatelli – 1’39.280
Pata Yamaha WorldSBK

“These two days of testing were positive, because we returned on track in dry conditions – last time here in Jerez was raining for three days! We were able to take some confidence again with the R1 in the dry and it was positive to understand where we start with some new parts for 2023. Today, we improved a lot compared to yesterday and this is a good point to start again in Portimão. I was also able to push a bit more and to try a little bit to close the gap to the front guys, but to be honest we didn’t use a lot of soft tyres – or the Q tyre – to try and improve the lap time. We mainly try to work around the bike and search for good grip which is more important for the races. In the end, two positive days, no crash or mistakes and I had a good feeling on the bike, so now we can continue working next week.”

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